Shailene Woodley, who most recently made headlines for her arrest at the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, has written a powerful letter about the experience.
Woodley begins her statement, writing, “I was arrested on Oct. 10, on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a holiday where America is meant to celebrate the indigenous people of North America.” She was standing among Native Americans in peaceful protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, which threatens to contaminate the Missouri River—a water source, Woodley says, that millions of people depend on.
But her moving letter is not just about the environmental risks at stake. Woodley notes that “it took [her], a white non-native woman being arrested on Oct. 10 in North Dakota, on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, to bring this cause to many people’s attention. And to the forefront of news publications around the world.” She urges us to recognize the harm that is done to Native Americans by mainstream society’s persistence on ignoring them, except of course, on Halloween and at Coachella. Woodley further condemns this cultural appropriation, saying, “We buy plastic teepees from Toys-R-Us and set them up in our living rooms for children to play in. We grow up romanticizing native culture, native art, native history… without knowing native reality.”
The 24-year-old actress wasn’t the only one arrested that day, but she’s the only one we read about in the news. According to Woodley, 26 men and women who put their lives on the line, just like she did, were also detained. Woodley says it's important to recognize the need and urgency, like she and 26 others have, to fight the good fight. “Whatever your cause is. Whatever your passion is. Whatever you care about most… none of your efforts or hard-earned opinions will matter when the planet and the people you’re fighting for have nothing left to show for it,” she warns.
And as for hashtags like #FreeShailene, Woodley asks, “What if we took the hashtag #FreeShailene and made it #ProtectCleanWater, or #HonorNativeTreaties, or #IStandWithStandingRock?” Because it’s not about celebrity news, it’s about real people living real lives—people who supposedly represent the roots of our existence but who have been mistreated for hundreds of years.
