[Narrator] In the midst of the sixth great extinction, corporate greed, political corruption and state sanctioned violence rise like the oceans. Society and our climate continue to spiral into chaos. Economic and ecological storms grow stronger and more destructive. Our freedoms and security rush down the drain towards extinction like so many of Earth's rapidly dying species. For decades, fossil fuel infrastructure has expanded across all parts of the globe. Most of human society has become dependent on oil to complete even the most menial tasks. In what could be the final centuries of human history, corporate and state power have merged together to secure the world's last remaining oil reserves. The same destructive colonial mindset brought by Columbus still thrives today, protected behind the badges of law and hidden within the shadowy boardrooms of monolithic energy corporations. Oil pumps through the swollen veins of capitalism, as pipelines snake through the communities across the Americas on its way to export. Thousands of years of indigenous history, and the very fate of humanity, remain under threat of total annihilation as corporations move to extract the final dollar. In a world saturated with oil wars and disasters, hope is slowly being asphyxiated through the tightening grip of the black snake. [Historical narration] The colonies in the latter part of the 18th century showed a great increase in population from many parts of Western Europe. The short-sighted policy of colonial empire was to extract quick riches from these territories. The object of their search was oil. "Indian Arrowhead?" "Yeah..." "Found it right over there by where we put the rig." The ceaseless pounding of work was like a heartbeat, pouring energy out through the veins of America. "By golly this is not all to drink!" (Laughter) [Narrator] For generations, settlers pillaged the land, poisoned the water, and exploited the earth for short-term gain. After early years of coexistence, the Lakota realized no matter how much they gave, the settlers would never have enough. War broke out. After decades of bloodshed on the plains, the United States sued for peace, signing the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 - binding nine nations and establishing clear ancestral boundaries. To accomplish their Eurocentric concept of the American Dream, the United States methodically negotiated treaties which they would eventually break, as they continued to betray the native people. The United States broke the 1851 treaty and negotiated hundreds more. Not a single treaty signed by the United States would remain unbroken as the settlers claimed dominion over the land. For the next century and a half, the Lakota people continued to sacrifice their sovereignty for the next seven generations. In the 1940s the United States Army Corps of Engineers built dams that flooded the most fruitful Lakota lands along the Missouri River. The government said it was a good deal as sacred cultural sites were submerged and lost to history. Today, the land upriver from Standing Rock is littered with flaming frack wells. The United States envoys come again, at the behest of Energy Transfer Partners, with plans to construct a pipeline under the Missouri River. The route was set to cross treaty land, and would place the pipeline directly across sacred grounds a mile north of the tribal reservation. This move placed the people of Standing Rock within the immediate fallout of a potential oil pipeline leak, which would contaminate the water of everyone living downstream. Despite the absence of an environmental impact study, and objections by tribal members over the planned pipeline route crossing the river, construction was approved. Indigenous prophecy says that one day a black snake will come from the north, spit venom, and poison the water. In 2016, a diverse group of resisters calling themselves water protectors mounted one of the largest direct action campaigns in history to stop what they dubbed 'the black snake' - the Dakota Access Pipeline. In late March, a spirit camp called Sacred Stone was announced to act as a beacon for those who would stand to defend the water. The Sacred Stone Camp began on April 1st with a blessing at Fort Yates - within sight of the Missouri River, the longest in North America. "I'm a Standing Rock Sioux tribal councilman and we started this this ride this morning to, to show resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline and to let people know that we're here, too, and we're gonna, we're gonna fight them every step of the way." "The issue is the Dakota Access Pipeline, which is proposed to cross under the Missouri River just north of us here, just north of our reservation boundary, but as we know that's our treaty land, treaty land that was promised to us, so that's still our land and just I guess the reservation boundary is the only thing I don't know how they thought they could get around it, but we're not gonna let it happen so we're all here to take a stand against it." "So I'm Dave Archambault, I'm the tribal chairman of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and we are gathering so that we can ride in prayer, so that we stop the pipeline from being put underneath the Missouri River just north of our reservation boundary." "You know there's never been a real comprehensive Environmental Impact Statement that that's ever done prior to building the pipe. But once they do that I'm pretty sure that they're gonna find all the possibilities for harm here, and that's what we're looking for too." "I can't see anybody who shouldn't be concerned with this river, because it's a lifeline for everybody. To begin with, when they [Army Corps of Engineers] made this.. flooded this river, they took away a lot of our land. I don't know why they're coming here to try to poison our river again." "I'm doing it for my kids because this is, this is gonna be theirs. People don't think about the future, They don't think about how this is gonna, this is gonna be... It's gonna be passed on to them and if it's not here, what are we gonna give them?" "Well, we can live without oil but we can't live without this water." "We don't want to see something happen that's gonna affect our livelihood." "Not too many places in the world are safe and pristine anymore." "It's not just a tribal issue, it's everyone's issue, and that's the thing that we want to stress to everybody. So I'm happy to be here." "We're on the front lines right now. We're gonna fight this pipeline, we're gonna fight big oil - if we don't fight this, what is there gonna be for our children and our grandchildren?" [Narrator] Members of local tribes and allies prayed and blessed the riders. They rode north to LaDonna Bravebull Allard's land to erect teepees, and prepared to defend the drinking water of the reservation and the millions south. "My name is LaDonna Bravebull Allard, and you are on my homeland. This is my father's land. This is where I grew up. There's an old house that fell down. That's the house I grew up in, the other house is my father's house. My father died so he's buried back over here along with my son, and my aunts and my cousins. This is very sacred land. I grew up knowing that. I knew that the holy hills of the Mandan are right here, the Okipa site's here, the sacred rocks that are here that tell us our futures. They're all right here. Two years ago, when I found out they were gonna build this pipeline right outside my door, I thought how could they do that? How could they not talk to me? And then they said they're gonna put this pipeline, they're gonna put it through a burial ground right there. What happens when that breaks? What happens to this? What happens to our water? It's like the same old story with the government and the agencies and Big Oil... We don't matter. So, we have to fight to live." On the first night, a single woman sat alone, warming herself in front of the sacred fire. The Standing Rock nation passed a resolution in support of the camp. Days after the camp began, permits in Iowa for the Dakota Access Pipeline were approved. Indigenous youth led runs across the reservation to raise the alarm, and then to the capital of the United States to gather support against the pipeline. "We just came back from Washington, DC, our 2,000-mile relay run." (Call and response): "We Stand!" "We Stand!" "For water!" "For water!" "For life!" "For life!" Water protectors went to the North Dakota capitol grounds and prayed for three days that the Missouri River was left undisturbed. "According to what we're understanding, there is not gonna be no help for the tribes. It's gonna be nothing. So we have to stand up now. We have to say no now." In Iowa, three pipeline construction sites were sabotaged by arson, causing $1 million in damage. Despite these actions, the Army Corps approved permits, and gave notice that construction was set to begin August 10th, 2016. Water protectors drawn to the Sacred Stone Camp were greeted with a heavy rainstorm, which lit the sky for hours during the night. In the morning, over a dozen water protectors made up of natives and allies gathered outside the gates of the Cannonball Ranch near the site of the Missouri River crossing. Private security wearing sidearms watched as water protectors strung banners and prayer ties along the fence. The next day, the number of water protectors doubled. "When this started, you know, I had said, if I have to stand alone, I'll be here. Look at all these people. Look at all the people that care about the water and the earth. Look at all these amazing people. These amazing warriors from everywhere." Morton County arrived in a convoy of police vehicles escorting pipeline construction equipment sandwiched between them. At no time did they hesitate due to treaty rights, or to the rights of the United States citizen to protest. The Sheriff's Department escorted the companies contracted crews through indigenous treaty lands to begin construction. The water protectors sang, prayed and placed their bodies in front of the machines. The Lakota told the police that this was their 1851 treaty land. The police arrested 12. "Mni Wiconi!" (Cheering, yelling) "Mni Wiconi!" "You can't drink oil! Keep it in the soil!" Morton County Sheriff's Department would tell them if they were there tomorrow, they would be arrested for trespassing. In the following days, prayers were met with more arrests, including Dave Archambault, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Until August 15th, the days repeated in song, prayer and morning arrests as construction continued on the roadway into the Cannonball Ranch. "Every day, we start our day in prayer." "I'm Bryan [Niewin] with the North Dakota Highway Patrol and you are now illegally blocking access to a work site here, it's a public access that people have to have access to, you're illegally blocking it. You have five minutes to disperse, we're asking everybody to head south in that direction, 100 feet to the protest area, that's the identified protest area that you have." "Down to the designated area - let's start moving to the south!" Construction was finally stopped when a group of women holding sage climbed over barbed wire fences and ran at the machines. The tractor started to reverse, and more people joined them. "We do this to stop the desecration of Unci Maka, we do this for the next seven generations. We do this for the unborn children that are coming to this world. We're protecting the water! Our water is life! We will not let it get desecrated! They are not allowed to make no pipelines on this land!" Construction halted, and the vehicles and police left the area. In the following days, water protectors continued to gather despite no construction on site. "We're still here this morning. Scouts went out, and they said that neither the police force or the workers are staging this morning. So, that's a really good feeling. Our prayers have stopped them for another day." They sang and prayed along Highway 1806 next to the Cannonball Ranch. Sacred Stone Camp swelled to capacity, and water protectors flowed over into the surrounding area, forming multiple camps. "The camp got a lot bigger, I mean, there's a lot of people out here, it's a lot more smoothing and calming [to] know that we have a lot of allies and relatives coming to our aid to stop this pipeline, we can all come together... ...there's a lot of people here!" "You know, today is just the beginning, like you know, the drop of that rock in the pond, it's that ripple effect that will keep continuing, that we want to happen, you know" [Song] "I will learn to be peaceful, but I keep my knife at my side. I will pray for compassion, whoa...!... but if war comes to my door, you know I will be blasting, warrior mentality, my responsibility, bringing it to my people now holler if you're feeling me. Feeling me, feeling me, feeling me, feeling me, yeah... feeling me, feeling me, yeah... "Everybody needs water. Human beings are a majority of water. So when you destroy the water you destroy our own lives. So we have to fight to live." Morton County implemented an emergency declaration of civil unrest, which allowed greater allocation of funds towards law enforcement. Sheriff Kirchmeier held a press conference where he labeled all the hundreds of water protectors criminals. He cited reports of gunfire in the area, and pipe bombs being made within the ever-expanding water protector camps, yet provided no evidence. Kirchmeier used the information to announce a checkpoint south of Mandan, separating the people of Morton County from the ongoing protest against the pipeline. "Um, are you going...?" "South?" "South." "I have the right to remain silent." "Okay, well we're not letting any people go south, so if you wanna go that way, you'll have to take a right." "Can I ask why?" "I don't have an answer for that." "Can I ask you why you guys are out here doing a checkpoint with no warning signs, no lights, no signs...?" "It's a traffic information point right now." "It looks like a checkpoint to me." "Nope, just a traffic information point." "I see." The Governor of North Dakota, Jack Dalrymple, declared a state of emergency and withdrew medical and water assets from the camp. Tribal nations responded by sending in water trucks and ambulances to fulfill Morton County's obligation to public safety. Water protectors held a round dance in front of the North Dakota Capitol, while police in riot gear looked on, and some officers joined in. On the same day, police placed a rush order for shipments of tear gas and rubber bullets from a company in Minneapolis as they danced with the water protectors. Energy Transfer Partners filed a temporary restraining order against the water protectors. Meanwhile, a judge in DC said no decision would be reached for weeks on the injunction by the tribes to stop the pipeline. As the camps grew rapidly, Morton County signed a Mutual Aid and Assistance Agreement with the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota to bring in more officers and furnish crowd control assistance. In Iowa, a woman set up camp alone - in the pathway of the Dakota Access Pipeline construction vehicles. When arrested, she said, 'I am just one woman, but Standing Rock started the same way.' In North Dakota, construction was still paused at the Cannonball Ranch just north of the expanding indigenous camps. Despite the legal limbo at the Missouri River crossing, construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline continued miles outside of camp. 20 miles west, two warriors, one from the Standing Rock Nation and the other from Rosebud Sioux Tribe, locked down to pipeline construction equipment. "We're here to shut down equipment on one of the routes to the pipeline." "I'm here to stop this pipeline in a non-violent manner. I come in peace, prayer, and unity and solidarity with my indigenous brothers and sisters, and I'm here to protect the water. Aho, mitakiyasin. Police used bolt cutters to extract both warriors as construction equipment remained immobilized for hours. The water protectors were arrested, along with a few others that were providing water. On September 2nd, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe advised DAPL of sacred sites in the path of the pipeline. The next day, water protectors in the area arrived for a daily prayer at the entrance to the Cannonball Ranch and found pipeline construction crews bulldozing the sacred sites. As the bulldozers destroyed the ancient Lakota prayer circles, the people moved forward and demanded the construction crews to stop. Private mercenaries, lacking permits to operate in the state of North Dakota, unleashed dogs and pepper spray on the people. "They're still threatening those dogs against us and we're not doing anything." "Get your fucking dogs out of here!" Multiple people were bitten as the construction vehicles and security were chased away. The area would be named Sacred Ground, because the people's blood was now on the soil. That evening, the sheriff claimed the water protectors used unlawful actions and protected the security company that was operating without a permit. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed a restraining order against Energy Transfer Partners to stop pipeline construction after they destroyed the sacred sites. People flooded into the camps as footage of the dog attacks spread across the internet. Three days later another direct action, miles from camp, also stopped construction. "Our children deserve to have clean water. Our children deserve to be safe and these pipelines bring in man camps and hardcore drugs, which leads to sex trafficking of our native women." "This pipeline can never be built, so we're here to make sure that that never happens." "Today, the people shut down site 121, that's where we're at right now currently, and then up the road they shut down 122, 123, and 124." "These people, all they looking at is the money sign, they're looking at nothing else, but the M-O-N-E-Y. And you know what, we're not having it. We're not going for it. For the next generation, we have to stay strong." "Be on the front lines. This is your movement! This is not one particular people's movement. This is everybody's movement. Everybody's right to be right here, to protect and defend." The Department of the Interior, the Department of Justice, and the Army stepped in, and asked DAPL for a voluntary halt of construction within 20 miles of the protest site. The departments asked for respect of First Amendment rights and treaty rights, as the tribe continued to file injunctions. In the days after, water protectors traveled outside the 20-mile boundary to an active construction site and locked down to pipeline equipment. "We're shutting down work for the day, please turn off the vehicle." "Have a good day." "Thanks, you too! I get a day off with pay now, that's cool!" "Everyone doesn't want any conflict, please." "Absolutely." "I'm here to show love to my brothers and sisters of Standing Rock and all the other relatives that came here to stand up to defend the sacred land and water." "We're here locking down to this pipeline machinery and stopping construction at this site for today and letting the world know that pipeline construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline is still continuing, contrary to, you know, what a lot of folks thought after last Friday's intervention by the Obama administration, you know, making it seem like they were going to stop the pipeline. The pipeline continues to be built, you know, beyond that 20-mile buffer." Morton County responded with riot squads, and police officers armed with long rifles. "For the water! Mni Wiconi! Water is life!" "They came up on us from the backside with automatic rifles pointed at unarmed citizens, and these guys came in riot gear from the front, all the guys in the back on those tractors back there all had arms, M16s, whatever they had, I don't know if they were automatic, and they came up on us deep." 20 water protectors are arrested. "Sir, stay where you are, you're under arrest for criminal trespass." "I'm press, sir. I'm press." More private security firms were brought in by Energy Transfer Partners to secure the construction corridor. G4S provided security to gas companies in Iraq, and now found themselves patrolling the plains of North Dakota. The list of other security companies went on: Code 10, TigerSwan, Leighton... "Evening! Pretty good... we just wanted to talk to everybody to let them know about the camps down south, and then we're just asking everybody to slow down a little bit when you get close, we're just trying to keep everybody safe, make sure nobody gets hit, because you know, there's a lot of pedestrian traffic down there... so you guys are good to go. Have a good night." Actions continued in North Dakota with more lockdowns, and arrestees were charged with felonies. Construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline was disrupted by direct actions again in Iowa as entrances into construction sites were blockaded. As the water protectors dug in, the overflow camp on Army Corps land just south of the Cannonball Ranch is given a special permit. The protectors name it Oceti Sakowin. Multiple police surveillance aircraft began daily geospatial intelligence flights over the camps. "There he is, see him?" Police expenditures broke $2 million. "You been down this way before?" "Yeah." "Alright, we got some traffic coming this way, once it clears, we''ll send you on your way, okay?" "Alright, sounds good." Meanwhile, Sheriff Laney of Cass County, North Dakota forwards state and local intelligence center threat assessments to sheriff's associations across the country. The letter includes a request to prep law enforcement personnel to be sent in support of local police under the Emergency Management Assistance Compact, and a promise to cover all expenses. Marches continued daily from Oceti Sakowin to the now dormant construction site on the Cannonball Ranch. The Standing Rock chairman spoke in front of the Human Rights Council at the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. A noise demo of water protectors, some of whom were masked, rallied outside the jail in support of a water protector arrested on warrants. Some water protectors debated the wearing of masks at demonstrations. Meanwhile, the police worked to identify unmasked individuals, created profiles, and began mapping social networks. Law enforcement was advised daily through situation reports from security company TigerSwan. Leaked reports state the security firm's intent to employ counterinsurgency tactics and continue exploitation of ongoing native versus non-native rifts and the tribal rifts between peaceful and violent elements. They began a campaign of psychological operations to promote their strategic messaging in support of the pipeline. The Oceti Sakowin camp grew into one of the largest tribal gatherings in history. Indigenous peoples from all over the world sent delegations. Energy Transfer Partners reacted by buying the Cannonball Ranch, where their drill pad was slated to bore underneath the Missouri River. In late September, North Dakota warned security firm TigerSwan that they were operating without a permit. They continued to operate, and gathered intelligence against water protectors across multiple US states. On September 23rd, the United Nations sided with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The UN stated the Dakota Access Pipeline threatened the tribe's drinking water and sacred sites, and should immediately cease construction. Back in North Dakota, caravans of water protectors called 'toxic tours' shut down multiple construction sites. [Radio static] "There's police in the rear of the caravan. Is there any verification to that? Over." "We are checking right now." Police now stood armed with live rounds, watching from armored vehicles handed down from ongoing oil wars. Police lined protests with shotguns and pushed water protectors away from construction sites. Another action 15 miles south of Mandan resulted in 21 arrests. The summer ended in decentralized actions across the United States. Indigenous youth ran from Kyle, South Dakota to Oceti Sakowin, and people in Minnesota shut down Enbridge offices. In Iowa, direct actions stopped pipeline construction and dozens were arrested. Speaking at the United Nations in New York, LaDonna Bravebull Allard declared, "We must unite to protect the water and our Mother Earth." As fall began, the National Sheriffs Association began circulating anti-water protector talking points. Morton County announced bringing in more out-of-state resources using Emergency Management Assistance Compacts, or EMAC. Marathon County, Wisconsin Sheriff and multiple other law enforcement agencies signed EMACs. Units from the Wisconsin State Patrol, the Indiana Department of Homeland Security, and even the Hennepin County Sheriffs from Minnesota, deployed to defend Energy Transfer Partners. In the coming weeks, armies of police with surveillance planes, helicopters, Bearcat armored vehicles and Humvees mobilized towards Standing Rock. A Freedom of Information Act request revealed that each Indiana officer deployed to North Dakota had been supplied with an AR-15. Another caravan moved to block a DAPL work yard. A construction worker drove through water protectors brandishing a handgun, aiming at water protectors blocking the road. In Iowa, water protectors continued disrupting pipeline construction and locked down to a horizontal drill, stopping it from boring underneath the Mississippi River. Six people were arrested, including a Unicorn Riot journalist. The following day, eight more are arrested when water protectors linked arms in a soft blockade across a construction site road. That night, construction was stopped by a lockdown to a truck entering the drill site. "You're good, you're not under the wheels, you're okay." "There is a person underneath the truck! You have to stop it! The person is underneath the truck." "Why shouldn't you get out of this truck? What for?" "Because he could kill me!" Then why you put yourself under there...? "he's gonna be a liability on your card, man..." "You could potentially die from this little act of yours." On Indigenous Peoples' Day, water protectors erected a tepee on a pipeline construction site in North Dakota and began prayer ceremony. Police interrupted the ceremony and arrested 27 participants. "Mni Wiconi! Water is life! Mni Wiconi! Water is life!" Cell phones within Morton County began receiving emergency alert messages about roadway closures due to pipeline protests. In Iowa, more arson attacks burned bulldozers and shut down construction. Another lockdown stopped pipeline construction. Three are arrested, including a Unicorn Riot journalist. On October 11th, a small group of water protectors mobilized in solidarity with the International Days of Prayer in Action for Standing Rock. They used bolt cutters to access and shut down the safety valves of five tar sands pipelines across four US states. October 22nd, 2016: a large prayer walk moved toward the nearest construction site. "Kill the black snake!" A police line, backed by armored vehicles, stopped the walk's advance. Water protectors then held a prayer and declared they were leaving. Police armed with shotguns and pepper spray immediately surrounded the walk and mass-arrested over 100 people, including a Unicorn Riot journalist. As pipeline construction progressed east towards Highway 1806, water protectors moved supplies north from Oceti Sakowin to Sacred Ground camp and into the direct path of pipeline construction. Indigenous leaders cited the first Fort Laramie Treaty, renaming the Sacred Ground camp, the '1851 Treaty Camp'. Police and private security began shooting down civilian drones taking video footage of pipeline construction. During a press conference, police claimed a drone flew at a helicopter and in the coming days, a no-fly zone was announced by the FAA. Both the police and indigenous drone pilots continued to fly. Back on Highway 1806, police laid concrete barricades across the road near Fort Rice, shutting down all traffic. In Minnesota, Hennepin County Sheriffs announced their officers were headed to North Dakota. The following day, hundreds of people flooded Minneapolis City Hall to demand their officers withdraw from Standing Rock. Morton County finished their investigation into the dog attacks and stated the security firm handling the dogs had no permit to operate in North Dakota. The press release ended with police claiming the indigenous sacred sites were not real. As tensions escalated, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe made a statement on constitutional rights of protesters and asked the Department of Justice to intervene. The National Sheriffs Association sent a letter to the Attorney General asking for federal support to quell the protests. "Everything in the world needs water. Our plants, our medicines, our animals. And so if we don't stand up for the water, we'll all die." October 27th, 2016: early in the morning, an alarm drove warriors towards the front line. "Mic check, mic check, we are moving towards the front gate." Using an LRAD, the police demanded water protectors leave the area. "Everybody move south. We will not hurt you." "Again there's somebody at the front making announcements asking everyone to fall back from the camp itself." "You must leave all private property and open all public roads and bridges immediately. If you do not comply, you will be arrested for violations of North Dakota laws. Please disperse now." "Take what you can out the roadway for us and move to the south. Please." "How 'bout you go fuck yourself?" [High-pitched noise from LRAD] "The police are firing the LRAD now. It looks like the roadblock up here is going up in flames, the LRAD's now going off, people are backing up." Water protectors from the camps went out and spoke to the police. They came back and told those standing at the barricades to leave. Warriors lit tires and moved barricades into the path of the oncoming raid as others dismantled them. "So there's a group that seems to be telling people to move back, another group saying to hold the line. This is the, pretty much once, once the police are past this point they'll be able to easily move to the bigger, the new winter camp, and clear it out. There'll be no ability for anyone to be slowed down. And so there seems to be some group who wants to hold this, another group saying to go back." "Put this out! Fire extinguisher!" "This is the only thing keeping them from coming in!" "It's our protection!" "So right now some of the people are clearing out the barricade, half the other people are holding out, are holding the line." "Please move to the south." "I feel like these cops are trying to get us to move this barricade, because what they want to do is they want to move this camp out of here, right here, because this, you can see where the pipeline is coming, so they're gonna try to come through here, and I feel like when they do that, they're just gonna fucking arrest everyone, dude. These people have been oppressing us for over five fucking hundred years. And I'm tired of this shit to be honest. You know, I'm here to make a change, and if, fuck, if we have to do it this way, then we're gonna have to do it this way." "The police line's moving forward now. You can see a police officer with the automatic weapons between the two vehicles. There's people who are moving the vehicles for the police now. So as this is happening, the bulldozers are laying out more railroad ties to bring in more heavy equipment and to lay out the pipe. So as the police are trying to clear these people out, construction is actively continuing just west of the camp." "Black snake killa! Black snake killa!" "People are moving towards the construction." "Black snake killa! Black snake killa! Black snake killa!" "This is the, sort of, the road that was cut September 3rd where the dog attacks happened. You can see these lines of police officers. They're there because the water protectors moved on to stop construction that's happening right down there. You can see the excavators that are moving in railroad ties. People are trying to hold this line, and there's a mass of police to our right here, this is north on [Hwy] 1806." "Do not fire a bow and arrow towards us." [Laughter] "Fuck you!" "Off the structure, off to the left. We know you're doing it. Whoever are your leaders, take care of this. We cannot have this." There's a big mass of people further back, and this is the front line right here. The militarized police force placed snipers on hilltops and swept through the camp, clearing out the water protectors at gunpoint. "You're gonna have to come down from the pickup." Hi there, I'm part of the International Indigenous Youth Council. I stand in solidarity with you and me and my people..." "Stay away from the officers. Do not get out of the pickup. Stay at the pickup." "Stay back!" "Get off him!" "Get off of him!" "Move south on the roadway." "Do not throw objects from the crowd. Move to the south." "Move to the south! Go back to the south camp! Back to the south camp!" Red Fawn, arrested during the raid on north camp, is charged with attempted murder of a police officer. Video shows police react to shots fired, but visual of a gun remains unclear. Plumes of smoke rose from the horizon as barricades were lit in the west. Warriors a mile away were blockading a bridge on County Road 134 as police advanced from the side. "Jail support! 605-511..." [Helicopter blades whirring] As the camp was being evicted, a private security guard was spotted heading south along Highway 1806 towards Oceti Sakowin. Water protectors rammed his truck off the road. The guard got out of the truck holding a semi-automatic rifle. Water protectors talked him down and handed him over to the BIA. By nightfall, water protectors had been pushed south on 1806 all the way to Backwater Bridge near the Oceti Sakowin camp. Police parked military dump trucks nose-to-nose on the north side of the bridge and chained them to concrete barricades. The trucks were burned as police dug in along the north side of the creek. That night, police teargas was met with Molotov cocktails. A few days after the eviction, Red Warrior Camp released a statement that ended with, "The call-out for warriors was answered. We are here to stop a pipeline. We know the risks and we accept them for what they are. Instead of using prayer against your own people, use the prayer to empower the people." The following day, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe unanimously passed a motion to ask Red Warrior Camp to leave. Protests continued at the North Dakota state capitol in Bismarck, while more solidarity actions shut down Wells Fargo across multiple cities. President Obama stated that authorities should practice restraint while engaging the water protectors. Eventually, Morton County received authorization to make arrests on federal Army Corps land. North of the camps, near the Cannonball Ranch, water protectors swam across Cantapeta Creek to seize Turtle Island. [Song]: "I'm a black snake killa, I don't listen to the press, all that BS & them lies they be fillin up our heads, and they actin' like they cool but probably working with the feds, feeding them our information for a morsel of the bread, all that oil in the drinking water is going to your head, that explains the cloudy judgment that you're gonna be regretting, cause your family going to suffer and they're going to be dead and the only one to blame is looking at you in the mirror. Hey Water is life, water is life, Mni Wiconi, the phony ones they ain't part of the fight, they're only posing for likes when they all supposed to be suited, my family's tribe is deep rooted, our branches reach for the future. And we been growing so fast, they had to go get the shooters, now they aimin' at our daughters, what they fuck are you doin'? Im'a pray for your family, cause I know that they need it, you ain't lookin out for 'em, history been repeated. I'm a black snake killa I'm a black snake killa I'm a black snake killa I'm a black snake killa I'm a black snake killa I'm a black snake killa I'm a black snake killa" "If you look at the haze on the water, just chemicals from all the chemical agents..." According to a press release by Sacred Stone [Camp], over 100 water protectors were injured by police as they tried to cross the creek that day. To continue protecting Energy Transfer Partners, the state had to borrow four million dollars from the Bank of North Dakota. Clergy began arriving by the hundreds and prepared to cross the Backwater Bridge on Highway 1806. [Singing]: "We are walking, we are walking, oh, we are walking in the light of God. We are praying in the light of God, we are praying in the light of God." Tribal elders and leaders convinced them to not interfere with negotiations. The direct action was moved to the capitol where 14 clergy were arrested. At the Morton County Sheriff's press conference, Highway Patrol lieutenant Tom Iverson called clergy actions "childish" and "a disgrace." President Obama sent a request to Energy Transfer Partners to immediately stop construction. The pipeline company ignored the President's request. "They are building this pipeline, folks. Obama has not halted the pipeline. You can see it goes as far as the eye can see." A second attempt was made to retake Turtle Island. People swam and canoed to the adjacent shore. "It's intense, and I think it's important that we correlate this to the conditions that's happening in regards to police terrorism in cases of Ferguson (excuse me, we call it 'Mike Brown Town') and replicates the police terrorism and not only just the attacks but also the resistance that's happening throughout the colonized communities, the black community, tied to the resistance that's happening here. So we want to let the record reflect that the Black Panther Party Cubs, that we here on deck in solidarity." Police fired tear gas as water protectors with gas masks helped others ashore. With shields they climbed the hill, and were fired upon with more teargas. "And so they're firing tear gas now along the ridge. It's really painful. People are being told not to panic." Elders began telling everyone to leave because they were desecrating sacred sites. At the top of the hill, police continued pointing their rifles down at the water protectors. "I want all these people to go down. If you wanna go up there alone, make that deal with me, does it mean that much to you? "Okay let us all go, and you go up. "But go up there then. Does that commitment mean that much to you?" "We're here together...we're here together." "Listen to me!" "This is like tearing down the barricades at the front lines! This is tearing down the barricades and waving the cops through!" "And so, after people bridged across the water, got tear-gassed two times, the elders said that this is a grave site, that people should come down. But there's also police officers on the grave site. They've been there for days." "You guys go up, but I told you all! I told you all!" "Go! Back down!" The next day, indigenous youth led a walk to the Morton County Sheriff's Department where they offered prayer and forgiveness. Meanwhile, the Morton County Sheriff's Department continued to put out their counter-narrative on YouTube. "Protesters are using social media to get their agitator message to the public. Know The Truth is a series of videos to provide the public with accurate and factual information coming directly from my agency." "What they're trying to do is, is they're planning a criminal attack on people who doin their legal work. So we gear up, we do our thing, and we hope they stand down and go back to the camp and act like orderly people. November 8th, 2016. "What started off as unlikely, impossible, is now reality." Donald Trump was elected the 45th President of the United States. In Iowa, pipeline equipment burned in Buena Vista County. The day after the election, the Army Corps requested Energy Transfer Partners stop construction for 30 days and allow protests to de-escalate. They refused. Water protectors entered a work site off Highway 6, stopping construction, which resulted in 30 arrests. "We are just off Highway 6, there's a construction site that seems to be reactivated sometime during the night, people heard about it and moved out here. You can see people crossing the field." As the Morton County Sheriffs marched south along the highway pushing water protectors from the area, police car tires were slashed. A separate caravan moved to block another work yard. Water protectors blocked construction vehicles. In the coming days, construction crews built Hesco barriers around the drill site - the same fortifications used to protect U.S. military bases in war zones like Iraq and Afghanistan. The pipeline company, police, military and private mercenaries dug trenches, erected walls, and placed miles of razor wire along the perimeter. Just west, on the Backwater Bridge along Highway 1806, snipers on top of armored Bearcats guarded the only road north. Police had begun fortifying their blockade with more concrete barriers, floodlights, and razor wire. Word came to the camp that the Army Corps had delayed granting a permit for pipeline construction on federal land. Energy Transfer Partners sued the Army Corps, but construction continued on the drill pad and its fortifications. In Iowa, Mississippi Stand sent three people into the pipeline, stopping construction for over 24 hours. "Why would you wanna go up inside a pipe?" "To stop the pipe!" "Huh?" "To stop it from being built!" "From stop what from being built?" "The pipeline!" "You can't stop this being built." "We can try!" [Woman singing]: "People gonna rise like the waters, we're gonna shut this pipeline down. I hear the voices of your great-granddaughter saying keep it in the ground." On the national day of action against the United States Army Corps of Engineers, hundreds of peoples marched from the United tribes Technical College in Bismarck to the Army Corps district office. Hundreds more people marched on Army Corps offices in St. Paul, Minnesota. "This is for the basic right to human beings fighting for clean water." [Cheering, applause] "I was there on the 27th when we were brutalized and beaten, beaten down. I was arrested by Hennepin County. They beat us. They hit us across the head with batons." "We're gonna put a stop to the pipeline, we're gonna kill the black snake, and every one of us, in every corner of the world is coming together to fight against corporate takeover of the world." [Cheering] "We want to shut the banks down that are funding the Dakota Access Pipeline. We want to, you know, have the people, we want to tell the people to pull your money out of these banks. Wells Fargo, US Bank, Chase Bank, and all these banks that are supporting the Dakota Access Pipeline." To raise awareness for missing and murdered indigenous women, a protest called 'No More Stolen Sisters' descended on DAPL man camps. 25 people were arrested. "We are standing for the water every moment. And that is the first and foremost that anybody should be thinking about, because the water is life and without the water, we all die. Even as it gets cold, and we watch our world change to the great winter, We are preparing to stay the long run. I'm really worried because I don't want anybody to be hurt. I really don't. I know that we cannot stop, and we have to stand, but I am worried. As preparations for winter were well underway, the Morton County Sheriffs warned the public of unlawful structures being erected in the camps. Energy Transfer Partners added, "The Dakota Access Pipeline will not be rerouted." November 20th, 2016: A semi-truck moved on to the Backwater Bridge to clear the burnt military dump trucks blocking 1806. "Omakeyapo, Oyate, Omakeyapo, come here to help. Protect our water for our future generations. We come here to die, if we have to." "This is a test of the long range acoustic device LRAD." "1." "2." "Water is life!" "Black snake killa!" "Black snake killa!" "Black snake killa!" "Mni Wiconi!" "Mni Wiconi!" "Watch the fuck out!" "Medic!" "Water is life!" Injured water protectors were carried out through clouds of tear gas to trucks evacuating the wounded. The water protectors remained defiant as they stood encased in ice, wrapped in reflective emergency blankets. "Does anybody need water, goggles, or hand warmers?" "I'm gonna force them open, ready? One, two, go go go." Back at camp, medical stations tended to the injured. According to leaked emails, officers were asking to retreat. During the conflict, over 160 people were injured as a result of the sheriff's use of less lethal weaponry on the crowd. Several people were hospitalized with serious injuries. Sophia Wilansky sustained serious injury to her arm, exposing bone and tendon. Because police were blocking Highway 1806, it would be hours before the injured reached hospitals. The ordinances used by the police on the bridge that night were manufactured by Defense Technology, a brand operated by law enforcement vendor Safariland Group. Shortly after a press conference held outside a hospital in Minneapolis about Sophia Wilansky's injuries, Safariland's website was taken offline in a Distributed Denial of Service [DDOS] attack. The Morton County Facebook page went offline and multiple spoof accounts were set up by Anonymous cyber-activists in solidarity with the water protectors. The Morton County Sheriff also reported that their officers were being doxxed by Anonymous, and personal information of targeted individuals within law enforcement, as well as elected officials, were leaked online. Leaked documents show national security analysts mocked the water protectors that were hosed with freezing water. The next day, Sunoco Logistics bought out Energy Transfer Partners in a $19 billion deal. The bill for North Dakota law enforcement grew to $10 million. On Thanksgiving, water protectors went to Mandan. They set up a 'Thankstaking' feast with vegetables, a puppet of a crucified pilgrim, and a pig's head. "What's going on, man?" "Get the fuck out of town!" Back in camp, water protectors again attempted to cross Cantapeta Creek using canoes and a bridge. Protesters massed on the shoreline, preparing to take the hill. Sheriffs on high ground looked down as hundreds of water protectors were turned back at the request of camp elders. The next day, US Army Corps of Engineers announced their intent to close Oceti Sakowin. On the 28th, Governor Dalrymple issued an emergency evacuation order for the camp. In Rhode Island, New York, and Minneapolis, people began a divestment campaign targeting banks that supported the Dakota Access Pipeline. Bank occupations and lockdowns quickly spread across the globe. DNB, the largest bank in Norway, announced it would sell all its assets in the pipeline. Global solidarity actions continued throughout December. Former US military personnel began to arrive in Standing Rock. "This is our family, this is my family here. This is happening to like, where I grew up, and the people that I know here. I did two tours in Iraq, one tour in Afghanistan, I served in Korea, Egypt, Israel,... I got almost 19 years in the military." "I came because I was just disgusted with what I seen, and I took an oath, both foreign and domestic, and I'm here to stand for peaceful reasons." "I'm supposed to be at work, but I'm calling in. Just hope I don't lose my job." With the vets, came the snow. Thousands of veterans prepared themselves to march toward the drill pad to shut down construction of the pipeline. "You guys are instigating shit!" "You guys are instigators!" "No we're not, they're waiting for us." "You are not following what the elders asked us to do." "We are here to support them!" They began marching toward the Backwater Bridge in the thick snow. In low visibility, the veterans advanced through strong winds with their arms linked together. Wearing Kevlar and a balaclava, Wes Clark, Jr. rode on horseback next to an indigenous warrior carrying a tribal flag. When they reached the bridge, no police could be seen at the barricade. The vets stood calmly as other veterans kept them from going past the bridge. They prayed, and left. "The elders say go! Now go!" "So people are going back?" "I guess, I don't understand what's going on." Months later, Wes Clark, Jr. claimed 'Veterans For Standing Rock' had been infiltrated by private military contractors, and said the spies have the names, emails, addresses, phone numbers, and personal information for each and every person within the veterans group. In the days following, a massive blizzard battered the camps with strong winds and heavy snows. Those who remained braved sub-zero temperature for days as they patiently waited for the storm to pass. "The storm is epic, the wind is blowing really hard now. It's hard to see, it's whiteout conditions, it looks like groups of volunteers in the hundreds are going tent-to-tent to make sure that people are alright." "We've done a sweep through camp, to make sure people aren't in the smaller tents, and get them into a warming center. I suggest you get inside and get warm, unless you're prepared for it. And even if you're prepared for it, you're gonna have to stop after three, three hours to take care of yourself." "Yeah, I really hope that people are staying warm out there, there's a lot of work going into it, but definitely, it's pretty frightening, the weather is pretty frightening." The North Dakota National Guard placed a mobile anti-aircraft missile battery onto the construction site near the drill pad. The Avenger Air Defense System aimed toward Oceti Sakowin and scouted the camp through infrared. Morton County produced a video for the public featuring their arsenal of less-lethal crowd control weapons. "So today, the first thing we're going to show you is a sponge round which has been deployed at the site. And this is designed to directly impact a person's lower extremities on their body and attempt to gain some pain compliance. As you can see, the round has been expelled from the top and is downrange. The next device we're going to show you is what's called a flash sound diversionary device. And this is what's commonly referred to on social media as a percussion or a concussion grenade. So what we're gonna do now is we're gonna deploy this and show you its effects. [Explosion] "They cannot remove any barriers or wire. It's not their property, and it's a, it's a sign of aggression, alright? It's there for safety purposes, both for the bridge because that has not been inspected, and two, it's a safety factor because it's a lot of barriers between them and the company. Protesters continued actions on the bridge and cut fences along the river. [Song]: "Yeah, you can see when the pigs come around, how bad they want to pin my brothers to the ground dig a knee in his back, puttin pressure on his chest another abduction, they’ll call it arrest and that's only if they can’t justify your death for walking while brown or driving while native these hillbilly rednecks aint playing these alt right Nazis out here ain't playing n neither we, won’t wait for the attack scoutin their barracks and then double back "Just letting you, can I just let you know something? Yep, and I'm just letting you guys know, you can deliver a message when you go back. This is us keeping our word. You watched us pull out. We're pulling back. Just like I promised yesterday, if, I really appreciate them keeping everybody off the bridge, you know, if we can keep those four points that we talked about, we're not coming back down here." "That was one of the most encouraging things I've seen in months. It, it tells me they're exerting their influence and they're saying, you know, don't go interrupt what's starting to happen. I mean, we've seen a de-escalation. I pray that the peaceful and the prayerful element of this is starting to overtake the violent factions and shutting them down. Let the, the barricades stay in place, that's what's keeping the peace between that violent faction of this, and the people that are working up here. The leadership within those camps, will start squashing the violent factions and telling them, you are not going to blow this, do not ruin this." On December 8th, Chairman Archambault told people to leave for winter, suggesting that the water protectors' physical role in stopping the pipeline was over. A coalition of indigenous groups responded by supporting a transition from camps. The coalition statement told people to stay if they like, but be self-sufficient in order to further their 1851 treaty reclamation. The number of water protectors in camp receded as winter set in, and many people went home. The chairman of Standing Rock, Dave Archambault, met with Governor Dalrymple. Both agreed that Highway 1806 should be reopened. Leaked audio surfaced of a Dakota Access Pipeline executive meeting which stated, election night changed everything, and DAPL is going through once Trump has transitioned into power. "Election night changed everything. And, uh, you know, we now are going into a transition where we're gonna have a new president of the United States, which, uh, who gets it. He understands what we're doing here and we fully expect, fully expect, that as soon as he gets inaugurated his team is gonna move to get the final approvals done and we'll begin to put DAPL across Lake Oahe. Knowing the pipeline battle was still uncertain, hundreds of people continued to camp on federal treaty land in defiance of evacuation orders and daily harassment by law enforcement. Lawyers with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe learned that during consultations, the Army Corps withheld key documents that modeled damage from potential spills, weighed the likelihood of an oil disaster, compared alternative routes, and discussed the environmental justice concerns of the project. The tribal lawyers pointed out that the Army Corps withholding these documents proved the lack of honest conversation between nations. The new Governor of North Dakota, Doug Burgum, released a message his first day in office which backed the Dakota Access Pipeline company and disregarded any idea of legitimacy to the indigenous-led protests. "I support the legal completion of this pipeline. We will strive for relationships built on understanding, empathy, and mutual respect. But trust and respect aren't given. They're earned. North Dakota's Private Investigations and Security Board denied TigerSwan's security application because they didn't feel adequately advised to what TigerSwan was doing in North Dakota. TigerSwan CEO James Reese told North Dakota they were not doing security, but 'IT and consultation work.' TigerSwan continued to provide information reports to authorities at local, state, and federal levels. North Dakota government officials, Army Corps officials, and the Standing Rock Sioux tribal council started circulating fears that the camp would flood with spring melt. Two days before Obama left office, the United States Army Corps of Engineers published their intent to conduct a full environmental impact study, which tribes had been asking for so treaty rights can fully be discussed. "There's a big political agenda here. That'll have to work itself out. We're not moving on that camp. The idea that we're gonna go push a whole lot of people off Corps land for camping without a permit, it's actually kind of, it's kind of ludicrous, isn't it? You know, what are we gonna do, mow em, take all these forces moving on, just line them up and start writing camping without a permit citations?" Following the march on the drill pad, campers erected a tepee on the Backwater Bridge. [singing] "Mni Wiconi!" "Mni Wiconi!" "Mni Wiconi!" "Mni Wiconi!" "Water is life!" "Water is life!" "Water is life!" "Water is life!" "Black snake killa!" "Black snake killa!" "Fall back!" "They're firing on people for no reason at this point." Medic! Medic! "Line up! Line up right here!" "Behind the fire! Line up behind the fire!" "Hold the line!" "Hold the line!" "Back up. Back up!" You guys can see that shit, right there, take a screen cap of that shit. Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier wrote outgoing President Barack Obama and let him know the federal government had failed them. The letter was co-signed by nine different law enforcement agencies in North Dakota. January 20th, 2017. Donald Trump was inaugurated the 45th President of the United States. "...the office of President of the United States." "...the office of President of the United States." "and will, to the best of my ability," "and will, to the best of my ability," "preserve, protect, and defend" "preserve, protect, and defend" "the Constitution of the United States." "At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America. From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. The time for empty talk is over. Now arrives the hour of action." "I'm a native veteran! This is my fucking land! This is my country, okay?! You cannot do this to our people!" Over a hundred people were mass-arrested in Washington, DC during protests. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe passed a resolution that requested individuals at all camps to leave the area. "This is with respect to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline." Four days after taking office, Trump filed an executive memorandum instructing the Army Corps to approve the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Morton County Sheriff's Department responded by saying they finally had an administration that upheld the rule of law. In Washington, DC, Sheriff Paul Laney met with President Trump, the National Sheriff Association and the Department of Homeland Security. "I'm honored to welcome the National Sheriffs Association, you have no idea how respected you are, sheriffs, generally speaking, leaders of law enforcement. Anybody involved in a law enforcement, you have no idea how respected you are. As you know, I approved two pipelines that were stuck in limbo forever. I don't even think it was controversial. You know I approved them. I haven't even heard I haven't had one call from anybody saying oh that was a terrible thing you did. I haven't had one call. Because it was unfair. Years of getting approvals, nobody showed up to fight it, this company spends a tremendous, hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, and then all of a sudden people show up to fight it? Not fair to our companies.' Sheriff Laney requested reinforcements from Trump, which would include the Border Patrol, U.S. Marshals, DEA and the ATF. On the morning of February 1st, 2017, water protectors erected the Lost Child Camp just west of the main camp. "There was some good communication going, at a higher level, between Standing Rock and our government, and probably even the federal government, and you pretty much ruined it today. You pretty much ruined a lot of it." Within hours police had arrived with Humvees and armored vehicles. They used long-range acoustic sound cannons to clear the road as North Dakota National Guard in riot gear blocked water protectors from getting to the hill. 76 were arrested including multiple journalists. On February 8th, the United States Army Corps of Engineers, following an executive order, granted the Dakota Access Pipeline easement, skipping the environmental impact study. Governor Burgum hails the decision and requests more assistance from federal law enforcement agencies. The Bureau of Indian Affairs also announced they were sending agents to help clear Dakota Access protesters from camp. The Sacred Stone Camp received an eviction order and notice of trespass by the BIA. Soon after, a blockade was set up south of the camps stopping all water, food and supplies from entering. The Standing Rock tribal council moved to dismantle the camp despite the unanimous resolution to support the Sacred Stone Camp the previous spring. Governor Burgum declared an emergency evacuation of the Oceti Sakowin camp to begin at 2:00 p.m. on February 22nd. Water protectors began lighting teepees and other living structures on fire. Others marched out of the camp praying. Morton County made arrests along Highway 1806 as they began to cross the bridge north of Oceti Sakowin. "My hip! My hip!" "You broke my hip!" The fires burned long into the night. The police stopped short of going into the camp that day, but they would be back. February 23rd, 2017. Military snipers on hilltops scouted Oceti Sakowin. North of Backwater Bridge, the DHS, ATF, Sheriffs, and National Guard prepared to raid Oceti Sakowin. Mobile field force units, equipped with armored Bearcats and Humvees, crossed the bridge heading south along Highway 1806 and dug a side road into camp. Helicopters flew circles overhead, gathering geospatial intelligence that was being sent to the fusion centers in real-time video. The few water protectors remaining resisted passively. Police swept through camp, clearing teepees and other housing structures. "Clear!" "Show us your hands!" "Put your hands up!" "Hey! HEY!" "Don't reach for anything! Keep your hands up! Do not reach for anything!" "Put your hands up!" "Set it on the ground." "Don't even reach your hand in your pocket." "Don't reach for anything! Drop it! Keep your hands up!" "Okay, so there's more Humvees moving through on some kind of patrol on the east end of camp." State and federal forces drove the water protectors south at gunpoint toward the creek while corporate mercenaries protected the drill pad. "Yeah, they're running after someone. Oh, someone from law enforcement just fell on his face. Oh, another officer just tackled and took someone down, there's at least at least four or five sheriffs or police officers just fell on their face in that snow there. There making one arrest...There's two arrests. They've got people pinned down to the ground." As Oceti Sakowin was being evicted, the Bureau of Indian Affairs raided Rosebud Camp to the south. "They're advancing in the direction of Sacred Stone, it's not clear how far they're going to go..." The camp of the seven fires was extinguished. "Exciting day today, we've been able to clear the camp. Started this morning at about ten hundred hours. I can't tell you how proud I am of the law enforcement officers here in North Dakota, law enforcement officers, the states that come to came to help us we have Wisconsin and Indiana and Alabama side by side with us today. So we're really excited that this is done, and we hope at this point that it stays done, and the Corps can come in now and they can clean up the property and we can try to keep this ecological disaster from happening. In the months following the eviction, Morton County incident commander Sheriff Paul Laney presented a seminar to the National Sheriffs Association. He trained other officers how to prepare, plan, and strategize to counter similar protests across the United States. "We were North Dakota nice. We always took the high road on everything because that's what we do. Well, you know, my mom taught me very early at a young age, if I'm cold in the water, come out of the damn water. You had the what we call the, eco-terrorist groups out of the Pacific Northwest, who very much wanted direct action, very much wanted confrontation very much were looking for a fight. You had some of the AIM group out of South Dakota, the Oglala Red Warrior group, they were going to get the bridge back, because if you could get the bridge back you could get direct access to where the pipeline was coming across. They could get direct access to the drill pad, and on each side of that river were two $20,000,000 drills, which if they could destroy them, they certainly could slow down the pipeline, and that was what they intended to do. You know, those peaceful and prayerful group, if they had have been able to maintain and manage this entire thing, we never would have had to leave the borders of Cass County and all the other jurisdictions that we had to come from. Because it would have been peaceful and prayerful. Start identifying the major players, and start tracking their Facebook pages. Reach out to all the other law enforcement entities now. Because you're going to need their help. And we had, at one point, four hundred cops, we had ten different states here in North Dakota helping us with this. There are definitely areas. I know we know I'll be knowing South Dakota Nebraska and Minnesota that this is all pending. And have your emergency declarations ready to go. Because when they start kicking off, this is going to go fast. And reach out to your National Guard now. They were a godsend for us. They initially took a support role, but by the end when it got so confrontational, the citizens of the Bismarck and Mandan area were screaming for the Guard to intervene. And we all understood the optics of the Guard in place against American citizens, the Guard in place against Native Americans. But as that one, at some point, we finally needed their direct support. We were literally fighting a war and every day we were in fear for the lives of our people because we didn't know what was going to happen." Leaked TigerSwan documents verified that paramilitary forces protecting the pipeline used counterinsurgency tactics to combat protests, and treated water protectors as a jihadist insurgency. More divestments hit Energy Transfer Partners. BNP divested from the pipeline. Missoula, Montana divested from Wells Fargo. Portland, Oregon divested from all companies doing business with DAPL. Water protectors marched in New York, and US Bank said it would stop funding oil and gas pipelines. Los Angeles, Seattle, and Santa Monica also withdrew financial assets from the pipeline project. After construction was complete and the oil pipeline crossed underneath the Missouri River, Energy Transfer Partners prepped the pipeline for commercial operations. Soon after, the Dakota Access leaked in Watford City, North Dakota. Another spill was reported in Mercer County, North Dakota. The pipeline also began leaking in Spink County, South Dakota. Regardless, Energy Transfer Partners began commercial operations without a proper oil spill response plan. The same day the Dakota Access Pipeline went online, President Trump announced the country's withdrawal from the Paris Climate Accord. "In order to fulfill my solemn duty to protect America and its citizens, the United States will withdraw from the Paris Climate Accord." A federal judge said the pipeline review was inadequate and months would be needed for an additional study. Energy Transfer stocks dropped as legal uncertainty looms. The Army Corps asked the judge to keep oil pumping as more environmental reviews are conducted. "We have already been through this. We have been through this for five hundred years. We understand it, so we continue to stand. It's something about empowering people, rather than empowering leaders. Each group had their own autonomy. There are no leaders. We've seen it all the time where this person said I am the leader, and you do what I say, back off from the frontline, you know, we can't be up here, and then the next person says no our prayer says we're supposed to be here.. we watched it. It is how community is. What has happened was empowerment of people. People standing up saying I want a change. Nonviolent direct action is our civil rights. Civil disobedience when things are not going right. This has to be something that spreads. Spreads across the world. We have been in a battle. And everything that our dear veterans went through, the people on the front line went through. It's hard to talk about some of the stuff that we've seen, or some of the stuff that people went through. How do we create a better world? Each day we go forward to do our best so that the next generation has something to live for. Continue to stand up. Because it's our world, our water, our lives, and our future. And so for me, Sacred Stone lives forever. We've just begun, we've just begun." During the year-long campaign of direct action to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, hundreds of people were wounded. Multiple water protectors that sustained life-threatening injuries remain permanently disabled. If it were not for the water protectors who answered the call from the indigenous people of the plains, the Dakota Access Pipeline would have been built without resistance, with little consideration for the tribe. The actions of water protectors cost the oil company millions of dollars and delayed the construction of the pipeline for months. During the unfolding resistance to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, 830 people were arrested, including tribal council members, journalists, medical personnel, indigenous people, and a long list of allies that came to support the resistance. In North Dakota, warrants were issued for water protectors. Hundreds of people arrested now faced uncertainty within the North Dakota courts. Ultimately, the majority of cases against water protectors would be dismissed, while a small number of others remained in jail. The continual waves of civil disobedience to stop the pipeline were met with escalating force, and a collusion of corporate, state and federal authorities. Sheriff's departments, using agreements made for support during disasters, brought in a militarized police force armed with semi-automatic rifles, armored vehicles, planes, helicopters, drones and Humvees. Hundreds were injured. Limbs were blown apart, bones were shattered by rubber bullets, and eyesight was lost to police actions. Despite this violence, water protectors held their ground until the final eviction The earth, and those on it, continue their circuit around the Sun while the sixth great extinction unfolds. The climate degrades, and storms grow more destructive. Already private corporations planning new fossil fuel projects are faced with opposition from a series of protest encampments set up in their pathway. As the indigenous lead resistance to regain balance with nature, a global movement to save Earth's grows. People continue the fight for the future, for the children, for the next seven generations, and echo words from the movement, Mni Wiconi, water is life.