#nodapl — Public Fediverse posts

‘The cavalry’s coming!’: Indigenous activism from 1492 to Standing Rock

Famed Indigenous activists like Leonard Peltier and Madonna Thunder Hawk and younger activists shared their thoughts with ICT about the evolution of Indigenous activism from the rise of the American Indian Movement in the 1960s to Standing Rock and beyond.

by Kevin Abourezk, May 11, 2026

#CannonballND – "The field is serene. The blades of brown grass, not yet awakened by spring rains, sway gently. In the distance, the #MissouriRiver cuts a blue streak across the unbroken plains. The silence is punctuated only by the sound of passing cars and the low hum of rushing water in nearby #CannonballRiver.

"But if you listen carefully, you can hear defiant voices shouting and then screaming.

"Ten years ago, this land exploded.

"For nearly a year, from April 2016 to February 2017, thousands of people stood strong against #MilitarizedPolice, #FederalTroops and #PrivateSecurityForces [#Blackwater] hired to protect the 1,176-mile #DakotaAccessPipeline. They gathered to resist a private corporation’s efforts to build a pipeline less than a mile from the #StandingRockSioux Reservation near the #NorthDakota-#SouthDakota border.

"In the end, they were forced to evacuate their camps as authorities quieted, but never fully extinguished, the uprising. Some would say the fire that ignited at #StandingRock was lit decades earlier by #NativeActivists who fought oppression and violence in the 1960s and 1970s.

"While Native people have resisted #colonization and its impacts since 1492, the rise of the American Indian Movement in the 1960s marked a turning point in the efforts of Native people to join together and speak in one voice. That torch of resistance was carried all the way from places like #AlcatrazIsland and #WoundedKnee to a field near the Missouri River in 2016.

"The #NoDAPL movement reached its height on Nov. 20, 2016, when hundreds of water protectors gathered on a bridge to clear two burned-out trucks that impeded a public roadway that provided access to the pipeline drill site and to the camp. The confrontation was the most violent clash between water protectors and authorities during the protest and led to nearly 200 people being injured, some seriously."

Read more:
https://ictnews.org/news/the-cavalrys-coming-indigenous-activism-from-1492-to-standing-rock/

#USPol #NativeAmericanActivism #StandWithStandingRock #NativeAmericanHistory #Resistance #IndigenousResistance #Colonialism #CorporateColonialism

South Dakota governor’s cabinet nomination raises tribal concerns

Secretary of #HomelandSecurity nominee #KristiNoem has a long, complicated history with tribes in South Dakota.

Amelia Schafer
Nov 15, 2024

RAPID CITY, S.D. – "Early Tuesday morning, news broke that South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, a decision that’s raised red flags for Native people in South Dakota, but also may provide an avenue for change.

"'We need to come together now, more than ever,' Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out said during a public intertribal meeting Nov. 13. 'I’m hoping we have a better governor in South Dakota that will work with us because we have issues that we need to bring to the table with the state.'

"Noem made South Dakota history earlier in May when she was banished from every reservation in the state following disparaging remarks made regarding alleged cartel activity on reservations and about Indian education. At one point Noem alleged tribal governments benefit from cartel presence and are failing their youth.

"During a May press conference, Noem responded to the banishments by asking why tribes 'don’t ban the cartels.' She’s banned from all nine reservations in the state: the #PineRidge, #CheyenneRiver, #StandingRock, #LowerBrule, #Rosebud, #LakeTraverse, #CrowCreek, #Flandreau and #Yankton reservations. Standing Rock and Lake Traverse both span into North Dakota."

[...]

"Emergency management is another area where Noem and the #OcetiSakowin (#Lakota, #Nakota, #Dakota nations have struggled.

"In December 2022, the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations were crippled by an extreme winter storm. Unable to get wood or propane, some households resorted to burning clothes and furniture to stay warm. A 12-year-old Sicangu Lakota boy, Honor Beauvais, died during the storm on the Rosebud Reservation, along with three other tribal citizens.

"When banning the governor, the #RosebudSioux tribe cited a delayed emergency declaration from Noem. Noem did not activate the South Dakota National Guard until Dec. 22, nearly 10 days after the storm began.

"The council also cited concerns with Noem’s support of the #KeystoneXL [#KXL] Pipeline in 2019 and an increase in penalties for pipeline protestors, referenced Noem’s opposition of #COVID19 checkpoints on the Pine Ridge and Cheyenne River Reservations, removal of teaching standards regarding #NativeAmericanHistory, legal threats to the #FlandreauSanteeSioux Tribe regarding its #MedicalCannabis operations and return of unused Emergency Rental Assistance funds in 2022 without consulting tribes."

Read more:
https://ictnews.org/news/south-dakota-governors-cabinet-nomination-raises-tribal-concerns

#DHS #TrumpAppointments #NoDAPL

The Intercept and Grist begin release of 50 #TigerSwan documents

by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 14, 2023

"The #Intercept and #Grist began releasing new TigerSwan spy documents in new coverage of the mercenaries hired by the #DakotaAccess Pipeline. They now have 50,000 TigerSwan documents, and another 9,000 are held up in the court battle for now. The documents reveal TigerSwan spying on #WaterProtectors at #StandingRock in #NorthDakota, Bold Iowa, and at other locations.

"[Murdered] #Pauite #journalist, drone #activist and filmmaker #MyronDewey was among those that TigerSwan spied on and stalked at Standing Rock..."
#WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #IndigenousNews #Blackwater #ErikPrince

Read more: https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-intercept-after-spying-on-standing.html

The Intercept and Grist begin release of 50 #TigerSwan documents

by Brenda Norrell, Censored News, April 14, 2023

"The #Intercept and #Grist began releasing new TigerSwan spy documents in new coverage of the mercenaries hired by the #DakotaAccess Pipeline. They now have 50,000 TigerSwan documents, and another 9,000 are held up in the court battle for now. The documents reveal TigerSwan spying on #WaterProtectors at #StandingRock in #NorthDakota, Bold Iowa, and at other locations.

"[Murdered] #Pauite #journalist, drone #activist and filmmaker #MyronDewey was among those that TigerSwan spied on and stalked at Standing Rock..."
#WaterIsLife #NoDAPL #IndigenousNews #Blackwater #ErikPrince

Read more: https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-intercept-after-spying-on-standing.html

Could it have been sabotage by RW types with guns or explosives? Whatever the cause, we all sounded the warning before the #Keystone pipeline was even built! #NoKXL #NoDAPL #KXL #WaterIsLife
"Officials hadn't yet determined the cause of the incident, TC Energy, the Canadian pipeline operator, said on Sunday."
https://abcnews.go.com/US/keystone-pipeline-oil-spill-investigators-search-cause-kansas/story?id=95048959