10 Defending the Earth

In 2016, law enforcement agencies confronted protests on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota. At issue was the building of the Dakota Access pipeline, which would carry oil from the Bakken oil fields in North Dakota across the Missouri and Mississippi rivers to a terminal in Illinois. However, it was feared that the pipeline might threaten vital water supplies. Protests lasted for months, winning the support of a wide range of environmental and religious groups, both in the US and overseas. At the height of the movement, thousands joined the Native American protests and maintained an encampment, as the media regularly depicted images of fighting and alleged official brutality. The movement made clever use of social media, under the hashtag #NoDAPL (North Dakota Access Pipeline). Protesters claimed that they were not just defending their particular communities, but were protecting ancient sacred places and burial grounds. Banners carried the slogan “Defend the Sacred.” The Standing Rock affair symbolized the conflict between aggressive exploitation of energy resources and the defense of community and landscape. Advocates saw resistance as a spiritual movement as much as a political one.