Understanding history and fighting inequalities go hand in hand. I want to help stop the Keystone XL pipeline, but I feel like I would create more damage because of the privileges. I am privileged because of my male identity, my parents socioeconomic stability, and the encouragement I received from my family to go to college. Therefore, I struggle internally with ways to help others because others do not have the same privileges as me. I constantly question my motives to help others because I fear that I will blindly misuse knowledge that I gain in college.

The Keystone XL pipeline is an example of this fear I have. When I heard about the “Cowboy and Indian Alliance,” I thought about how I would like to be part of this group, where Native Americans, white people and other people come together in order to stop the Keystone XL pipeline from being built across the Mid-western states. My initial reaction to the delayed ruling of the Keystone XL pipeline had me thinking: “Wow. Now I want to be part of the movement to stop the pipeline.”

I had a “savior-like” complex after I heard about the keystone legislation extension. I wanted to help, but I didn’t understand the history of the pipeline. I still do not have a complete understanding of the pipeline. Regardless, I did not think my identity mattered because Natives and Whites are fighting the Keystone pipeline legislation. Therefore, the only thing that would matter is my drive to seek justice for the environment and Native communities affected by the pipeline.