In September 2016, the critical importance of sacred lands, exemplified by the Standing Rock movement, gained significant attention.

This movement underscored the vital link between protecting these lands and addressing climate change, emphasizing the need for responsible environmental stewardship.

On April 25th, 2017, Brenda White Bull, a lineal descendant of Lakota Chief Sitting Bull and Standing Rock Sioux Nation citizen, addressed the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. She spoke powerfully about the state and personal violence perpetrated against Indigenous women and men during the Dakota Access pipeline resistance.

This critical intervention, filmed and edited by @IndigenousWomenMedia, called for global awareness and solidarity. Key messages included #IndigenousRising, #NoDAPL, #WaterisLife, and #StandWithStandingRock.

Malcolm Fleschner of TYT Network interviews Michael A. Wood Jr. and Ashleigh Jennifer Parker.

Wood, a former Marine and Baltimore Police Officer, became a whistleblower on police violence. He also co-founded Veterans for Standing Rock, an effort to bring veterans to North Dakota to support water protectors. Parker serves as the PR coordinator for Veterans for Standing Rock.

The Standing Rock movement, centered at the O�héthi ŠakówiÅ‹ camp, brought together over 200 indigenous nations and 6,000 people in unprecedented solidarity. This fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline is crucial for protecting water and asserting indigenous sovereignty against a colonialist state.

On Indigenous People's Day 2016, we stood with #StandingWithStandingRock. Journalist Jonathan Klett, US Representative Candidate Chase Iron Eyes, and Native Organizers Alliance director Judith LeBlanc discuss the critical issues at stake in this vital indigenous rights movement.

Lyla June wrote and performed this song, protesting #NpDAPL.

Motion graphics were created by Danica D'Souza. This content was published on September 30, 2016.

Published September 27, 2016, by the Laura Flanders Show Channel, this field report documents the Seven Council Fires Community at #StandingRock, North Dakota. Representatives from over 200 nations gathered as protectors, not protesters, to defend their sovereignty, water rights, and land against illegal state actions. This historic effort highlights ongoing struggles against environmental racism and genocidal erasure.

The report explores how Standing Rock and Red Warrior Camps achieved sustainability. It features indigenous leaders including Kandi Mossett (Indigenous Environmental Network), Phyllis Young (Očhéthi Šakówiŋ), Cody Hall (Red Warrior Camp), Michelle Cook (Očhéthi Šakówiŋ), and Terrell Iron Shell (International Indigenous Youth Council). As they assert: "We know how to take care of the land. Just listen to us."

Published on September 12, 2016, Democracy Now covered the Standing Rock standoff, interviewing Winona LaDuke.

LaDuke, a longtime Native American activist and executive director of Honor the Earth, lives on Minnesota's White Earth Reservation. She previously led a successful fight against the Sandpiper pipeline, which was similar to the Dakota Access project.

The interview took place at Red Warrior Camp, one of the encampments where thousands of Native Americans from hundreds of tribes across the U.S. and Canada were resisting the pipeline's construction.

North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple activated the National Guard ahead of a ruling on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's lawsuit against the $3.8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. U.S. District Judge James Boasberg is set to rule on an injunction challenging the Army Corps of Engineers' permits, arguing violations of the National Historic Preservation Act.

Over 1,000 people from more than 100 Native American tribes have gathered near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation to resist the pipeline's construction, marking the largest tribal unification in decades. An update is provided by Tara Houska, national campaigns director for Honor the Earth.

Democracy Now!, an independent global news program, covers this story and airs weekdays.