In North Dakota, in the US, a dispute is raging between members of the Standing Rock Sioux community and the state over a decision to allow an oil pipeline to be laid down.
The dispute has turned nasty, with protesters reportedly injuring security guards , and the violence has halted work for now.
The community, which has gone to court to stop the pipeline from being put down, argues the project will disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water for thousands of tribal members on the Reservation and millions farther downstream.
CBC News reports that the court papers say the community , which has only just recently been able to survey the land, has found several sites of “significant cultural and historic value” along the path of the proposed pipeline.
In court papers, tribal preservation officer Tim Mentz says researchers had found burial rock piles and other sites of historic significance to Native Americans, the site reports.
Frankly, I cannot blame the tribe, and a ruling in its favour is an absolute must to protect heritage. Putting profits ahead of a heritage is capitalism at its most ridiculous.
And, the irony of course, is that there is still a global oil glut, with prices languishing around $46 a barrel. Not that South Africa has seen much respite in the petrol price, thanks to the ever volatile rand.
SA’s heritage
In South Africa, we say we’re big on heritage, and we even have Heritage Day towards the end of the month. This is a day when South Africans are encouraged to share their culture with others and to celebrate their culture and their cultural differences.
All sorts of events are usually planned - from local music concerts to walks through the streets of Jozi.
This year, however, Heritage Day falls on a Saturday, so it won’t become just the usual: an excuse to have a day off work and celebrate Braai Day. An excuse to have some buddies around, have a few brews and cremate some meat.
Instead, it should be about celebrating who we are as a nation, celebrating all our various cultures, warts and all. It should make us all sit and think, to steal a phrase, not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for it.
Yes, there are very bad parts of our history, but that’s not our heritage, and we need to do more to protect it.
Hidden gems
We have a rich history and, although it’s not as ancient as what can be found in England, is something that needs to be preserved.
Take Sizwe Hospital, which until 1995 was known as Rietfontein Hospital. It falls between Sandringham and Linksfield on SA’s north-east rand. It’s close to where I live, which maybe explains why I find its history fascinating.
Some 7 000 people were buried in its grounds between 1895 and 1957, and they died of illnesses ranging from smallpox to bubonic plague, and some other unknown germs in between.
Quite some years ago, the city proposed that the vast swath of land, where all the graves are - most without any sort of markers - be developed.
This, thankfully, sprouted an outcry from civil society groups. Sadly, that outcry seemed mostly to be limited to civil-minded ladies who lunch. They won, in the end, but not because of the historical value they claimed, but rather because digging up those graves would unleash goodness only knows what century-old germs into the air.
I also suspect it would have deeply annoyed the lady in white who is said to sometimes float across the road by the graveyard at the witching hour.
There’s much more that we need to protect. More memories, more history, more old buildings.
John Burgess has compiled a book called The Road Through The Grove, which is all about Orange Grove’s history. Now a true melting pot, Orange Grove is home to many stunning homes that date back to 1940, and have character and - if the walls could talk - many tales to tell.
Sadly, in the name of development and advancement, I’m seeing many of those homes being torn down and replaced with modern structures, inelegant homes that doubtless have poky matchbox-sized bedrooms instead of the lavish spaces usually found in that suburb.
Cities and suburbs around SA will have similar little hidden gems - parts of our history that must be preserved so our children’s children know where we all came from.
And that’s why I’m with the Sioux on this one. And I think more South Africans should be looking at how to put heritage ahead of pure profit. It’s part of triple-bottom-line accounting - let’s live it.
* Nicola Mawson is the online editor of Business Report. Follow her on Twitter @NicolaMawson or Business Report @busrep.
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