Hundreds protest in Hamilton in solidarity with Standing Rock

The pounding of drums and chanting reverberated off downtown Hamilton's buildings Monday morning, as hundreds took to the streets in solidarity with Standing Rock Sioux Nation's fight against the construction of a contentious oil pipeline in North Dakota.

The protest, organized by Hamilton 350 in conjunction with Six Nations residents, started in Gore Park, before participants marched to several banks in the downtown core to bring a message to the banks' doorsteps. Similar protests have sprung up across the country.

• Six Nations protests in solidarity with Standing Rock at Brantford mall
• No end in sight for Standing Rock protest against Dakota Access pipeline

Why the banks?

"It's because those banks are funding in and have invested in these pipelines," said Myka Burning, one of the organizers. Protesters filled the sidewalks in front of the banks, singing, drumming and chanting "water is life!"

The Dakota Access Pipeline is intended to transport light sweet crude oil from the Bakken oil field near the Canadian border to Illinois.

Indigenous leaders have said the pipeline poses a threat to sacred land and to the water supply they depend on from the Missouri River. Protesters led by more than 90 Indigenous groups from across North America have been camping at the site of the pipeline since April.

The Texas company behind the $3.8 billion project says that it's safe. But the standoff continues and more than 200 protesters have been arrested so far.

Tribal attorney Tara Houska told CBC's The Current that "increased police response" is resonant in the protest camps.

"In just the last few days we saw police use rubber bullets, mace, Tasers, you know less lethal rounds on Native American men, women and children demonstrating against the Dakota Access pipeline," she said.

In Hamilton on Monday, protester Fred Loft told CBC News that it's important to show solidarity on issues like these.

"They're going through aboriginal land if I was going through somebody's backyard, I'd be arrested."

"If we don't stand together, they're just going to do it."

adam.carter@cbc.ca