The history of building pipelines to carry water, petroleum products, natural gas, coal slurries and toxic crude oil has been a practice in the United States since the 1880s. Many of these pipelines were built without the safety concerns that are now present under EPA guidelines and engineering safeguards concerning the thickness and welding of the pipelines. Rarely did Americans protest against the practice of using pipeline to ship the many types of dangerous products.

Yet the very real danger of a pipeline break or other environmental disaster in the extraction industry has occurred countless times before. No amount of money or apologies can heal the damage. That is why the Standing Rock Sioux Nation has called out to other nations to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline.

I first saw evidence of toxic chemicals being poured into the Cayuga River in Cleveland in May 1969, when the river exploded into a huge fire.

My first thought was of astonishment. How could America create a situation that would cause water to catch on fire? What did this show to the world — a large, billowing cloud of black smoke rising up from a river on fire? Who speaks for the rivers?

I realized that it is we Native Americans who were entrusted by the Great Spirit to speak for the protection of our relatives: the water, soil and the air. Further, we also speak for the protection of the many species of life, the protection of the sacred sites of our ancestors, sites where our people are buried, sites where we gather herbs, roots and other leaves we use to heal our people. These are our duties and responsibilities that the Creator gave to us in the beginning. We accepted these instructions for eternity.

Now comes the Standing Rock Sioux Nation in North Dakota and South Dakota, who saw the impending doom that lay in the path of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The nation moved quickly to defend the sacredness of the lands that would be destroyed by the huge earth-moving machines.

The nation called out to other nations to send their medicine bundles, their sacred pipes, their sacred drums and to come and pray with the Standing Rock Nation. Today, 460 of the 567 Native American nations in the U.S. have come to Standing Rock, in addition to Canadian First Nations sending delegations.

On April 1, the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, with a permit in hand issued by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, opened its large main spiritual camp across the Cannonball River in North Dakota.

Each day begins with a ceremony welcoming the sun, giving thanks for another day. Then follows prayers to protect the soil, the water and the air. Every day there are pipe ceremonies, sweat lodge ceremonies, talking circles and the making of tobacco ties. We have built a small school to teach our young people the meaning of life.

Each day we walk to the site carrying our prayer ties to place them on the land near the digging and bulldozing sites. It is there that we meet the many police, sheriffs and their deputies, and the dogs that are trained to attack us. It is there we meet the young men in uniform, military forces of the same government that massacred our people at Sand Creek in 1864 and Wounded Knee in 1890, that also sent our sons and daughters to carry the same flag we fly today alongside our tribal nation flags, in World War I, World War II, and the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

We only want to carry out our spiritual duties and go home. We must, however, stay until Standing Rock releases us and tells us the sacred sites are protected now and the water is safe. We shall never abandon Standing Rock. Never. Standing Rock is who we are.

Dennis Banks is the longtime leader of the American Indian Movement. He is the Peace and Freedom Party’s candidate for U.S. vice president.