Thousands of Native people have rallied at Standing Rock, North Dakota, to oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). This is one of the largest protests by Native Americans in decades, as Native people and their supporters came from across the country stop the ecological disaster that DAPL would mean for Native lands and rivers.

In September, Deb Konechne and S. Gutierrez conducted a number of interviews with opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Cannon Ball, ND – On Sept. 8, at the Standing Rock encampment to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, the sky is deep velvet studded with the endless stars of the Milky Way, when a public address system cackles, stirring the camp. Indigenous people and their supporters are not here to sleep under the cold sky. They are here to protect the water and stop the Dakota Access pipeline.

Cannon Ball, ND – As the sun came up behind the clouds, Aug. 26, the camp was already stirring in one of the two main Sacred Stone Spirit resistance camps. Flags of different colors and designs flapped in the morning wind, advertising the multitude of different indigenous peoples represented at the camp. Thousands have traveled to the site to stand in solidarity with the people of Standing Rock as they oppose a pipeline’s threat to the water and land of their people, and millions of others down the Missouri River.