Dispatches of radical political engagement from people taking a
stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline
It is prophecy. A
Black Snake will spread itself across the land, bringing destruction
while uniting Indigenous nations. The Dakota Access Pipeline is the
Black Snake, crossing the Missouri River north of the Standing Rock
Indian Reservation. The oil pipeline united communities along its
path—from North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Illinois—and
galvanized a twenty-first-century Indigenous resistance movement
marching under the banner Mni Wiconi—Water Is Life! Standing Rock
youth issued a call, and millions around the world and thousands of
Water Protectors from more than three hundred Native nations
answered. Amid the movement to protect the land and the water that
millions depend on for life, the Oceti Sakowin (the Dakota, Nakota,
and Lakota people) reunited. A nation was reborn with renewed power
to protect the environment and support Indigenous grassroots
education and organizing. This book assembles the multitude of voices
of writers, thinkers, artists, and activists from that movement.
Through poetry and
prose, essays, photography, interviews, and polemical interventions,
the contributors, including leaders of the Standing Rock movement,
reflect on Indigenous history and politics and on the movement’s
significance. Their work challenges our understanding of colonial
history not simply as “lessons learned” but as essential
guideposts for current and future activism.
Contributors: Dave
Archambault II, Natalie Avalos, Vanessa Bowen, Alleen Brown, Kevin
Bruyneel, Tomoki Mari Birkett, Troy Cochrane, Michelle L. Cook,
Deborah Cowen, Andrew Curley, Martin Danyluk, Jaskiran Dhillon,
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Liz Ellis, Nick Estes, Marcella Gilbert, Sandy
Grande, Craig Howe, Elise Hunchuck, Michelle Latimer, Layli Long
Soldier, David Uahikeaikalei‘ohu Maile, Jason Mancini, Sarah
Sunshine Manning, Katie Mazer, Teresa Montoya, Chris Newell, The NYC
Stands with Standing Rock Collective, Jeffrey Ostler, Will Parrish,
Shiri Pasternak, endawnis Spears, Alice Speri, Anne Spice, Kim
TallBear, Mark L. Tilsen, Edward Valandra, Joel Waters, Tyler Young.