Shailene Woodley was with other protesters peacefully occupying land in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline after which she was arrested for criminal trespassing. Fortunately for us she filmed the entire event for Facebook Live, which we’ll discuss in a moment. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe suffered a blow in court on Sunday which went widely unnoticed by the media. A federal appeals court denied their request to extend an injunction preventing construction within 20 miles of Lake Oahe in North Dakota. Following that ruling, construction can continue in that area. It was my understanding that President Obama had blocked the pipeline temporarily, however that was just on federally owned land until more research could be done. The tribe vows to fight this latest ruling and continue their peaceful protest, which has been met with extreme military force including attack dogs and pepper spray.
After returning from a protest to her RV, where she was outside recording for Facebook and doing interviews, Shailene was arrested by police who came in an armored personnel carrier. There was also a helicopter flying around, but Shailene emphasized in the lead-up to her arrest that the protests went peacefully that day. The police arrested her but did not detain or arrest any other protesters from what we could see in the video. (E! reports that 26 other people were also arrested.) Here’s the video of Shailene’s arrest and I’ll include an overview below of what she said during her arrest in case you can’t listen to it. When she saw all the police coming she joked, “there’s some Divergent sh-t about to go down.” Also this video is longer than the one which is being shown on TMZ as it has her interviews ahead of the arrest, which happens around 8:00 in. She said that her mom is there and I think she’s the person recording later in the video. If you want to watch her full Facebook Live video, which is over two hours long and includes the protests, you can see it on Facebook. The video below is just the last 12 minutes of that video.
Here’s some of what Shailene said in the video if you can’t watch it:
Shailene: I don’t know if you guys just heard me, but I was just walking back to my RV, which is right there so that we can go back to camp peacefully and they grabbed me by my jacket and said that I wasn’t allowed to continue. And they had giant guns and batons and zip ties and they’re not letting me go.
Policeman: We can’t talk right here, but right now you’re going to be placed under arrest for criminal trespassing.
Shailene: Why am I being arrested and no one else is who was down there [protesting]?
Cops: We have word that you trespassed on the property so you’re being placed under arrest.
Shailene: Yeah but so did hundreds of people.
Cops: You were identified.
Shailene: Alright, I’m being arrested. I was trespassing like everyone else, but as soon as you guys asked me to leave, I left. I was down there with everyone else… it’s because I’m well known, it’s because I have 40,000 people watching.
Shailene [speaks to camera] So everybody knows…we were going to our vehicle which they had all surrounded and waiting for me with giant guns and a giant truck behind them just so they could arrest me. I hope you’re watching mainstream media.
[From Facebook via E!]
It’s nice that she says “well known” instead of “famous,” there’s something humble about that. You know what, I’m really glad they arrested Shailene. If she wasn’t arrested, I wouldn’t have gone to Facebook to see armed police surrounding peaceful protesters, and I wouldn’t have seen the incredibly lopsided, militarized response to people who have a right to protect their land and to question whether their water is going to be poisoned. (A pipeline leaked in Alabama last month, spilling 252,000 gallons of gasoline. Did you hear about it?) If they didn’t arrest her, the media might not have covered this so widely.
Shailene has since been released from Morton County Jail in North Dakota. Her publicist told E! “She appreciates the outpouring of support, not only for her, but more importantly, for the continued fight against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.”
We stand with Standing Rock. I donated to their cause some time ago and if you’d like to help you can donate here. You can also call your senators and congresspeople and urge them to help block the pipeline.
Also Shailene posted this Instagram of Bernie Sanders supporting the cause. Remember that he’s backing Hillary and that they’ve worked together on initiatives, including affordable education.
photos credit: FameFlynet, WENN and Instagram/Shailene Woodley
One of my close friends was out there (ND) last month for two weeks protesting the pipeline and I have nothing but respect for him and Shailene.
Also, I love that Bernie was the first and only presidential candidate to hold a rally at Twin Arrows, a Navajo-owned casino. Native Americans are so often the “forgotten minority” so it’s wonderful to see high-profile politicians and celebs drawing attention to issues that directly affect the NA community.
But Sanders made it a real focus of his campaign.
http://feelthebern.org/bernie-sanders-on-native-american-rights/
Forgotten minority is a good way to describe it. Very true.
Agreed with “forgotten minority”. It’s sad, I grew up hearing how Native Americans are pretty much extinct and relegated to a few reservations scattered around the US, but there are many people of Native American ancestry that have survived, moreso south of the border from Mexico through Central America down to Peru and some Taino in the Caribbean. But let North Americans tell it, they are pretty much wiped off the face of the Earth, and the ones that are here in the USA don’t seem to get any media attention for important issues or representation, and the mainstream media doesn’t think something like this deserve a spotlight on whats going on in ND. . It’s a damn shame.
ITA. It’s really heart-breaking.
My friend who went to the protest has been immersing himself in Native American culture since he was a child. He calls several tribe elders his uncles and visits them often.
It’s such a rich and beautiful culture, steeped in traditions that honor and hold sacred animals and earth. I’m far from an expert, but just from his numerous stories about tribal life I find all of it so fascinating and well…lovely.
Please remember there isn’t “a” Native American culture. The geographical area that would later be called the United States of America was inhabited by many different tribes each with their own cultures, practices and languages. We don’t say I love “Asian” culture because there are differences between say Indian and Chinese cultures even though they are both “Asian”,there is no monolithic Native America culture even though many may share some cultural values, practices or a history of gross mistreatment. The Pueblo are different in many ways than the Innuit: they live in completely different climates and their cultures and practices reflect that. It can also be dangerous to freeze them in some mythic past of the tragic, peaceful Earth-loving spiritualists instead of current peoples and cultures who maintain some of their traditional cultures and beliefs as you note, but are also living in 2016 with very real and modern problems: poverty, tragically high rates of suicide, substance abuse, racial discrimination and high rates of unemployment. This is not to demean or blame First Peoples and their challenges, nor to elide the responsibility of colonialism and the US governments role in creating many (if not all) of their contemporary problems. A similar “benevolent racism” happens when we think of Africans as tribal still living on the Savannahs. Yes there are still many Africans who do live nomadic lives and within tribes, but that misses the diversity of African people who also live in cities, attend universities, work in non hunting/agrarian jobs and live in all other senses a modern life. all I’m saying is please be careful of universalising culture into one stereotype even if it is a nice one. Thank you.
Thank you @beachedwhale. This is something I find myself falling into occasionally (benevolent racism) and at its heart it’s just as ugly (because it’s condescending). It’s good to have reminders 😊
I appreciate all the information but I wanted to say (gently) that I’m aware of all the different tribes and cultures among the Native American people.
I hesitated to type the word “culture” but I wasn’t sure what word to use. How should I have phrased it?
I guess I should have specified mainly Navajo but he has experience with several different tribes so..?
Anyway, thank you for the reminder and my apologies if I offended as I certainly didn’t intend to. I’ll remember for the future to be more careful with my words.
There is the same issue with characterising Aboriginal Australia as a single entity, when Indigenous Australians make up many different “countries”, with very different languages, traditions and cultures.
BUT.
When it comes to mobilising opinion and political action, it IS sometimes helpful to group Indigenous Australians together as a single entity (including Torres Strait Islanders), simply to create a more powerful bloc within the political discourse. Of course there are dangers in generalising this way – and I often get annoyed at how the voices of Central Desert people get ignored – but when you are dealing with a relatively small population overall, it can be more effective. I dare say this is what Kitten et al were getting at.
I always liked this girl. I loved that she withstood the pressure to discard her hippy side and turn into just another vanilla starlet and I love that she participates in the issues she cares about. And I looove that for once a celebrity mug shot didnt come from a selfish act.
I like her too for all her hippy ways because I’m odd too. She goes her own way. Interesting that she participated in the protest quietly and without fanfare from publicity.
She is also of Native American descent, so not just “hippie” ways.
I did not know that!
I love Shay but Please dont do that. The stuff she talked about e.g. sunbathing your vagina to ward off yeast infections are NOT drawn from indigenous culture. They come from Western alternative lifestyles particularly the hippy movement which is notorious for appropriating indegenous culture and then layering it with their own additions. Incidentally, it is these add ons that mainstream culture roll their eyes at.
I didn’t say that all her medical/spiritual practices were Native American, But she is of Native American descent, and perhaps being a part of the pipeline protests is not just her “hippie” ways. But her recognizing and standing up for her own history.
@HeidiM
Naya’s probably riffing off my tanned biscuit comment below, not what you said.
Her having some first nations ancestry is interesting, especially since she’s supporting a first nations cause and hopefully that means she’s looking into her ancestry and cultural roots. As Heidi said, she’s standing for history and extended family.
I can definitely see how you got that impression though. Don’t worry, I don’t think either of us think that tanned biscuits are of native origin. That’s pure first world hippy BS, right there.
Heidi I wasnt even remotely suggesting that she was demonstrating because she is a hippie. Detritus, I hadnt even seen your biscuit comment until you pointed it out. Read my original comment closely. I was saying that i liked her regardless of the negative press she gets over her hippie lifestyle. That I love her because she never changed.
I dont know anything about her lineage but I wasnt one bit surprised that she is passionate about this issue. She is not just vocal about environmental issues, she lives a very austere life over it. This pipeline story also marries in themes of government indifference and corporate interests over riding communities, also things she has spoken about before when campaigning for Bernie and also promoting the Oliver Stone movie. Most people with similar ancestry arent even paying attention to this story. So I dont know if she has actually said that her ancestry is her motivation but everything about this girl suggests that she would be there regardless.
@Naya, I was trying to figure out where the sunshine piece came in. I am obviously not the best at mind reading and was going off your second comment only.
I also like her despite her hippie dippy way, but frequently there is a personal component to activism. It’s interesting to understand people’s history, how they identify and how that might impact their worldview. I can understand being upset at her silliness being taken for cultural knowledge and it is awesome she’s still being true to herself.
You go Shailene. She was annoying with her hippie talk last year, but I’ve really come around on her. She’s awesome.
Same.
Same. She’s also hugely talented, but is too earnest to have J-Law’s easy charm (I like J-Law, I don’t mean that as a diss) so won’t ever be as huge. But she was amazing in the Spectacular Now, and actually the first Divergent film was okay because of her talent and commitment to the part (second, and nothing could save it IMO) and to be as talented as she is, and surrounded by sycophants as she could choose to be, I think it’s amazing that she shows such commitment to the things she cares about. The world would be a better place with more people like her in it.
She’s an incredible role model, I think, in a world where young women have too few.
Hey, good for her. I have no snarky comment to make. She’s walking the walk behind her talk.
Yes , good for her and all those protesting!
I like Tanned Biscuit.
I know she’s a bit odd, but her heart is in the right place. She’s using her exposure to support causes shes passionate about. It’s refreshing.
I like her. She’s wacky and it can be exhausting but she doesn’t just mouth off, she stands up for what she believes in and this is important.
Good for you, Shailene! Keep fighting for what you believe in and as some posters said before, keep walking the walk, too.
Love her! She puts her money where mouth is and really stands for the causes she endorses. Instead of just putting a link on facebook, she gets out there and does something
#FreeShailene! (I know she already is but still). Good for her for recording everything.
I’m like most of you guys and found her insufferable in interviews last year but now my respect for her has gone through the roof. I bet her people were really against her doing all this and that’s properly why we don’t see as many young celebrities doing things like this as there easier to influence. But it goes to show why you should stick to your guns and do what you believe. I live in Scotland but haven’t heard much about this issue so it’s good too see that Shailene’s arrest has been seen worldwide and hopefully more attention will be brought to it.
Good for her. It’s important to stand up for things you believe in. I have been standing with Standing Rock because it’s important.
She and Rosario Dawson were huge Bernie supporters and they both got arrested for protesting unfair conditions/situations..they both truly walk the walk. Also, yes, I believe it’s because of Bernie’s highlights of the Native American community that allowed for such strong support for Standing Rock and other important causes that affect their communities. I believe Bernie brought out the best in people and its sickening to see Trump still in the race with his hate and divisiveness…sigh, I miss Bernie 😭
Attack dogs? In what kind of fucking world do the police set ATTACK DOGS on civilian protesters. My god.
I’ve been policed by both dog and horse here in the UK back in my activist days. It happens more than you’d think.
Ugh, terrible. Hope you weren’t injured 🙁
Seems ridiculous (and barbaric) to be using animals in this way – I mean tear gas and water cannons not enough for these a-holes?
No, never, thank heavens. But it is quite terrifying to be standing in the road with a bunch of policemen on horses riding straight at you! At peaceful demonstrations like this one, and those I attended, where the limit of lawbreaking is maybe blocking a road or a symbolic but not property-damaging mass trespass, I have no idea why they think they need animals OR tear gas OR water cannons.
Here, the most common police thing is called kettling, where they cordon protestors in to a smallish area. It’s not nice and often they don’t let you out even for water/food/toilet for hours.
But it wasn’t the police right? It was actually the pipeline’s private security. And they couldn’t even control the dogs once they were unleashed and they ended up biting some of the security guards too.
It was the private security and the video is horrifying! Those were attack dogs and not well trained with handlers that couldn’t control them. It was brutal.
I’m likely heading up in a few weeks to protest the pipeline with a group of people from my hospital’s union push, so no criticism of her here. She’s the definition of a BEC to me most of the time, but I get that she’s young and means well.
I dont LOVE her, she can be a little too out there for my taste. However, I completely respect that she is a celebrity whose actions match her words. She said she was agains the pipeline so she went up there, protested, got arrested, and went right back at it again. Very few celebrities are willing to do that.
Nothing but respect for her. I may not always agree with Shailene but she seems passionate and genuinely interested about things she supports, I’m sorry about the arrest but at least it is bringing world-wide attention to a very important subject.
Sixer and I are Brits, and we just donated. I wouldn’t even know about this situation were it not for the arrest and this story, so it’s been a successful protest on her part and an own goal on the authorities’ to go in mob-handed, I’d say.
Donation made. Every little helps.
Thanks Sixer!
Thank you for raising awareness and donating to this important cause. I have friends and family who are in North Dakota – we have been watching the escalating violence towards the peaceful protesters with growing concern. I have been watching the networks for coverage frankly I shouldn’t be surprised the story of thousands of Indigenous protesters is not deemed newsworthy – it’s time for the 7th generation to rise up and wake the sleeping giant..
This is amazing. Good for her to walk the talk !
I like her a lot!
Donating today as well. Thanks for the link and for covering this 🙂
Thanks Franny! I live in an area where a proposed pipeline will directly affect us. My friends are protesting and it’s important. I can’t imagine what the people in North Dakota are dealing with and they deserve a lot of credit.
Yeah sure, so well known. Eyeroll. She looks like a million other people and is totally unremarkable. I will say good for her for standing up for whatever she’s on about. I have no sympathy or concern for so called native Americans as they were the perpetrators of the most disgusting and vicious crimes against innocent women and children during frontier days. Don’t try and say they were only defending their land because that doesn’t make it ok…if it did we would be out there doing the same to the invaders now and it would be just fine, right? Lol no.
“I have no sympathy or concern for so called native Americans as they were the perpetrators of the most disgusting and vicious crimes against innocent women and children during frontier days.”
Way to generalize an entire race, troll. With your line of thinking we can say the same things about “so-called Whites” starting off with the sociopath Colombus as well as the Spanish who forced conversions of the Native’s to Christianity or else they would be tortured and killed. Or “so-called Whites” for Slavery and how they continue to subjugate and marginalize African Americans/Minorities. Or maybe we should generalize the entire German population for what happened with Hitler.
Please have several seats.
*Bows*
So you’re really pissed that the Native Americans killed WHITE women and children right? No concern at all for the thousands of Native women and children that got killed? SMDH.
Thank you! Never mind the genocide, right? #whitetears
Stop feeding the troll. I beg you.
Sunny, your racism against these “so called Native Americans” is showing hun.
Troll on a roll, huh?
with a side order of WTF.
Omfg.
Even if your post had factual evidence in it, which it doesn’t…the American settlers did worse things. We committed mass genocide against Native people. We stole the land they had inhabited for centruies. We pushed them onto tiny plots and belittled their cultures. So, you win, I guess? I don’t even understand your motivation in this other than to be hateful.
Also: invaders? Is this the X-Files now?
Ok, I have to ask: am I the only one who sees that her eyes are different, one is a slightly different shape and is both the eye and the eyebrow are higher? I realize we’re all every slightly asymmetric, but I feel like hers goes beyond the usual asymmetry. I googled it yesterday, and didn’t find a single reference to it, so I’m wondering if it’s all in my head?
Btw, in case you’re wondering, I’m not asking to shame her or anything, I have an eye problem (not the same one) myself, and it actually makes me feel a little better to see a celebrity with a visible eye problem. I also had a classmate in college who had a similar eye issue as Shailene (if we agree that she has one), except hers was more pronounced, and you could tell that the entire bone structure of her face was different on different sides. She was a very pretty girl, too, but she looked like 2 totally different pretty girls if you looked at her profiles.
Makes four of us, then 🙂
Yeah she’s got the Shannon Doherty thing happening.
I have so much respect for her. Not sure what else to say! I’m very into natural things and nature in general. Her video shows the gross power of our government forces. I would be scared to death walking up to my RV and all that was going on. Incredibly intimidating!!! Can’t imagine. When you stand up for something bigger than yourself, that is when you enter hero status in my eyes. She’s amazing. She’s so calm and collected. I would have been flipping out and terrified.
I adore her and have for some time now. You have to respect the passion and commitment for fighting for something she believes in especially when she could easily ignore it as so many people continue to do when it comes to Indigenous Peoples’ rights & issues.
Go, Shailene! (And thanks for the link to donate.)
I always found her interesting. She has the courage to stand up for what she believes in.
And while it is not fun being arrested, to put it mildly, people liker, celebrities, can bring a lot of visibility to an issue. By arresting her the police and whoever ordered the arrest brought much needed attention to what is going on.
Much respect to her for supporting and bringing attention to this cause. I might not be a fan but I appreciate a celeb who’s not all talk.
I have a newfound respect for her. It’s somehow a bless in disguise that she got arrested, that way this cause really went mainstream.
Better get up there quick, winter in that part of the country comes early, hard, and the wind never stops blowing (I grew up there, 30 below windchill is pretty normal). It won’t be long before these paid protesters from out of state and celebrities suddenly demand that law enforcement save them from their own stupidity.
So yeah, keep sending your $$$, I’ve seen how this tribe grossly mismanages the profits brought in by their huge casino. They treat their people like absolute s**t. Hypocrites…
She is awesome! The protectors up in the Standing Rock area are not just Native American people who are protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. There are people from all over the world currently making their way to this area in order to protect the water. When this pipeline leaks, and it will leak, it will spill poison into the Missouri River. Think about how many tributaries branch off the Missouri River and make their way into our communities which lie south of the Standing Rock area. This pipeline will spill and contaminate the drinking water of millions of people. At this moment, hundreds of police are making their way to this area, sent and paid for by federal money (meaning our tax dollars at work). These police are actively harassing and arresting people for doing nothing but protecting the water with peace and prayers. #WaterisLife #WaterisSacred
this makes me respect her. i m also learning more about this issue because of the coverage