Scenes from Standing Rock

Camera RollNadira DossaNadira Dossa

Along with my production team, I headed to Standing Rock, North Dakota for a week last year. My aim was to create dialogue and content in order to draw more media and public attention to injustices being inflicted by law enforcement on people who were peacefully protesting the North Dakota Access Pipeline.

We stayed between the Sioux Tribe camp and the nearby Prairie Knights Casino, which was serving as headquarters for the many advocacy and media teams that were working in and around the area. We were joined by inspirational, well known activists such as Mark Ruffalo, Shailene Woodley, Ezra Miller and a handful of others as we participated in various Tribal Council Meetings, camp tours, and peaceful resistance trainings. When I was there, the issue was barely making headlines. Of course, that eventually changed.

In February, pipeline permitting was approved, and shortly thereafter the camp was disbanded. Oil began flowing through the pipelines on June 1st, even though federal officials are conducting a more thorough environmental review. Without the Sioux treaty lands as home base, protests have spread to major cities around the country.

When people ask me what are all these people fighting for, I find the answer to  be: so many things. There are people advocating for the reduction of U.S. reliance on fossil fuels. Some members of the community are still reconciling the past injustices that have been inflicted on their tribes for generations. Some are fighting for their legal rights pertaining to U.S. historical agreements that are related to Tribal Sovereignty. Some are fighting for more proactive environmental practices in order to preserve our land and sacred sources of water. This list goes on. My week at Standing Rock was a beautiful melting pot of ideas, discussions and intentions.

The sprawling Oceti Sakowin Camp. The camp consists of people from all over the world who have come to show their support of the sovereignty of the tribes in the The Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. It is a unified encampment of Water Protectors who are dedicated to protecting our land and water against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). It is the largest gathering of Native tribes in over 100 years.
Another shot of the Oceti Sakowin Camp.
Here, the convergence of geodesic domes and traditional tipis that have been used for shelter for the camp's inhabitants and visitors.
Protesters at Standing Rock.
Water Protectors march across the Bridge to the frontline of the protest.
A #NoDAPL Water Protector holds up a flag which reads Water Is Life.
Water Protectors cross the bridge over the Canonball river. In the distance the state police stand awaiting behind a barricade of wire and burned vehicles.
A native man rides a horse in support of the Water Protectors as he looks out over the sprawling Oceti Sakowin Camp.
A protester poses at Standing Rock.
An American Indian screen printed on a flag flies upside-down over Oceti Sakowin Camp. Flying the American flag upside-down is an officially recognized signal of distress used in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
A serene morning by the Rosebud camp. Here, horses drink and wild turkey's graze. It is part of the beautiful ecosystem that the protectors seek to protect.
The Oscar winning actor Mark Ruffalo embraces a Native man at the Oceti Sakowin Camp.
Mark Ruffalo walking through the Oceti Sakowin Camp.
Protesters at Standing Rock.
Me [Nadira Dossa, writer and photographer] sitting in front of a wigwam and taking it all in.