In 2016, the water stewards at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation created worldwide awareness of Indigenous sovereignty and an honoring of the environment in a way that few movements have before. As the world and Indian Country watched, thousands of water stewards rallied to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which would run under part of the Missouri River on the reservation.
From the beginning, youth lead action towards water stewardship.
In April 2016, youth from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe created the Sacred Stone Camp along the Cannonball River on the reservation. Later that month, youth ran from the reservation to Omaha, Nebraska, to deliver a petition signed by 457,000 people to the Omaha District office of the United States Army Corps of Engineers, demanding they stop the pipeline. The Commander of the Omaha District refused to meet with them. In July 2016, Standing Rock youth ran to Washington, DC to demand President Obama stop the pipeline. By August 2016, construction of the Dakota Access pipeline began — but protests were just getting started.
Over the next few months, thousands of water stewards camped near the construction site in efforts to delay construction for several months. Water stewards used several key methods to raise awareness. The first was recognizing water both as a sustainer of life and as sacred for many tribal communities. This brought about the phrase Mní wičhóni, Lakota for “Water is Life.” A second key strategy of water stewards was encouraging divestment (removing money) from banks that supported the pipeline by gathering together in front of banks like Wells Fargo. Using divestment as a technique enabled people across the U.S. and world to engage with the movement, beyond attending gatherings or joining the camp.
By December 2016, President Obama and the Department of the Army denied a final easement until an Environmental Impact Statement was conducted, temporarily halting construction. This changed when President Trump took office, however, as he very quickly signed executive orders in support of both the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines. Similarly, the Army Corps of Engineers under President Obama said they had no intent to forcibly remove water stewards from the camps, but this too changed under President Trump. Their “eviction date” was February 22, 2016; the camp was ceremoniously burned by water stewards and a few stewards were arrested.
Despite months of community action, the pipeline was constructed and oil began flowing in May 2017. The collective action continued in 2021 as Native American and environmental groups asked President Biden to shut down the pipeline. His administration refused to do so.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe aren’t the only Native community leading with action of pipeline construction or extractive industries. Here are a few other places where Native change makers are upholding traditional values:
- Ojibwe change makers in Minnesota spent years challenging Enbridge Energy’s Line 3; a pipeline expansion project that brings oil from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada to Wisconsin. Part of the pipeline crosses wetlands in Minnesota where tribes gather wild rice, fish, and hold treaty rights. Collective action from Tribal members along with other local partners continue to challenge violations against environmental regulations resulting in $11 million from Enbridge in payments, environmental projects, and financial assurances.
- The Keystone XL pipeline expansion has and continues to be a space where Tribal communities across North America come together to uphold land stewardship. The Keystone XL pipeline expansion project has been cancelled twice, initially under former President Obama in 2008, then revived under Donald Trump’s first term, then canceled again in 2012 under former President Biden and seems to be back on the table. It would bring oil from the tar sands in Alberta, Canada to Nebraska. Community action is working to eliminate the impacts that several tribal communities along the way, including the Fort Peck Reservation in eastern Montana experience.
- The Niitsitapi Water Protectors in Alberta, Canada are currently working against the Grassy Mountain Coal Project and all open-pit mining in the Rocky Mountains in Blackfoot territory, where the Blackfoot hunt, gather food and medicine, and more.
You can make a difference by learning more, writing your Congressional leaders and President Biden, getting involved in your tribal youth council, and helping raise awareness of these issues.
Additional Resources:
- Check out this youth advocacy guide by UNICEF
- Get inspired by these Native youth who are champions for change
- Learn how to write a letter to your Congressional leaders here
- Write a letter to or call the White House
- Get involved at the national level
- Grow your leadership skills in Washington DC with the Native American Political Leadership Program
- Intern in Congress with the Udall Foundation
