Tsuut'ina First Nation holds fundraiser for Standing Rock protesters

Members of the Tsuut'ina First Nation gathered Saturday night to raise money in support of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's fight against construction of a contentious oil pipeline.

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 Watching the protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline from some 1,400 kilometres away, Darleen Meguinis wished she could help.

"There's kind of a helpless feeling, so we thought let's do something that's grassroots," she said. "Let's do something to support the camp." 

Gitz Crazyboy, another organizer, said they decided to raise money to go toward the protesters' costs.

"(The protesters) stepped away from their jobs and they stepped away from their lives to be in Standing Rock."

'We all care'

Dana Cross, a member of Horse Lake First Nation, said she would have gone south if she could. Instead she's glad to show support from here.

"For those that can't attend personally, to attend locally, to show solidarity, it's important. It's also important to show Canada that we are all, we are all one people, and we all care about what's going on across the border."

Meguinis says Tsuut'ina First Nation donated $5,000, to be added to funds raised during Saturday night's silent auction. 

Enbridge investing $1.5B

Thousands of people have joined the Standing Rock Sioux Nation's fight against construction of a contentious oil pipeline — a showdown Indigenous leaders in North Dakota warn won't end anytime soon.

The multimillion-dollar project is supposed to transport light sweet crude oil from the Bakken oilfield near the Canadian border to Illinois. Enbridge, based in Calgary, is investing $1.5 billion to be part of the project.

Tribal leaders and their supporters fear a potential leak in that pipeline would poison the Missouri River, which borders the entire western edge of the reservation.