On April 12, Krow was taken into custody, to Morton County Jail, where she awaits extradition. True to form—always thinking of others— she spent her last day on the outside supporting other No DAPL prisoners and rescuing a cat. Check the Updates and Solidarity page for more info. And please donate if you can, as Krow has a long road ahead and many legal fees outstanding.
Below is Krow’s statement after her initial release from jail on February 27, and before turning herself in on April 12. Krow’s legal case set a precedent in North Dakota as the first case to release someone on bond preceding a formal extradition hearing.
In the wake of my recent and precarious freedom, I’m forever grateful to my support network of comrades and families and their ongoing help throughout my continued legal struggle. The legal front for the ongoing fight to protect the water is just beginning. More than ever, people need to recognize that there are different front-line struggles everywhere. We must be prepared to fight for lives worth living instead of just surviving in this tyrannical mess, engage actively in prisoner support, and bring our legal A-game to the table for folks in need; the fascist, white supremacist Trump administration is amping up military funding and police protections to better quell both ongoing and future acts of political defiance and revolution.
I have never desired the kind of attention my legal debacle is receiving, but because it exists, I want to share helpful insights from my wretched experiences within the legal system and stints of incarceration dealt to me throughout my adult life due to fighting for the preservation of clean water, air, and land.
“Trump’s America” is the most fascist and fabricated place we could have never hoped to experience; colonization and white supremacy inform Trump’s every awful decision. He and his innumerable goons from each so-called authoritative entity have declared war on the people.
Now that the “No DAPL” struggle to protect the water exists under this regime, people need to reevaluate their tactics. It is STILL time to warrior-up, but many aspects of the fights in our struggles must become invisible. This is a constant practice in killing the ego, as we do not need to lose any more rad comrades (especially black and brown folks) to the state or prison industrial complex. Incarceration does not “prove” a point that we deserve freedom. We must fight back to reclaim our freedom and spaces, while being creative to avoid capture.
In conjunction, we must continue to practice and advocate non-compliance with the state (cops and affiliated authoritative figures) as well as resist grand juries; both entities only seek to infiltrate, disrupt, and destroy our communities.
For those that are unaware, the police and FBI continue to harass and violently attack rad comrades both within institutions and in the relatively free world; in the greater Bismarck and Mandan areas indigenous people are especially targeted, as well as any other alleged accomplices perceived to be affiliated with the “NO DAPL” struggle. We must make a strong stand against these perpetration s in our communities. We do NOT accept nor recognize “their Amerikkka”, and cannot be “rehabilitated”.
Colonization and white supremacy are some of the root causes of our pain in this tyrannical and destructive capitalist empire. We are living during dark times, thus the realization that patience is key must come to light. The Zapatistas took 10 years to effectively organize their indigenous struggle for sovereign existence, and it took approximately six years to organize the halt of the world’s largest proposed open pit iron mine in the Penokee Hills of occupied Ojibwe territory.
The opposition that works to disrupt and dismantle our struggles and movements energetically equips the police and military with seemingly endless resources that easily trump anything “we” have on all fronts. We must be strategic, clever, and patient in our resistance efforts and desires for industrial capitalistic collapse.
We do NOT need “everyone,” we need the RIGHT people, however there is something to be said about strength in numbers. It would behoove us to ban together with as many rad folks as possible from different classes and demographics that are willing to genuinely embrace a diversity of tactics to dismantle the status quo. To paraphrase the Black Panther Cubs, the white priveleged and destructive ruling class will not give up their power easily. Pegging ourselves against each other only serves “THEIR” system’s interests.
The law and government policies are STILL largely written by the predominantly white, elite 1% ruling class, and that is still whom the law benefits and protects; this means corporate and industrial “America” reigns supreme. The law does not benefit the majority of water protectors, indigenous people, undocumented folks, people of nonchristian religious denominations (especially muslims), people of color, folks in the LBGTQA community, or any minority for that matter.
Protect what is sacred at all costs; entities that inherently sustain life such as water, air, and land are of the utmost importance. Without a healthy land-base, we are no “people” and there are no people. As the Cree proverb says, “… you cannot eat money.”
Since colonization has deeply penetrated the spirit, mind, and bodies of most peoples, decolonization begins when we not only imagine ourselves and our conduct when left up to our own devices, but we actually start to embody ancient teachings, more intuitive modes of operation, and natural restorative justice for all creatures, all the while being careful not to culturally appropriate. We must actively deconstruct the mental, physical, and spiritual damage done by brainwashed white supremacist mainstream society, and the widespread institutionalized oppression it breeds.
Decolonize our ways of thinking about “activism” by leaning more toward grassroots resistance to combat the ever- expanding capitalist nightmare. Do, “… not act like rabbits, act like wolves… turn fear and panic into the sharp blade of survival,” (courtesy of Three Day Road, by Joseph Boyden).
If we are to support and work toward the return of Turtle Island and all of it’s lands and waters to the indigenous people therein, we must abandon all white liberal tactics and approaches, and strategies derived from such things. They do not apply to all people and originate from a privileged upbringing sheltered from many forms of oppression, and often use colonized means, words and intentions in an already unjust system. This liberal approach hinders long term revolution and multiple insurrections.
We all exist on a spectrum of colonization and decolonization, but the majority of the white “ruling” class is so far removed from their ancient tribal ways and land-bases that they continuously make spirit-less decisions and do not understand reverence for land, water or air. Praying alone will NOT stop their greed and destruction. As many Lakota people I respect have said, “We must meet the creator halfway,” actions speak louder than words. Both prayer and the implied warpath coexist as ancient traditions in innumerable cultures.
Strive to be more invisible as necessary, listen to decolonized wisdom, and always recognize there’s a difference between “olders” and elders. Restrict conflict and dissent to internal discussions within struggles, otherwise we do the fascists works for them; this largely means stop making stupid Facebook posts; people are incriminating themselves and other people due to the enormous size of their annoying egos. Security Culture is paramount; more antiquated forms of communication are typically safer, and modern technological devices in general are often easily surveiled. Be smart and remember that people have been imprisoned for simply SAYING things, aside from doing them, and, oh yeah, Trump is Czar.
There is no reason to be bored in general, or confused about what or where the “resistance” to the status quo and it’s ongoing destruction are… It IS and NEEDS to be everywhere! Privileged yuppies should NOT be allowed to escape to the suburbs out of the reaches of oppression or the resistance. We must be invisible, but simultaneously seen and felt everywhere. Be effective, NOT symbolic.
In Struggle for the Wild,
Krow/ Twig/ Katie Kloth
About Krow’s Case
On February 4, while supporting the No DAPL struggle, Krow (Katie Kloth) was assaulted and arrested by a Bureau of Indian Affairs officer (there is video of the incident below). She was walking on a public road, away from the Sacred Stone camp, when she was chased down by the officer. It is believed that she was specifically targeted because of her ongoing involvement and visibility within the No DAPL resistance, which had resulted in two arrests on misdemeanor charges previous to this incident. Krow was also known at Standing Rock for being an advocate for creating a unified front in fighting the pipeline.
Krow has been charged with violation of felony probation and was held at Morton County Correctional Center until February 27. The probation is from previous charges in Wisconsin stemming from an environmental protest against mining in the Penokee Hills in 2013, for which she served nine months in jail. After a bail reduction hearing, Krow was assigned a cash-only bail of $100,000. The stipulations of the judge required that the bail be paid in full. Donations to support Krow will go towards paying lawyers, commissary, postage, travel for supporters visiting Krow, and/or helping Krow with basic needs.
Krow is an activist, artist, forager, sustainable farmer, biologist, and amazing person loved by many within the environmental movement. We need to show her as much solidarity and support as we can at this vital time. In Krow’s own words, “We must negate state repression by protecting ourselves and land-bases therein; we must not give our people up, and recognize that to be in solidarity with one another is more akin to the idea of ‘harmony’ than ‘unity.’ Harmony implies that we can all do different things within the same song, and still find conclusion together.”
Whether you are a direct action environmental activist or simply support the No DAPL struggle and protection of the land and all of its people, join us in supporting Krow, in solidarity with all things wild and free.
Contact Krow’s support team at supportkrow[at]riseup.net
Warning: The video below is quite graphic