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By now, you've probably read about the conflict between the Standing Rock Sioux tribe of Native
Americans and the energy company Energy Transfer Partners (ETP). Maybe you've seen the
#NoDAPL hashtag, noted the celebrity arrests, or even panicked as you thought half your
Facebook friends had suddenly booked tickets to North Dakota.
The fight is a complex one. On one side, you have the Standing Rock Sioux, who live on a
reservation in North and South Dakota. On the other side, Houston-based ETP, which is
proposing an underground pipeline that comes close to Native American reservation lands. The
conflict speaks to the general distrust of oil pipelines as well as the centuries-old tension
between Native tribes and the U.S. government.
HOW WE GOT HERE
The Bakken Formation is a massive 200,773-square mile area. It has become a huge source of oil
and turned small towns in the Dakotas into energy boom towns. With the success of drilling and
fracking in Bakken came the plan for a 1,134-mile pipeline that would carry approximately
500,000 barrels of crude oil through four states to reach its destination.
The Bakken Formation contains oil shale, a useful source of oil that concerns many people
because oil shale can be incredibly environmentally destructive. Oil shale extraction forces lots
of water through the shale rock and leaves behind large amounts of polluted water.
WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW
The protests have drawn international attention and have been said to be "reshaping the
national conversation for any environmental project that would cross the Native American
land",[4] but the mainstream media coverage of the events in the United States was limited until
early September. On September 3 construction workers bulldozed a section of land the
tribe had identified as sacred ground in an amendment to the federal injunction a day
earlier. When protesters entered the area, security workers used attack dogs, which bit at least
six of the protesters and one horse. The incident was filmed and viewed by several million people
on YouTube and other social media. In late October, armed soldiers and police with riot gear
and military equipment cleared an encampment that was directly in the proposed pipeline's
path.
In late November many new participants joined the protest; fluctuating numbers of protesters
remained in the thousands. The weather worsened, with snowfall and temperatures
dropping well below freezing. Police use of water cannons on protesters drew significant
media attention. On December 4 under President Barack Obama's administration the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied an easement for construction of the pipeline under the
Missouri River. An environmental impact assessment will also be conducted by the Army Corps.
Many protesters continue camping on the site, not
Police using water cannons against Standing Rock Protesters during freezing temperatures