Growing up half white, half Tlingit, Juneau local Angelo Katasse has always had a foot in two worlds.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething that I grew up hearing a lot was: \u201cYou\u2019re not like the rest of them\u201d \u2014 not knowing what that even meant,\u201d Katasse said over coffee Friday afternoon. \u201cRight now I am kind of at this crossroads, like, what is my identity?\u201d<\/p>\n
He always ran from this question, but a recent trip to Cannon Ball, ND to join demonstrations against the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline, has the 29-year-old reevaluating his roots and embracing his heritage.<\/p>\n
Thousands have made the trip to Cannon Ball in the past few months in an effort to halt the completion of a 1,200-mile crude oil pipeline opponents say was illegally conceived. The push to stop the pipeline has gained national traction, with dozens of Native American tribes making the trip to Cannon Ball.<\/p>\n
In July, the Standing Rock Sioux, of North and South Dakota, sued the Army Corps of Engineers, which approved the project, saying the pipeline \u201cthreatens the Tribe\u2019s environmental and economic well-being, and would damage and destroy sites of great historic, religious, and cultural significance.\u201d The suit is still in litigation.<\/p>\n
Katasse had been keeping track of the issue since August, but hadn\u2019t given it much thought until meeting with his kindergarten-age niece. She studies in a Tlingit language immersion program at Harborview; her pride spurred Katasse to make the trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was blown off my feet that this little kindergartner could talk to me in Tlingit and was so proud and not thinking twice, and here I am, a grown man, and what have I done for my people?\u201d Katasse said. \u201cThat was the driving force. I went down there with the mindset that, even if I don\u2019t change what\u2019s going to happen in 40, 50 years, at least I can say I was a part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Over Veterans\u2019 Day weekend, he flew to North Dakota to help \u201cwater keepers\u201d \u2014 the thousands at Cannon Ball prefer that term over protesters \u2014 keep opposition to the controversial project going.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I expected was the opening scene in Terminator 2: just man vs. machine, and it wasn\u2019t like that at all,\u201d Katasse said.<\/p>\n
There were snipers, turrets, scores of riot police \u2014 an undoubtedly outsized military presence, he noted, but despite the ever present spectre of violence, the singularity of the cause enveloped the Eagle Clan member, fulfilling a previously-empty sense of belonging.<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually, I forgot that we are constantly being watched, that there are snipers, there are turrets, because everyone has the same goal there. Everybody\u2019s idea is to survive the winter and stop the drilling. Since everyone has that collective goal, everybody is there to embrace each other,\u201d Katasse said. \u201cI went down there expecting a fight and I came back more spiritually in-tune than I ever have in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katasse never found it easy to take pride in his identity. At best, he felt torn and uneasy.<\/p>\n
On one hand, he says he wakes up everyday proud to live in America and doesn\u2019t feel like he has any less opportunity than anyone else. He has a great respect for the military and law enforcement: If World War III was imminent, he mused, he\u2019d wouldn\u2019t wait to be drafted, he would proudly enlist.<\/p>\n
But by the same token, Standing Rock represented just one more instance of the federal government yanking first nations people around. For Katasse and many others, it was the straw that broke the camel\u2019s back: this was where he would \u201cmetaphorically enlist,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the first time in my life I felt alienated from the country that I thought was supposed to save us,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat was and is taking place in North Dakota is exactly what I\u2019ve always read about: They promise one thing and something else happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Katasse spent the first day finding out where he could help. After he made a trip into town to purchase clothes and food with his fundraising money, he went to work building concrete huts designated for additional housing, food-prep, dumpsters or even sweat houses \u2014 whatever the water keepers needed in the area.<\/p>\n
An amateur standup comic, he developed a reputation as a raconteur at camp gatherings. In a central part of camp, an emcee would be on the mic everyday from 5 a.m. until dark, reminding water keepers what they were there for and keeping morale high.<\/p>\n
Katasse found himself on the mic the first night. He won\u2019t soon forget the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just kind of belted everything from my heart,\u201d Katasse said. \u201cI talked about how the most valuable lesson I\u2019ve learned in the past couple of years was to shut up and let the elders speak, listen when they talk. As soon as I said that, all the people in the audience started drumming, and screaming like \u201cYe, ye, ye,\u201d and it just sent chills down my back.\u201d<\/p>\n
For now, Katasse will content himself with helping the effort from a distance: he plans on doing a silverware drive to help eliminate the camp\u2019s need to import plastic cutlery.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Contact Sports and Outdoors reporter Kevin Gullufsen at 523-2228 or kevin.gullufsen@juneauempire.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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