Wisconsin star point guard Bronson Koenig will drive 11 hours this Friday to join the protest against a North Dakota oil pipeline, according to a recent Yahoo Sports report.
“I hope to bring awareness to the cause and give everyone there a little bit of joy and a little bit of hope,” Koenig told Yahoo Sports. “I want to take time out of my schedule to pray with them and protest with them and show them that I’m right alongside them. They’ve always had my back whether I have an awful game or a great game, and this is my way of repaying the favor.”
Koenig is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and is only one of 42 Division 1 NCAA Basketball players who identify as Native American. He has been outspoken in the past about the harm done by Native American mascots, and has never shied away from his role as a representative of his heritage and his community.
According to Yahoo Sports, Koenig will be joined on the 11-hour drive by older brother Miles and trainer Clint Parks who intend to leave Madison on Friday afternoon and drive until they reach one of several protest camps 30 to 45 minutes south of Bismarck where they’ll set up camp there for the weekend alongside thousands of other Native Americans whose colorful tribal flags line the dirt access roads and whose teepees, tents and RVs cover the prairie.
