More than 350 people attended a rain-drenched rally in Portland's Pioneer Courthouse Square Thursday to show support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which has been locked in a months-long standoff over an oil pipeline in North Dakota.
The peaceful event was intentionally scheduled for Thanksgiving Day, a national holiday commemorating the sharing of an autumn feast between Pilgrims and Native Americans in 1621.
Thursday's rally also came days after law enforcement officers used water cannons, rubber bullets and pepper spray on protesters and tribal members in subfreezing conditions.
The juxtaposition between the holiday's intended meaning and the government response didn't go unnoticed in Portland.
"The idea of celebrating Thanksgiving while people are getting shot with water cannons and rubber bullets for trying to protect their water makes us really sad," said Brady Bennon, who attended the rally with his sons Silas and Elliot. "We wanted to make our voices heard in support of the Sioux tribe and in opposition to the pipeline."
The Dakota Access Pipeline stretches some 1,170-miles, but a segment of the incomplete service line is projected to cross the Missouri River roughly half a mile away from the tribe's reservation. Tribal members are concerned the $3.8 billion project will affect their drinking water.
The Portland rally drew families with young children, couples with their dogs or bicycles and a smattering of umbrellas amid a sea of soaked rain jackets.
Attendees chanted, "Stop the Pipeline," and "Water Rights Are Human Rights." People held signs and stood close together amid the early morning downpour.
Shannon Berger-Hammond, co-founder of Families for Peaceful Protest, said her group organized the rally on Thanksgiving because "our hearts are sad and broken for the community."
"This is a holiday that is celebrated across cultures," Berger-Hammond said, as she huddled underneath the broad limbs of Portland's holiday tree in the public square. "It's meant to highlight peace and thanks and community and to celebrate indigenous nations and the indigenous nations are suffering right now, and they're fighting to protect something that affects all of us."
Berger-Hammond said it was easy to set aside family plans for the morning to come together on the holiday with friends and strangers.
Her group also organized a family friendly protest on Nov. 13th following the election that drew about 800 people.
Berger-Hammond's three children attended Thursday rally with her and her husband, Burke.
"This was a really great format to be able to explain exactly what Thanksgiving is, why we're celebrating it, and more importantly, that this is a call to action for our children and future generations," she said,
At the back of the crowd, Luke Cusack took in the sights with his 3-year-old son, Alden.
He's been sharing news from North Dakota, piecemeal, with his son. This week he shared some video of the water cannons and "some of the chaos that ensured."
His son has questions, largely why people would do that to other people.
The answers are tough to find, Cusack said.
"Maybe trying to explain to him helps me understand it better as well," he said.
Dave Killen contributed to this report
-- Andrew Theen
atheen@oregonian.com
503-294-4026
@andrewtheen