[195] Native American activist discusses Standing Rock dispute Nov. 17 at MTSU

MURFREESBORO — The ongoing demonstration by Native Americans against a pipeline construction project that would cross a reservation in North and South Dakota will be discussed at MTSU.

Attorney Albert Bender, a Cherokee activist from Antioch, Tennessee, will talk about what he has witnessed at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17, in Room N119 of the Cason-Kennedy Nursing Building. Seating is limited.

A printable campus parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap. Off-campus visitors attending the daytime events should obtain a special one-day permit from MTSU’s Office of Parking and Transportation at http://www.mtsu.edu/parking/visit.php.

The Standing Rock Indian Reservation, which spans parts of both Dakotas, continues to be the scene of demonstrations against the construction of an oil pipeline across land that reservation residents consider to be sacred burial ground. They also assert that the pipeline would pose a threat to their water supply.

Bender will share information from his visit to protest camps just outside of the pipeline site earlier this year. As an attorney, Bender also will shed light on the lawsuit filed by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in hopes of stopping the pipeline.

For more information, contact the Office of Intercultural and Diversity Affairs at 615-898-5812 or ida@mtsu.edu.