Academic Text Review: Estes(2019)

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Number Date Introduction The colonial era led to the scrambling and partitioning of resources belonging to Indigenous communities worldwide. Surprisingly, these inhumane acts were justified and approved by laws in colonial countries. Nick Estes' book, Our History Is the Future, is an illuminating narrative that aims to shed light on the continuity of Indigenous-led protests. Drawing on his experience in the Dakota Access Pipeline protests of 2016-2017, he sheds light on the contemporary issues that cause uprisings similar to those witnessed more than a century ago. Estes is a citizen of the Lower Brule Sioux Tribe and a tutor at the University of New Mexico. Having lived in the Oceti Sakowin, he has firsthand information on the protests in the Oceti Sakowin camp. This paper will discuss the continuity of indigenous resistance in light of the narrative presented in Nick Estes' book, Our History Is the Future. Background Information Humans and nonhumans depend on water to survive and carry out various tasks. The fact that water is life motivated thousands of natives and other people living at Standing Rock to fight against a proposed oil pipeline that was supposed to be constructed across their land. The Oceti Sakowin philosophy is founded on protecting available resources to benefit the current inhabitants and future generations. On the other hand, multiple state police departments, the US Army Corps of Engineers, and private security contractors believed in maximizing profit without considering the damage caused (Estes 18-22). These two opposing policies have been the cause of many wars in the world, and it led to a civil war in Dakota. Nick Estes was part of the Red Nation, an organization tasked with bringing supplies to residents in Standing Rock. The camp consisted of different tribes who were organized and depended on each other for survival. These locals were colonized, their native lands sold to visitors, and they were confined to reservations similar to the Nazis (Reed 7-9). People developed formal and informal internal political processes that represented them as time passed. The cap leadership had some community councils where even non-indigenous people had a say. Continuity of Indigenous Resistance The struggle for independence was a common theme across many states in the colonial period. Lives were lost and properties destroyed as local inhabitants forced colonialists from their territories. In the post-colonial era, struggles against insensi...