The Dakota Access Pipeline project has sparked significant debate between two primary narratives. The dominant perspective emphasizes the government's stance that the pipeline is a critical infrastructure project necessary for ensuring the availability of cheap and reliable energy, specifically oil and gas.
The counter narrative would be that of the American government and its assurances that the implementation of this pipeline is necessary and in accordance with the law. This counter narrative is a sound argument as the necessity of cheap electrical power and distribution of gas and oil are needed infrastructure elements we don’t currently have. The visual method I can see being used here would be that of a didactic act which attempts to teach us that this is a necessary evil and that our powerful and overreaching government can handle its negative repercussions. Having said that, I believe that their ulterior motive is truly only profit based and the government has no real concern about the environmental repercussions of their decisions. The blame I will place here would be that of the current branch of executive government. Responsibility to not let things get out of control I believe would go to the department of energy and land management as they would be the federal entities that have power to allow or disallow such an endeavor. Lastly, I fully believe that race, class, and other cultural factors are playing a role in the injustice here.
The dominant narrative in my mind is that of the protesting population in the battle for the Sioux nation treaties to be upheld against those who would like to capitalize on their sacred land. Their internal assumptions and concerns regarding this aren’t kept hidden and are presented using art and protest. Their concerns are that the misuse of native land and the blatant disregard for the native American treaties that were set in place to stop such confrontations from happening. A visual method I see in these photographs is culture jamming. The use of this methods incites a reaction from the general public to go against the governmental social norm. This need to incite such a reaction comes from the current government’s lack of understanding and sociocultural concern for the people of the Sioux nation. I would hold local and federal legislators responsible for the lack of communication between the two involved parties.
