Standing Rock protests spark support, fundraising efforts in Kahnawake

Ongoing protests over the construction of a four-state pipeline in North Dakota has struck a chord with Mohawks in Kahnawake.

Over the past few months, Indigenous groups have lobbied against the Dakota Access pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.

• Kahnawake Mohawks camp out in support of Standing Rock protesters

Opponents of the 1,900-kilometre pipeline being developed by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners say it threatens the Missouri River, a source of drinking water for several American states.

The protests have inspired a fundraising initiative out of the First Nations community on Montreal's South Shore and police raids on the anti-pipeline camp triggered Kahnawake Mohawks to holddemonstrations in solidarity.

Protesters brieflyblocked the MercierBridge over the weekend.

"It hurts my heart," saidLoniMcComberon Sundayfromacamp at the base of theMercierBridge in support of pipeline protesters.

"It makes me feel really sad that, even now in 2016, that it's allowed to go on like this for peoplejust because they want fresh clean water."

Timothy Armstrong, who works at Kahnawake radio station K103, says he felt compelled tovisitStanding Rock in September.

Now, he's organizing a benefit this Saturday in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue to raise money for the protesters's expenses, including legal fees and equipment for winter.

"We have to keep going, we have to keep the pressure on," said Armstrong.

• North Dakota pipeline protesters raise more than $1M through crowdfunding

He hopes the fundscan help purchase larger tents and help prepare the camp as it starts to get colder.

"We need to have everything in place for them for the winter so they can last as long as they need to," he said.

"You have just the elements. Thank God that the snow hasn't come in yet."

'They haven't brought arms'

With action being taken in Kahnawake and the promiseof more protests on the horizon,support is also coming from a high-profile actor.

Action movie star Steven Seagal, who has relatives in Kahnawake, condemnedlaw enforcement's approach in Standing Rock.

"This really has the potential to either resolve itself peacefully or turn into another Wounded Knee," Seagaltold CBC News.

Seagalcalled upon police officers to reconsider their position.

"They're peacefully demonstrating they haven't brought arms," Seagal said.

"Now why people are bringing in armoured vehicles and shooting them with rubber bullets and concussion cannons and things like this is a little bit hard for me to understand."

The pipeline protests have also drawn the concerns and condemnation fromFirst Nations celebrities and artists in Quebec, including slam poetry artist, author and Innuactivist Natasha Kanap-Fontaine.

She publicly recited an unpublished poem in support of Standing Rock protesters, saying that they were "bigger than fear."