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John Willis
www.jwillis.net
The book can be purchased at: https://jwillis.net/about/publications/
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their non-Native allies organized resistance against the building of the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline by Energy Transfer Partners. This 1,172-mile long pipeline would pass through the Dakotas, across Iowa, and into Illinois, beneath the Missouri River along the northern border of the Standing Rock Reservation. The pipeline’s proposed location threatened the water supply of the reservation and millions of people living downriver, as well as impacting areas containing sites sacred to the tribe.
The Mni Wiconi (Lakota for “water is life”) and NoDAPI (No Dakota Access Pipeline) grassroots resistance movements organized after court action taken by the tribe failed to delay the Army Corp of Engineer’s building of the pipeline pending an environmental impact study. Gathering and mobilizing supporters of the cause occurred in temporary sites like the Oceti Sakowin Camp, where visitors entered aware that no guns, drugs, or alcohol were permitted. These camps bustled with energy, with the community working together to organize schooling, community meetings, media handling, nonviolent action training, and other necessities.
The Mni Wiconi and NoDAPI protests were not isolated from the historical and cultural circumstances and systemic practices faced by native peoples. The call from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for resistance against the Dakota Access Pipeline was a call for humanity to recognize the finite reality of our natural resources, respect the sacred sites of Native Americans, and prioritize the health of all communities in oil-rich areas.
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