NODAPL
THE ART
Poetry
Music
Witness: In his poem “Witness,” Trevino L. Brings Plenty uses concise and carefully selected language to create a piece that is sensual and intimate to the point where the act of reading feels almost invasive. He uses this verbal territory to portray the horrific nature of his aggressors at Standing Rock, whether it be the National Guard or the members of Tiger Swan Security, as well as their violation of the most personal parts of his being, meaning both his physical body, as well as the land that he is fighting for.
Prayer of Prayers: Deborah A. Miranda creates a vivid and concise piece in her poem for Orion Magazine. In it, the second paragraph reads "The planet prays for us, for itself; the planet sings for November’s endurance." These lines serve as almost a flip of what one would expect, being that we pray for the planet. However, this flip seems to point toward the relationship that native people hold with the nature around them both physically and spiritually. In fighting against the pipeline, they are fighting for the earth, and therefore the earth is on the side of the water protectors that are trying to serve it. "November's endurance" may refer to global warming and the rising temperature that comes with it.
At Standing Rock: This piece by Karenne Wood exudes a dramatic and paced tone that portrays the confrontation between the water protectors and the authorities. "As he stood on that concrete divider with the razor wire, he told them, “If you’re going to shoot, shoot at me, at this uniform.” she writes. In so few words, these lines highlight the installation of the pipeline as intrinsically unpatriotic. It is going against the individuals who have put their lives on the line for this country and in many ways represent it to the world, as well as the few who can truly call themselves native to it.
Water is Life: A Poem for Standing Rock: In a self-aware, cinematic and altogether powerful piece, Demian DineYazhi overlays his own life experience over the struggle at Standing Rock as well as the history of Indigenous oppression and protest in the United States. "Eat consume colonize" he repeats, pointing a condemning finger toward White America's all-pervading invasion of native culture, and the impending suffocation of that culture. Ultimately, by questioning his own complacency in the is face of this terror, he leads the reader to question theirs.
Black Snakes: Prolific the Rapper and A Tribe Called Red come together to tear through their listeners in an aggressive protest anthem that points out the corruption and carelessness on the part of major oil companies, as well as the recounts the personal life of Prolific himself, who had formally worked in the oil industry before abandoning what he ultimately recognized as the oppressors of his own people. "Who protects people from the police?" asks a woman on a 911 call to the authorities on November 20th. In this futile questioning, the frustration of the conflict reveals itself.
Standing Rock Stand N Rock: Flutes, drums, human voice as well as a whole array of modern synths and percussion bring together a hip-hop fueled protest track produced by Taboo. A tight verse flow and distinctly catchy and more melodic chorus section bring home the message to stand up for Standing Rock. "Is it liberty or are we just acting free?" asks Doc Battiest on the final verse, challenging the listener on their preconceptions of what makes the United States a "free" nation. However, what is by far the biggest strength of the track is the fact that it was made by Native people, and for a Native audience, a demographic all too often overlooked in pop music.
Thunderbird Strike: This video game is a downloadable, left-scrolling mission in which a thunderbird resurrects various animals that have been threatened by the oil industry, as well as use lighting to take down bulldozers, factories and the final pipeline serpent.
THE CONTEXT
Sovereignty : Native peoples have a distinct relationship throughout history with colonial court systems and legal framework. Unlike other minority groups, achieving sovereignty would enable natives to create distinct political bodies that can work with the United States rather than be subordinated within it. For this reason, many scholars argue that the focus of Native studies should be promoting and working toward sovereignty.
Seige: In late March of 2014, indigenous people and poor white farmers gathered together to protest the instillation the Keystone XL pipeline, holding up signs that said "PIPELINE FIGHTER." However, the white farmers' interests against the pipeline where more concerning big government and private property rather than tribal sovereignty. In this, Lakota historian Edward Valandra points out the irony of such property being twice stolen, secondly from the farmers themselves, but first from the indigenous people. Through this phenomenon, one can see the disparaging tract that capitalism run s on as more and more people are crushed under its weight.
Indian: The term "Indian" emerged from Christopher Columbus's mistake in thinking that , in discovering America, he had actually come across the northwest passage to India. This term, along with "Native American," "American Indian," "Amerindian" "Native" "Indigenous" and "First Nations" have been used to grapple the Native identity. The issue of what is the proper nomenclature has not yet been settled, and in and of itself show the complexity of the Native experience an d the ineffectiveness of attempting to group so many diverse nations within one group.
Prologue: Nick Estes brings the story of Standing Rock to the page in his book "Our History is the Future." In it, shows the hostile environment that their movement was born in, as his team and him set out across the country with "WATER IS LIFE" embroidered on their jackets through midwestern states like Wyoming that rely on oil, gas and coal for prophet. The danger and discrimination in their journey is palpable in his writing, as well as the near-doomsday significance of the oppressive actions of their opponents.
Women in the Fracklands: On Water, Land, Bodies and Standing Rock: Toni Jensen's prose is contemplative and organic as she writes on what she observes in the realities of Standing Rock, as well as her own surrealist fantasies that so closely reflect those realities. "If a man enters the bedroom in his riot gear, how will he make love to his wife? If a man wears his riot gear to tuck in his children, what will they dream?" These line seem to call into question those who trade their humanity for a uniform, and consequently, in this surrealist dreamscape, are inhibited in performing basic human functions.
How Art Immortalized #NoDAPL Protests at Standing Rock: Art allows indigenous people to amplify their voices in a culture that continuously tries to silence them. At Standing Rock, messaging took center stage in pushing awareness on the struggle taking place in South Dakota the phrase "Mni Wiconi" or "Water is life."
Long brings NoDAPL message to life in photos: Madison Hye Long shows the female face of the NODAPL movement in her black and white art photography centered around indigenous women. One shows the word "water" painted on the back of a woman, displaying the importance of water as source of life for the Standing Rock community, oil's threat to that life-source, as well as the violence brought forth on those that seek to protect it.
THE VETERANS
THE FIGHT
These Veterans Explain Why They Went to Standing Rock: In this video for Grist, Chris Vickers explains how he felt compelled to go to standing rock as a way of redeeming himself from fighting for large oil companies in Iraq. George Autry, a Vietnam War veteran makes a statement on how when people's basic necessities are threatened, they begin to feel the need to stand up and fight.
Chris Duesing Interviewed by Fox Business: On Fox News, Duesing explains that the use of force against the Souix is a flagrant violation of constitutional rights. He goes further to say that he and others are committed to peace and prayer. He also talks about how the president's passing of the pipeline circumvents the normal legal process for such projects.
Veterans Stand Ground with Pipeline Protestors at Standing Rock: In this NBC News piece, a Native veteran explains how closely he identified with the countrymen and women of Iraq being under the oppression of the U.S. government, much like his own people in their struggle against the construction of the pipeline. He also speaks on the power of spirituality within the movement and the humility with which veterans and outsiders served it with.
Veteran Service Corps Featured by Citizen Truth: In this article, the Veteran Service Corps states “We imagine a just, equitable world where the passion and talents of veterans are fully leveraged to improve the lives of all citizens, to create lasting solutions, and to build capacity in others.” This shows the commitment of veterans to the NODAPL movement, and demonstrates the standard they had themselves and others at.
Allies
Indigenous Voices
Indigenous Ally Toolkit:
This toolkit calls on the listener to evaluate their motivations for being an indigenous ally, become educated on the history of Indigenous People on Turtle Island and to act accordingly by acknowledging oneself as a guest in indigenous land, recognizing the multiple nations that live in that land respecting any cultural protocols and traditions.
Ten Ways to be a Genuine Ally to Indigenous Communities: This article explains how it's important to give back more to the community more than you take away, be aware of the space that you take up and keep in mind that what is needed is solidarity, not saviors. It's important to acknowledge that as an ally, were are going from a place of privilege and power and stepping into a space shared by marginalized people in order to speak out against and unjust cause.
THE RESPONSE
THE ENVIROMENT
Brown et al - Law Enforcement Descended on Standing Rock a Year Ago and Changed the DAPL Fight Forever: The effort by the government to suppress the NODAPL protest was one composed of an unmatched intersection of federal, state and local authorities. The raid of the camp on October 27th, 2016 that included slashing teepees and arresting families was all too reminiscent of the annexation of the sacred Black Hills in the Great Sioux War nearly 140 years ago.
The Supreme Law of the Land: In 1868, Father Pierre-Jean De Smet acted as a liaison between the United States government and the Lakoa and Dakota people, assuring them that the treaty over the land of the times was "without the least remuneration or cessation of land on their part." Without this false assurance, Lakota leaders never would have signed, and therefore Governor Dalyrmple's claims to its legal validity are false as well. This demonstrates the unfair power dynamic with which Native people and the U.S. have operated on throughout history.
Awake, A Dream from Standing Rock: A documentary that bring as much imagery in words then it does through the camera, Awake paints a dark picture of the coming future if Big Oil is allowed to burgeon across the North American continent. "Up through the water and into the scorched skies , rising oceans, collapsing cities, millions fleeing their homes, starvation, death ruin." speaks the narrator, Florris White Bull, who traces the path of the metaphysical fire which the pipeline fuels and it threat to threat to the planet. Relying more on emotion than just statistics, the piece drives the message of Standing Rock home and its relevance to not just Lakota, but all people.
The Financing Problem with Colonialism: With protests around pipelines emerging all over North America, the dissent toward Big Oil has created a disruptions in companies ability to invest and finance these project. The market around them has become more and more unpredictable as Native communities fight for their Indigenous sovereignty and challenge a system that did not previously consider them as a threat.
Death of Hydra: Joel Waters brings movement both insidious and impending in this piece. He ruminates on the post-political, corporate landscape of the United States, writing on how a "new hydra is born/ out of the entrails of a dead plutocracy/ whose oily tentacles/ have no reached our waters." The lines speak on how new kinds of oppression have been born of old ones, from political conquest during the colonial era to capitalist conquest in the contemporary. In this, rather than paint a picture of cultural progress for the West, he instead points toward the recurrence of an all pervading ignorance that has again prevailed in coming to threaten Native life.
Resolutions: This poem by Layli Long Soldier defines clearly the values of the current Native resistant movement of the United States, and provides a straightforward call to action on the part of the Presidency ad the government to recognize the humanity of Native people. In many instances the piece works in a way that creates new messages as the reader weaves back and forth between the two columns of text. "Now the law protects the corporation/ in potentially dangerous situations" reads one such instance, juxtaposing the physical dangers the protesters are in to the more abstract, financial danger of business, who is instead protected by the government.
In the Beginning: This poem by Mark T. Tilsen is at first warm andd family-oriented, allowing the reader a glimpse into life in one Native community. "I might even embellish how great I was" Tilsen says humorously, speculating on how his future hologram might recall the coming fight. The piece quickly takes a turn. "We are here. They are coming." he says. The graveness with which we addresses the pipeline stands in direct contrast to his former playfulness, emphasizing just what kind f happiness is at stake.
Beyond Environmentalism: Andrew Curley is keen to point out the stereotypes that the NODAPL movement may uproot in what is seen as the Indian character of being ecologically mindful. While this may be a stereotype with positive connotations, it also takes away agency from those outside the community to be more environmentally friendly, and instead places the responsibility of the "earth" in the hands of a marginalized group with limited economic resources or political influence. Curley also points out that many Native concerns stem from a needed change not in nature, but the lived, working environment of Native people and the dangerous conditions they are subject to.
What Standing Rock Teaches us About Environmental Justice: Jaskiran Dhillon writes on how the colonial origin of the planet's current state of environmental ruin has in large part flew under the radar in the global conversation on the environmental progress. In her essay, she highlights the intimate relationship that land dispossession, genocide and the erasure of Native people has with pollution and environmental destruction. Standing Rock serves as the perfect case study for this, as its status as a struggle for both culture and nature is not so much an exception, but part of a larger phenomenon whose respective aspects are inseparable.
Thunderbird Strike: Sovereign Game Development Without Borders: Photo textures in the game come from parts of the Minnesota pipelines and waterways. Oil Lobbyists and senators began going after the author of the game, Elizabeth LaPensée, who went on Fox News where they accused her of "training ecoterrorists." Since the telling of this indigenous story, the government has since passed legislation to restrict the messaging of video games.
Thunderbird Strike: Controversial video game takes aim at oil industry: "I was very concerned about and listening to the stories of my community members and storytellers and elders regarding there becoming a time when there will be a snake that threatens to swallow the land and the waters whole. So Thunderbird Strike really does reflect the stories of community members." says the LaPensée. One can see how, in contrast, the reactionary government response reflects the fragility of the oil industry's own believe in their mission.
Photos from Standing with Standing Rock: Riders: The main contrast in the piece is between the land and the sky, as those in the image are nearly silhouetted against the heavy clouds beginning to loom on the left. The figures in the image almost blend in, or become one with the landscape they inhabit as they stand out against the horizon like the mounds and rolling hills behind them. What the eye is drawn most immediately to is the figure with his arm outstretched. It is ambiguous as to whether the man’s gesture is one of joy, or one of surrender. The mans identity is also striking in the sense that he seems to be more timeless and abstract than his counterparts, due to the fact that it proves impossible to discern what he is wearing.
The Fight Has Become My Life, And It's Not Over: Zaysha Grinnell brings calls the readers attention toward the sexual harassment, abuse and trafficking that oil companies had brought to Fort Berthold in the form of the man camps that would be set around large-scale projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline. She also speaks on the importance of making more young girls into leaders in the Indigenous movement, and how they will no longer put up with the abuses they've suffered in the past. The article demonstrates the importance of considering every side of the pipeline struggle and listing to voices that have all to often been lost in the noise that comes with it.
Traditional Leadership and Oceti Sakowin: Lewis Grasshope gives the reader a brief purview inside the leadership life of the Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires, expaing how one leader is not usually chosen from each of the councils, but usually emerges of their own volition and ambition. He also speaks on the importance on the convergence of the seven councils, five being Dakota peoples, and two being the Ihanktonwan and Ihankyonwanna clans, as the groups of not reunited since the first encroachment of white people. Grasshope seems to find a bitter humor in how their reunification has once again been brought at the hands of white enchroachment.
Take A Stand At Standing Rock: In this essay published by the New York Times on August 24th 2016 David Archenbault II creates a powerful statement on the way in which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline without any regard for properly consulting tribal leaders, as they are required to by federal law. Archenbault explains on how Nationwide Permit No. 12 grants exemption from review by the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act, which calls into question of genuine intent of such acts in the first place, and how mutable they are in the face of such exceptions.
They Took our Footprint Out of the Ground: For Ladonna Bravebull Allard, the past came creeping up behind her when she first heard of the Dakota Access Pipeline coming to threaten the water Cannonball River, the main water supply of the Standing Rock reservation. In an interview with Nick Estes, she recalls the prophecy of Zuzeca Sapa, or the Black Snake. In this Lakota legend, it is told that a Black Snake will come to destroy the earth. As a young girl, Allard overheard this story as her grandmothers related it to the interstate highways being built across the country, which were covered in black tar. “Well, maybe this was the Black Snake.” says Allard, looking back on this memory, “I remember them saying, ‘But how could that be?’ The interstates are covering the Indian trails and the Indian roads. How could that destroy the world?” While the roads, or even the pipeline itself are not enough to destroy the world, they do create even more of a threat to the native world. In a sense, the story serves as a powerful allegory for two different forces coming to meet each other in a head-on collision: the Native world of the Lakota and Dakota people, and the European world of expansion and colonialism that seeks to swallow everything in its path.
The Great Souix Nation and Resistance to Colonial Land Grabbing: Two years after the Louisiana purchase and 1803 came the first treaty of peace between the Souix people and the U.S. government. However, more than anything, this document began to represent the U.S. intervening in Sioux ways of life if not through direct military action but by hunting the buffalo, the Souix main source of food, to scarcity. Pushed to a need to survive, the Souix signed a treaty that created a dependence on the U.S. government for rations of food in 1868. The elimination of Native resources in this way was essential to coercing the Souix people to integrate into a colonial economy. Then, instead of being a self sustaining and fully autonomous economic body, they were instead placed at the lowest rung of foreign capitalist structure.
Standing Rock: The Actualization of a Community and a Movement: Sarah Sunshine Manning is deeply introspective in her somewhat autobiographical essay entitled "Standing Rock." She reflects on her childhood on a reservation and the naivety she eventually overcame upon learning on her position in the world as part of a struggling and disenfranchised people. "We learn that we are a beautiful, resilient people, rich with culture yet resented by our invaders and silenced by corporations, the federal government, and institutional racism" she writes. The duality of her situation works toward bridging the empathy gap on why it is so crucial for people to stand up and fight for Indigenous sovereignty. For some, it is a political issues, but for people like Sarah Manning, it is a way of life.
Lessons from the Land: Peace through Relationship: In a TedX talk delivered in Toronto, Canada on October 27th, 2017, Michelle Latimer takes the reader to the Standing Roc camp ground through the lens of a war zone. His vivid and immersive prose describes helicopters hovering overhead day and night, creating a near constant paranoia as an unremitting surveillance pursued nearly everyone on the camp ground. He describes the search lights at night as "a dozen full moons shining down in you, but accompanied by snipers, lurking in the shadows, trained to kill. Always watching." The account highlights the tension that mounted at Standing Rock, and the distrust with which the government held Native people, being peaceful protesters.
South Dakota Riot Boosting Law Sims to Curb the Next Standing Rock Before It Even Starts: South Dakota legislators have expanded their ability to come down on protest movements in their states in what they call acts against "riot-boosting." Dallas Goldtooth, who broadcasted the news from Standing Rock in a valiant effort to spread awareness in an apathetic media culture. In this, we observe the 1st Amendment coming under threat by the state.
Photos from Standing with Standing Rock: Welcome to Standing Rock, Flag Avenue: Photography often bring the reader closer to the material for a more intimate and emotional understanding of such essays and articles that delve into the academic side of an issue. The same is true for the photos found in Standing with Standing Rock. The picture of the sign "Welcome to Standing Rock" with nothing behind it but open sky and empty fields leads the reader to contemplate man's place among nature, and the illusions that he deludes himself with in attempting to claim any kind of ownership over it. In Flag Avenue, dark clouds loom over the flags of various Native organizations and tribes, and ominous sign of what was to come in the coming fight against the pipeline.
Wake Work Versus Work of Settler Memory: In this essay Kevin Bruyneel speaks on working in the wake of Colonial powers being put in place on the North American continent. He addresses the intersection between the Black experience and the Indigenous experience in the nation, as the topics of displacement, enslavement, land and labour are all interwoven throughout their cultural stories.
Mirror Shield Project: This project's purpose was to originally to reflect the faces of the riot police in the Ukraine, forcing them to confront their won actions and reflect upon their own personal responsibility in the oppression they were taking part in. This project was brought to Standing Rock, showing a parallelism between the two struggles as the marginalized standing up against to the powers at be.
"Protect the Sacred" Exhibit: Inspired by the unprecedented solidarity between Indigenous nations as well as the allies around them, Tingit Artist brings a huge amount of style in her work "Coastal Wombyn's Resistance." At the gallery in which it was exhibited, 26 artist donated 50 to 100 percent of the funds they received from their work to the efforts at Standing Rock.
Christi Belcourt: A reservation called "Indian Island" about 150 miles north of Portland is the source of cultural contention between the state and the people of the Penobscot Nation. The fishing rights to the 61 mile stretch of the Penobscot. In a ruling, the local court claimed that these submerged lands would not be protected, as the Main 1980 Indian Claims Settlement Act consists "solely of Indian Island, also known as Old Town Island, and all islands in that river northward." Tribal chiefs have decried this decision to be a from of cultural genocide.
Thunderbird Woman: Isaac Murdoch brings contrast and simplicity in his iconic "Thunderbird Woman" piece that reads "Water is Life." The woman portrayed is distinctly Native American in her headwear and her dress, and the wings that take the place of her arms give the work an almost surrealist feeling, along with the rain coming down from the sky. The environment that she finds herself in is one of chaos, but if the egg-like objects on the ground are of any indication, it also may be one fo rebirth and renewal.
Isaac Murdock Art: The Thunderbird and No Pipeline Art signs by Isaac Murdock brought powerful messages to the Standing Rock movement . Their simple but effective messages, along with easy-to-consume imagery were able to bring people and identity to the canvas when it was needed most.
Josh Yoder Image: "Solidarity with Standing Rock" shows the respective forces on either side of the struggle at Standing Rock. On one side, we see the oppressors holding guns and pointing fingers, alongside their attack dog who is leaping toward an Indigenous woman on the opposite side. The woman, however, is simply holding up a feather and using her own voice to stand up to these antagonists, demonstrating the importance of prayer and communication at Standing Rock.
Stand Up to the Madness (Rosie the Riveter): Weshoyot Alvitre brings a powerful spin on the traditional "Rosie the Riveter" poster, portraying a Native woman who is crushing a snake in her fist wrapped around her bicep. She glares at the viewer, wearing a torn jean jacket with a red flannel underneath, exuding a deep determination in the face of adversity.
Holly Young--Ledger Art: Holly Young, after deciding to pursue art full-time, was granted the Minnesota Historical Society artist-in-residence opportunity. Since then, she has been doing a variety of floral and beadwork, many of which are inspired by the Woodland areas around the the Great Lakes and the Northeast, as well as the geometric patterns of Lakota and Dakota artwork.
Jim Denomie: The colors in Jim Denomie's "Standing Rock 2016" jump out at the viewer in a kaleidoscope, dreamlike version of reality where people on both sides of the struggle show their true faces. One one side, are men dressed in riot gear alongside businessmen, KKK members alongside dogs and trucks with swastikas on the sides. Opposite of the river are the native people holding signs and having barbecues, illustrating the humanity of their movement.
Chameleon Horse Art & Design: The Palestinian Youth Movement stood in solidarity with the Standing Rock movement, stating that the Dakota Access Pipeline is "another opportunity to destroy Native environment and is an example of the continued invasion and violence upon Native land and against Native people." In this, one can see the parallels between the two movements as a marginalized people looking for recognition and sovereignty in the face of erasure by white colonialism.
Dylan Miner: Dylan Miner has put together graphics for the Standing Rock movement that encapsulate a simplicity not unlike that of Isaac Murdoch. His character, on the other hand, is the opposite of the Thunderbird Woman. Instead we see a mischievous dragon-like figure whose sinister intentions can be seen in its sharp teeth and snake like eyes. Whereas Murdoch's art contemplates the hope we must look to as resistors, Miner consternates on what we're up against as an opponent.
Exhibit at the Autry: "Standing Rock: Art and Solidarity" is an exhibit that includes poster art, clothing and photographs launched as a part of a public campaign in 2016 in order to raise awareness about the fight in South Dakota. Is serves as one of the many ways that art becomes protest in the United States and amplifies the voices of those without one.
How the Nation's Artists are Standing with Standing Rock: Kenzie Townshed's digital drawing of a water jug labeled with a Shell Gas logo with the text "Fresh" next to it an almost humorous jab at the priority reversal amongst those who sought to see the pipeline installed for the betterment of the American people. Time and time before,it is has been pointed out that humans cannot drink oil in the same way that they cannot eat money, and this image is the perfect embodiment of that sentiment. Hailey Kaisers digital work brings a more cosmic quality to it, imposing the figure of a Naive American over the vacuum of space, with the golden record of the Voyager disc placed in the middle of the frame, remind the viewer of a universal humanity amongst all people and then need for solidarity.