Mark Ruffalo - Dallas Goldtooth - AP Image
AP Photo/James MacPherson
Actor-activist Mark Ruffalo, left, poses with Dallas Goldtooth, of the Indigenous Environmental Network, outside the state Capitol in Bismarck, N.D., Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2016. Ruffalo traveled to North Dakota to support the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its opposition to the Dakota Access oil pipeline. Ruffalo is co-founder of The Solutions Project, which promotes clean and renewable energy.

Mark Ruffalo in Standing Rock; Leo DiCaprio, Jesse Jackson Head to Standing Rock

Vincent Schilling
10/26/16

Actor Mark Ruffalo arrived in North Dakota yesterday to show his support of the Standing Rock tribe’s opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline. In addition to Ruffalo’s support, actor and activist Leonardo DiCaprio says he is on his way to North Dakota. The Reverend Jesse Jackson is in North Dakota today.

Leonardo DiCaprio (L) and actor Mark Ruffalo at the Screen Actors Guild Foundation 30th Anniversary Celebration at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on November 5, 2015 in Beverly Hills, California. Photo: Getty Images - Angela Weiss

Ruffalo, who is the co-founder of The Solutions Project, a non-profit that promotes clean and renewable energy, told the AP he plans to deliver a pair of Navajo-made solar trailers to assist in power needs of water protector encampments. Ruffalo’s latest role will be as Bruce Banner, aka The Hulk, in the upcoming Thor Ragnarok, which happens to be helmed by indigenous director Taika Waititi.

See Related: Indigenous Director Taika Waititi On Directing ‘Thor Ragnarok’

Ruffalo, who is an outspoken activist and proudly asserts “water is life,” confirmed Tuesday night during a press conference in Ft. Yates that DiCaprio will also be coming to North Dakota to join the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in opposition of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Ruffalo’s appearance in North Dakota follows on the heels of a protest in Hollywood California’s MacArthur Park on Sunday, October 23, in which many actors and activists such as Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon and Shailene Woodley joined more than 800 protectors at a rally in opposition to the pipeline.

“Not only is it an environmental, but it’s a problem in terms of social justice,” Sarandon told the crowd. “We can do it. We can stop fracking. We can stop the pipeline. But really it’s only because of great numbers of people.”

Actor Shailene Woodley stands with Native Americans on stage during a climate change rally in solidarity with protests of the pipeline in North Dakota at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, California Oct. 23, 2016. Photo: Patrick Fallon—Reuters

In a release, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe announced that the Rev. Jesse Jackson will join the protest against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. In a statement he said, “With promises broken, land stolen, and sacred lands desecrated, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is standing up for their right to clean water. They have lost land for settlers to farm, more land for gold in the Black Hills, and then again even more land for the dam that was built for flood control and hydro power. When will the taking stop? When will we start treating the first peoples of this lands with the respect and honor they deserve?”

Jackson told a local newspaper his plans to arrive in Bismarck on Wednesday and will stand with pipeline opponents and "if necessary, go to jail with them."

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson sits atop a horse Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016, at the Dakota Access oil pipeline outside Cannon Ball, N.D. - AP Photo James MacPherson

More than 260 people have been arrested since demonstrations began in August, nearly half of whom were arrested over the weekend during a large protest at a pipeline construction site.

Follow ICTMN’s Arts and Entertainment, Sports and Pow Wow’s Editor Vincent Schilling (Akwesasne Mohawk) on Twitter at @VinceSchilling.

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bullbear's picture
bullbear
Submitted by bullbear on
Rev. Jesse Jackson's words could not ring anymore truer. Its been take, take, take from all tribal nations since that lost Italian man arrived here. And it is not stopping. Now its let's poison their water. Where is the goodness of America that politicians keep spouting off during this election year? Make American greater? How can that be? I thank all the professional actresses and actors, clergy, educators, and tribal leaders for standing alongside the brothers and sisters in this act of courage to protect the life giving water. We have yet to hear from Lou Diamond Phillips, Wayne Newton and others who have Native American ancestry. The media will obviously not listen to tribal members, so we need their active support and voices to reach the major news broadcasts. Politicians are a whole different animal and cannot be trusted anymore than you could toss them.
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Mark Ruffalo
Leonardo DiCaprio
Jesse Jackson
Shailene Woodley
Dallas Goldtooth
Standing Rock
Dakota Access Pipeline
Vincent Schilling
NoDAPL