The Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution (Article VI, Clause 2) establishes that the Constitution, federal laws made pursuant to it, and treaties made under its authority, constitute the supreme law of the land.
John Adams – Green Beret 33 years “The Government has done a lot of bad things to a lot of people. Homeland security is an enemy within. I took an oath that didn’t have an expiration date. We liberate the oppressed and I tell you that this is about as oppressed as you can get.” (Photo by Christian Hansen)
“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
These veterans at Standing Rock are so disillusioned by traditional politics they didn’t vote. But they still think American ideals are worth fighting for.
Kash Jackson is a square-jawed Navy vet with a crushing handshake. On Nov. 8, he cast his vote for president—for someone who wasn’t running.
“You’re gonna laugh,” he says, “but I actually wrote my own name in. I couldn’t vote for any of them.”
Jackson may be disillusioned about the election, but less than a month after voting, he traveled from his home in Louisiana to the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota. There he joined more than 2,000 other veterans who had arrived to show solidarity with—and provide protection for—the Sioux and protesters from as many as 700 different tribal nations who had been camping in the area for months.
The vets, arriving in fatigues and carrying Army bags, stood out from the Native Americans and dreadlocked college kids. But when it came to political disaffection, they fit right in.
Also read It’s Not Over and see more photos by Christian Hansen of what it is like to live in the Standing Rock encampment and see more photos of the Veterans.
Most people at Oceti Sakowin, the main camp at Standing Rock, are suspicious of the Army Corps’ announcement or consider it merely one battle won within a much larger war. The day after the news, on Dec. 5, there was a huge demonstration during which most of the camp marched against the wind into a blizzard, toward the bridge that the police had occupied. (Photo by Christian Hansen)
Christian Hansen, a photojournalist based in New York City, has been a regular contributor to the New York Times for 10 years, and was formerly a staff writer at the Gillette News Record in Wyoming. His photographic and journalistic work focuses primarily on American cultural issues.
Susan Matthews is Slate’s science editor.
Aaron Labaree is a writer based in New York City. His writing has appeared in the Atlantic, Public Radio International, and elsewhere.
