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dakota access pipeline

This is the end of the Standing Rock camp. For now.

Photo by Stephen Yang/Getty Images.

After a Trump administration executive order, the Army Corps of Engineers ordered protesters to vacate the camp by 2 p.m. local time on Feb. 22, 2017. Authorities were set to physically remove everyone in the way of the Dakota Access Pipeline's construction upon sacred Native American land.

In a symbolic gesture, the protesters set fire to their camp.

Photo by Stephen Yang/Getty Images.

“People have said their last prayers, and offered cedar to the sacred fire and are also burning these structures we have ceremonially built, so they must be ceremonially removed,” Vanessa Castle of the Lower Elwha Klallam tribe told the Seattle Times.

Here are some images of those last moments.

Photo by Stephen Yang/Getty Images.

We can still stand with Standing Rock and help them as they take their struggle from the ground to the courtroom. For more information, visit the official Standing Rock Sioux Tribe site.

Photo by Stephen Yang/Getty Images.

Seattle is two states and one big mountain range away from North Dakota.

But for Lisa Herbold, a Seattle city council member, the voices of folks shivering outside in America's heartland needed to be heard.

"It really moves me to think of the people who are hundreds of miles away from us today, waiting in the cold for our vote," Herbold explained to the Los Angeles Times.

Thankfully, Seattle was listening. And it voted unanimously on the right side of history.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

On Feb. 7, 2017, Seattle became the first city in the country to cut financial ties to the Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL — a project that could contaminate the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's clean water supply.

Seattle wasn't directly funding the pipeline, of course. But Wells Fargo bank is.

The bank says it's provided $120 million in loans — a dramatic underestimate to some critics — for the pipeline's construction. And for many Seattle residents, that's a problem.

The city had been in business with Wells Fargo until Tuesday, when council members voted to have the Emerald City move its $3 billion account from Wells Fargo to a bank that hasn't funded DAPL.

The transfer makes for one of the bank's largest consumer blowbacks ever.

Photo by David McNew/AFP/Getty Images.

In a statement, Wells Fargo said it was "disappointed" in the city's vote and that it "will continue investing in [Seattle's] diverse and dynamic community."

The bank's not getting any sympathy from council member Kshama Sawant, though: "We’re making it bad for their bottom line."

And to DAPL opponents like herself, that's the whole point.

What happened in Seattle is welcome news for opponents of the pipeline at a time when they could certainly use a win.

Many DAPL protesters have been feeling particularly discouraged recently as President Donald Trump gave the go-ahead for continued DAPL drilling (Barack Obama had halted construction before leaving office). On Feb. 8 — the day after Seattle voted to separate itself from Wells Fargo — drilling started up again, NBC News reported, and the company behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, was granted all mandatory approvals to carry on.

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But Seattle made major waves by pulling the plug on Wells Fargo, and we may start to see other cities following suit.

"What Seattle voted to do ... is sending shockwaves through the banking industry," activist Shaun King wrote for The Daily News. "For pretty much their entire existence, banks have gotten away with taking our business, holding our money, and charging us fees, while simultaneously funding our oppression. People have had enough."

The vote in Seattle marks a major victory in the divestment movement — an effort to get people, groups, and governments to quit supporting businesses that are making DAPL possible.

A demonstrator in Los Angeles protests the Dakota Access pipeline. Photo by Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images.

Although Wells Fargo is one of the largest backers of the pipeline, many other well-known banks — including Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, and Bank of America — are quietly helping DAPL become a reality. (In fact, you'll probably recognize a lot of familiar names on the list of funders.)

If you refuse to play along with banks using your support to help fund DAPL, take your business elsewhere.

There are plenty of banks not supporting DAPL that also have good track records when it comes to a range of other social, economic, and environmental issues. Credit unions, too, can be a great alternative — they're nonprofits, tend to invest locally, and offer low interest rates and fees.

The corporate forces behind DAPL are strong. But as Seattle showed the world, you — and your bank account — are no weaklings.

"In the end, when you are fighting for what’s right, the rising tide of history will be on your side," wrote King. "Our fight may be hard, but be encouraged, we will win."

From Your Site Articles

Victory for Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux as court shuts down Dakota pipeline ›

The petition site is one of the cooler things to come out of the Obama administration.

A little over five years ago, the White House launched the "We the People" petition platform, creating a unique link between the president and the general public.

The premise was simple enough: Regular citizens could create petitions for issues they'd like to see the government act on, and if they received enough signatures (at least 100,000 names), they'd be guaranteed a response from someone within the president's administration.

This week, the Pew Research Center issued a report covering the platform's 4,799 publicly-available petitions and 227 responses from the White House, providing a fascinating look at what issues matter most to everyday Americans.

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

While the platform has been used to make some pretty out-there requests — such as asking the White House to recognize International Talk Like a Pirate Day, to have President Barack Obama play in the 2017 NBA All-Star celebrity game, to release the recipe for the White House's home-brewed honey ale (and they did), and to mandate that states have an official character from Pokémon — it also served its intended purpose of bridging the gap between elected leaders and constituents.

The platform is a reminder that good government means that we all matter, as individuals and as groups.

So let's take a look back at 10 of our favorite "We the People" petitions and White House responses.

1. Recognize the Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group. (2012)

Coming in at more than 367,000 signatures, the petition to brand the notorious church as a hate group is one of the site's most popular entries. While the White House's answer may not have been entirely satisfactory to some (the government does not keep a registry of hate groups), the administration believes that the popularity of this petition (as well as a number of other WBC-related petitions) should bring its own brand of hope to signees.

"One of the remarkable things about this set of petitions is that it shows just how strong the bonds that unite us can be," the White House wrote in reply. "Together, we’re more resilient than those who would try to drive us apart."

Jacob Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church demonstrates outside the U.S. Supreme Court. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

2. Ban the practice of "conversion therapy." (2015)

Following transgender 17-year-old Leelah Alcorn's 2014 death by suicide, LGBTQ activists renewed a call to put an end to "conversion therapy," the practice of trying to "de-gay" or "de-trans" children. With more than 120,000 signatures, the petition earned an official response from the White House.

In addition to a thoughtful response from White House advisor Valerie Jarret, in which she stated unequivocally that the administration was opposed to the practice (which is, sadly, still legal in all but a few states), it led to a report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on exactly why the practice is wrong.

3. Make unlocking cell phones legal. (2013)

What makes this one so special? It worked! Cell service carriers moved to make unlocking devices for use on other carriers illegal, and a lot of people pushed back. A little over a year after petitioning the White House, Obama signed the Unlocking Consumer Choice and Wireless Competition Act into law. 114,000 people asked, and the White House answered.

Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images.

4. Require police to wear body cameras. (2014)

After an officer shot and killed Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, more than 154,000 people took to the We the People website to demand action to help hold law enforcement accountable for their actions (as well as protect them). A number of cities and states have since required police to wear body cameras, and the ACLU even drafted sample legislation for states, municipalities, and the federal government to take up should they so choose.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

5. Legally recognize non-binary genders. (2014)

People who identify outside the male-female gender binary are not new. Still, for the most part, non-binary individuals have struggled to get legal recognition of their gender.

Given that estimates of the transgender population sits at 1.4 million (or roughly 0.6% of the U.S.), and that includes those who identify with binary genders, it goes to reason that the non-binary portion of that population is even smaller. Making up just a fraction of the population makes it hard to get the attention of elected officials, and that's why this petition demonstrates the power that the We the People platform has for helping those typically ignored by society.

6. Deport Justin Bieber. (2014)

More than 273,000 We the People users had some rough words for our pop star neighbor from the north, urging the White House to "remove Justin Bieber from our society" for "threatening the safety of our people" and being "a terrible influence on our nation's youth." Harsh.

Having crossed the signature threshold, the White House was obliged to respond. While they did not boot the Biebs from the U.S., they used their clever response to discuss the importance of comprehensive immigration reform. They even compared immigration reform data to Bieber's debut album sales. The response to the Bieber petition may very well be the best thing on the entire site and is worth reading in its entirety.

Bieber performs onstage during the 2016 Billboard Music Awards. Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images.

7. Repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. (2012)

"You're right — it's past time for DOMA to expire," began the administration's response to calls to end the 1996 law. "The Defense of Marriage Act is discriminatory and should be repealed. President Obama has long supported overturning the law through the legislative process. He also has concluded that Section 3 of DOMA is unconstitutional, as his Administration has argued in court challenges across the country."

In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of DOMA is, as the Obama administration argued, unconstitutional. The decision effectively legalized marriage equality nationwide.

Plaintiff in the DOMA case Edith Windsor waves to supporters outside the Supreme Court. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

8. Stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. (2016)

More than 378,000 people signed the August 2016 petition calling for the government to put an end to the pipeline planned near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. The argument put forth by the petition's authors is that if the pipeline were to leak into the Missouri River, Standing Rock's sole water source, it would make the reservation uninhabitable.

On Dec. 4, 2016, the Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to put the project on hold and explore other routes for the pipeline.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

9. Commute Chelsea Manning's sentence to time served. (2016)

(Update February 2017: In one of his last acts as president, Obama commuted Manning's sentence.)

Currently serving a 35-year sentence for leaking classified documents to Wikileaks, Chelsea Manning has endured multiple suicide attempts, extended periods of solitary confinement, and denial of medically necessary treatment related to her being transgender. As harsh as her life has been during her six-plus years behind bars so far, advocates for Manning imagine things will only get worse for her during a Trump administration.

What makes this petition worth following is the fact that while it has surpassed the 100,000 signature threshold, the White House has yet to issue a response.

Chelsea Manning is escorted by military police as she leaves her military trial July 30, 2013, after she was found guilty in 20 out of 21 charges. Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

10. Award Yogi Berra the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (2015)

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation's highest civilian honor and is given out to a handful of citizens each year. In 2015, more than 111,000 people signed a petition asking Obama to give the award to the baseball legend Yogi Berra.

Acknowledging that while the Presidential Medal of Freedom is something awarded at the sole discretion of the president himself, and therefore something that the team at We the People couldn't directly address, they did note that Berra shared a number of qualities with past honorees.

In Nov. 2015, Obama posthumously awarded Berra the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a White House ceremony.

Larry Berra, son of baseball legend Yogi Berra, receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom on behalf of his father on Nov. 24, 2015. Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

Marginalized voices don't always get heard. Too often, it seems like people in government only look out for those whose votes they need when the next election comes around. The We the People platform helps level that playing field because even some relatively niche issues can generate a significant number of signatures.

There's no telling whether or not the Trump administration will continue the We the People platform, but here's hoping they do.

Lawyers' Committee

Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights

Protesting is a part of the American DNA; when voices unite, there are real results.

True

With so many protests taking place, America feels like it’s on the cusp of a political revolution.

There’s an outcry for empathy and for concrete action to fix the inequalities baked into our society. Bernie Sanders whipped his following into a frenzy in the hope of reforming what many perceive to be a broken and outdated system. Black Lives Matter marches have taken over streets and highways, demanding justice for slain black men, women, and kids. There have been violent clashes as various groups fight to be heard.

With protest after protest, many people may be asking themselves: Do protests actually make a difference?

Here’s the answer: They do, even if it takes a while to see results.

Here are seven moments of proof throughout U.S. history when protests yielded real results:

1. The Boston Tea Party: Dec. 16, 1773.

Image via Nathaniel Currier/Wikimedia Commons.

The Boston Tea Party was an act of defiance against British rule. Parliament tried to help The East India Company boost its revenue by taxing tea at the colonies' expense. The colonies didn’t appreciate this tactic. In Boston, the Sons of Liberty disguised themselves as Mohawk Indians — not the best move there — snuck on board ships in the harbor, and threw 342 chests of tea into the water. A large, supportive, crowd watched the entire thing.

Parliament, fed up with Boston and the American resistance to its rule, retaliated with The Coercive Acts in 1774. These were meant to punish the colonies and assert dominance, but it backfired, pushing the soon-to-be Americans toward a war for independence.

2. The Quaker petition against slavery: April 16, 1688.

Image of the drafted petition, via The Germantown Quakers/Wikimedia Commons.

While slaves had been fervently protesting their inhumane bondage since the beginning of the slave trade, it wasn’t until 1688 that a group of white men decided to speak up against it. Four Quakers drafted and presented the document, in which they stated that "to bring men hither, or to rob and sell them against their will, we stand against." The petition fell on deaf ears — the men were told that the timing wasn't right for the community to make a decision surrounding slavery. 15 years later, a group of Chester Quakers also spoke up.

It would take 92 years and many more petitions and presentations at community meetings, but in 1780, a Pennsylvania state law was finally passed to gradually emancipate slaves. Without those four men, the larger Quaker community may not have had the courage to speak up.

3. The Seneca Falls Convention: July 19, 1848.

Image via Kenneth C. Zirkel/Wikimedia Commons.

Women have spent many years fighting to be seen as more than second-class citizens. In 1848, led by abolitionists Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a small group of women met at Stanton's home and wrote an announcement, published in the "Seneca County Courier," calling for a women's conference.

In July, 200 women gathered at the Wesleyan Chapel to discuss women’s rights. Stanton shared the "Declaration of Sentiments and Grievances," which she'd drafted, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, in which she asserted that women were being denied basic rights, including the right to vote. On the second day of the convention, the declaration was signed by the assembly.

The public thought the declaration was ridiculous, but their disdain couldn’t stop the movement. Two weeks later, a larger convention was held, and in the years that followed, women’s rights conventions became annual occurrences. In 1920, as a result of this movement, the 19th amendment was passed, granting women the right to vote.

4. The GM sit-down strikes: Dec. 30, 1936.

Image via Sheldon Dick/Wikimedia Commons.

In the 1930s, big corporations were thriving on the backs of their workers, and the workers had had enough. They tried to form unions but were essentially dismissed. The power lay in the hands of the corporations. So, inspired by the sit-down strikes taking place throughout Europe, the workers decided to do something about the problem.

On Dec. 30, 1936, workers walked into the General Motors plant in Flint, Michigan, sat down, and stopped working, shutting down the company and forcing its heads to take notice. They remained there through mid-February. GM tried to force an evacuation and police attempted to cut off their food supply, but the workers prevailed. Finally, GM signed an agreement recognizing the union. Workers received 5% raises and were allowed to speak in the lunchroom. They’d won.

5. The Montgomery bus boycott: Dec. 5, 1955.

President Obama, the first black president of the United States, sits where Rosa Parks once sat. Image via Pete Souza/White House/Wikimedia Commons.

This started with one woman you might know: Rosa Parks, who was told to give up her seat on the bus for a white man. She refused. This simple act stoked a fire that had long been simmering. Parks was arrested and fined, and the black community came together, refusing to use public buses. Black taxi drivers lowered their fares significantly for their black riders, carpools were organized, and many people chose to simply walk to their destinations.

This protest lasted more than a year — 381 days to be exact — and forced Montgomery, Alabama, to integrate its bus system. And something else very special came out of this boycott: Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as a leader of the civil rights movement.

6. The March on Washington: Aug. 28, 1963.

Image via the National Archives/Flickr.

In 1963, 200,000 people marched through Washington to bring attention to the issues that black people continued to face in America. The march culminated in one of the most powerful speeches of our time, King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. The crowd demanded that America step it up and move toward racial justice and equality.

While, again, things didn’t change overnight, the march is credited with pressuring President John F. Kennedy and Congress to take action in favor of the civil rights movement, leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

7. Selma: March 9, 1965.

Image via Stanley Wolfson, New York World Telegram & Sun/Wikimedia Commons.

Just a few years after the march on Washington, another major march of protest took place. Black Americans had gained the right to vote, but voter suppression made that right mostly symbolic. In Selma, the Dallas County sheriff led an opposition to black voter registration, and it was working — only 300 out of 15,000 eligible black voters had been able to register. During a peaceful protest against this suppression, a young black man was shot and killed by state troopers.

Civil rights leaders attempted a march from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery on March 7, 1965, but they were brutally attacked by state troopers and forced to retreat. The nation witnessed the event on television. On March 9, they tried again. This time, state troopers blocked the road. That night, segregationists beat a young, white protester to death. On March 21, the activists tried yet again. This time, with the National Guard for protection and President Lyndon B. Johnson’s support, they made it. The Voting Rights Act was passed that August, protecting black voters from suppression and discrimination.

Change doesn’t happen overnight. But when people band together, they have the power to make a difference.

The largest Native American protest in history took place this year in North Dakota. An oil pipeline threatened to disrupt sacred Native American sites and burial grounds and risks polluting a major water source.Thousands of people stood together in solidarity and desperation, trying to force the public to notice and the government to take action. And it paid off. The the Army Corps of Engineers put plans for the Dakota Access Pipeline on hold while it explores alternate routes.

Image via Fibonacci Blue/Flickr.

It's a perfect example that, no matter how bleak the outcome may look, our voices are powerful. Protests matter. And remembering that possibility for change is often all the hope that we need in the midst of chaos.

From Your Site Articles

A first-person account of the cultural renaissance happening at Standing Rock.

This story is from Tony Sorci, a member of the Navajo nation, about his time spent as a protester at the Oceti Sakowin camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, as told to Upworthy. It has been edited for content and clarity.

Every morning at 10 o'clock, I walk into the water and say my prayers.

Some people jump into the water, wash their faces, and come right out. It's cold. But I spend a lot of time in the water because that's how I was raised — to say my prayers in the water no matter how cold it got in North Dakota.

How long will I be able to get in that water and pray, when it's still safe?

A water protector goes out to the river for a swim. Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

I heard about Standing Rock at a tribal conference in Washington state last summer. I figured going there was my duty to my grandmother.

I'm half-Navajo and half-Italian-American, from Big Mountain Reservation, originally Black Mesa, in Arizona. My grandmother was Roberta Blackgoat, the renowned relocation resister — she never signed anything, never left the land. I've been living with her as my hero for a long time.

Native Americans usually follow their mother's side, so over the years I've become more traditional in that way. There's a direct correlation between how we treat our mother and what our children are doing to themselves.

The Colorado River in Arizona, near the Big Mountain Rez. Photo by Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images.

For me, it's really sad that we've gotten to this point.

Our grandmas are out there praying for clean water, and the government is mistreating them.

There's a psychological war going on in Standing Rock: Just across the water, a couple hundred yards away, there are DAPLs (the term water protectors use for the private security and heavy machinery crews hired by the pipeline company) armed to the gills with itchy fingers waiting for some action.

But this isn't a game. It shouldn't be fun. What are they protecting? Who are they protecting? Who are they serving?

The DAPLs are obviously put in a predicament because they do have to feed their families. Obviously, if they're going to disobey orders, they're not going to be getting paid.

Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

For a lot of people, money is the driving force when it comes to the Dakota Access Pipeline.

So our goal, as protesters, is to hit their wallets with peaceful and nonviolent direct action. With each action, DAPLs will be forced to respond — which costs them money.

The organizers of the protest gather in the mornings at the the Big Camp and divide tasks, figuring out what will be the most beneficial. Many of us drink coffee around the fire in the morning with our gas masks already on, ready to go.

We aim to enact around 10 actions a day. Some people might go up to Bismarck, some stay at camp, some might protest on the bridge. My job has been canoeing on the water, trying to get the attention of the DAPLs and spreading them out a little. Then there are more covert ops, like gathering intel about where the police snipers are, or about the pipeline workers who try to disguise themselves as water protectors.

Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

When I know they have nonlethal weapons, I'm not afraid.

I'm a big guy, and things don't hurt me like they hurt other people.

I grew up playing lacrosse, and the closest thing to hand-to-hand combat is getting hit in the chest with a lacrosse ball at 100 mph. So I know they're gonna ding me up a little bit, but I'm here to protect the people. While I protest, I wear turquoise. I'm Navajo and we're supposed to wear our best jewelry when we travel.

Spiritually, I'm where I need to be: saying my prayers in the water, being loving and caring, and not letting fear creep in. Because if I do that, what about the other people who are anxious? Who are they going to look up to?

A Navajo veteran, wearing his protective turquoise. Photo by Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images.

It's not all organized, though. There are some young kids and gung-ho guys who wanna prove themselves as protesters and show how brave they are.

Not everyone sees as clearly as others. But that's what we're trying to get to.

One day, a white guy walked up to the communications tent all ready to go with two hoodies on and a big puffy jacket. He couldn't even put his backpack on; it was hanging down to his butt, and I just had to laugh. Is he using more resources than he brought here?

Another day, we were at the base of a sacred burial mound — they call it Turtle Mountain there. There's DAPLs on one side, and water protectors on the other, and then one white guy just ran into the cold water screaming: "Come on! Everybody follow me! I'll lead you!" And no one followed him. We were all like: "No! It's cold! Stay over there!" So he went over there and shook the DAPLs' hands, and they didn't even arrest him. Then he just ... stayed on the other side.

Looking back, it was kinda funny. Protesting is kind of funny.

Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

There are so many different walks of life on Earth, though.

A lot of non-Natives are really solid dudes who provide skills and are an asset to have in camp. Two kids from Seattle were staying with my camp, for example, and one was a leather worker. He actually made me a new medicine pouch, which was huge for me and a powerful thing for him to walk away from. He wasn't a pro at his skills, but he was an asset. He was there for a reason, and taking things from this in a positive manner.

I know that when he goes back to Seattle, he's just going to want to come back here to Standing Rock.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

There's a joke around camp that the longer you've been here, the harder it is to tell who's who.

When you first arrive, you can tell who's from which nation. But after a while, people start adapting, exchanging, and engaging with all the other cultures. It's really cool and powerful.

I got really close with some descendants from Hawaii who were here. One night they sang a prayer for us at our camp, a chant, and it really gave me goosebumps. When you're out in the water there, you have to use different intonations and rhythms for sound to travel, so I'd never heard something like that. I was infatuated.

I learned a lot from those new experiences in and of themselves. Stuff like this can snowball and have a positive effect for the camp, and for all of us.

Water protectors use a "home pole" to show where they came from. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

One thing we're all doing is inviting people to camp every day.

There's always something to do, whether it's chopping wood, emptying the garbage to bring to the deposit place, keeping the camp clean, setting up or breaking down someone's tent or campsite, or even getting water. Now that the water's starting to freeze, it's always a battle trying to get it warm.

Every morning I cook for as many people as I can. Cast-iron skillets, two of 'em, packed with potatoes, eggs, onions, and spinach — just mass amounts of food for people. You're also cooking for all the new people that come to camp, so usually there's a stew on, some sort of corn, so that people can grab a bowl if they need to throughout the day.

A lot of people think they're going to lose weight by going to camp. But Indians love their food — especially fried bread. And there are a lot of fried bread makers here.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

When we leave, we smudge with sage. It cleanses the air and the people. It's purifying.

Right before a big fire hose attack, we were gearing up to leave for Bismarck that night. I didn't know what else was going down — a lot of direct actions kind of remain silent from one another — so I was by the car saging myself, like usual. We were waiting for my friend to leave, and they said, "Go ahead, and we'll leave in five or 10 minutes."

So we hit the road and figured they would follow.

A water protector holds a roll of burning sage for smudging. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

On my way out, we started seeing cop cars driving toward the camp. We turned around to try to go back and see what was going on, but it was blocked. It was hard to drive away from that. I wasn't able to drag anyone away or shield anybody or protect anybody that day. The timing of that really affected me.

Photo by Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images.

Our fight is looking up right now. But we want to be a spark, to make this a tipping point for other pipelines to be stopped.

The story doesn't stop in North Dakota.

I don't know what's going to happen now. I can't see the future. But it's a very historic time that we're living in. We're getting this new civil rights movement with Native Americans, after we've been saddling it for so long. A new, strong network is being built. Connections are being made and new family is being found all the time.

Big Camp is basically a communication center, and a spiritual one, that we all carry with us. Now it's going to spiderweb out from there.

How fast will this ripple effect grow? I don't know. Only time will tell. But I'm trying to do everything in my power to expedite the situation.

Wes Clark Jr. is about as close as it gets to U.S. Army royalty.

The son of a renowned four-star general, Clark was born while his father was still fighting in Vietnam. He grew up at various Army bases all across the country before attending Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, followed by four years of active duty as a cavalry officer.

Wes Clark Jr. (left) with his father on the Democratic primary campaign trail in 2003. Photo by Michael Springer/Getty Images.

When 9/11 happened, Clark was living in New York City. He was eager to re-enlist, but his father talked him out of it. Since then, Clark has looked to other ways of making the world better. Now he's a writer, a climate activist, and a co-host of the popular political web series "The Young Turks."

Clark had been following the ongoing Dakota Access Pipeline conflict for months. As he watched the news, he became more and more enraged.

To Clark, this wasn't just a violation of human rights. It was an insult to veterans like him and his family.

Why? Because despite their continued mistreatment by the U.S. government, Native Americans have been fighting in the American armed forces for 200 years at very high enlistment rates.

Yankton Sioux veterans received the Congressional Medal of Honor in 2013 on behalf of their tribe's contributions as code talkers during World War I. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

"First Americans have served in the United States Military, defending the soil of our homelands, at a greater percentage than any other group of Americans," Clark wrote. "There is no other people more deserving of veteran support."

Clark took an oath when he joined the Army. He swore to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic." And by that oath, he believes he and his fellow veterans should be defending the Standing Rock Sioux from the human rights violations perpetrated against them in the past months, both from police departments and private security forces.

Clark put his uniform back on and organized the movement Veterans Stand for Standing Rock. On Dec. 3, 2016, he and his troops left for North Dakota.

The veterans made a plan to join the Standing Rock Sioux in ceremony and prayer at the Oceti Sakowin camp, then form a human shield around the water protectors in direct nonviolent action against the pipeline construction.

"We are there to put our bodies on the line, no matter the physical cost, in complete non-violence to provide a clear representation to all Americans of where evil resides," the co-organizers wrote in the group's official mission briefing.

"We’re not going out there to get in a fight with anyone. They can feel free to beat us up, but we’re 100% nonviolence," Clark added in an interview with Task & Purpose.

The Oceti Sakowin Camp near Cannon Ball, ND after a snowfall. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

More than 2,000 veterans joined the cause — many more than the 500 they had originally had hoped for.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

The veterans arrived on Dec. 4, and everything went according to plan. There were sage cleansings...

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

...and a human barricade to protect people from a police line.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

By evening, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had denied an easement for the pipeline's construction, putting its future in doubt.

Of course, the main credit for this victory should stand with the steadfast water protectors who have been camped out for months and who struggled for decades before that, too. But the massive veteran presence certainly helped.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

Last night, on the veterans' first day at camp, there was celebration — but the battle isn't over.

Energy Transfer Partners, the main company behind the pipeline, is still refusing to back down — and given recent violence in pursuit of ETP's goals, it would be foolish for the water protectors to turn their backs just yet. Which means that both the camp and the veterans will remain in place, perhaps indefinitely.

The men and women who serve this country in uniform have always understood the "American experiment" is a work in a progress — and our Native American brothers and sisters have always been intimately aware of just how fragile that experiment can be. But they can all agree that environmental destruction and state-sponsored violence are not compatible with the ideal of freedom on which the country was founded.

As one tribal elder said during Sunday's celebration: "Tomorrow we fight, tonight we dance."

The federal government stepped in to put plans for a pipeline on hold.

After a months-long standoff, Native Americans at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota got some great and unexpected news from the federal government.

On Sunday afternoon, the Army Corps of Engineers put plans for the Dakota Access Pipeline on hold while it explores alternate routes for the $3.7 billion project.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in a statement that the decision "underscores that tribal rights reserved in treaties and federal law, as well as Nation-to-Nation consultation with tribal leaders, are essential components of the analysis to be undertaken in the environmental impact statement going forward."

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It's a win for the water protectors of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, for indigenous rights as a whole, and for anyone who believes in the power of peaceful protest and organization — but there's still a long way to go.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe reflected on the victory, thanking tribal youth, the thousands of individuals who came to show support in person, the tens of thousands who helped from afar through donations, and other tribal nations that joined them in solidarity. Still, they understand the next few months will be crucial to the long-term safety of the land.

"We hope that [Energy Transfer Partners CEO Kelcy] Warren, Governor Dalrymple, and the incoming Trump administration respect this decision and understand the complex process that led us to this point," the statement read. "When it comes to infrastructure development in Indian Country and with respect to treaty lands, we must strive to work together to reach decisions that reflect the multifaceted considerations of tribes."

Navy deep-sea diving veteran Rob McHaney leads a group of veteran activists back from a police barricade near Oceti Sakowin Camp. Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

So, what happens now? According to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, the pipeline's financial backer faces a rapidly approaching deadline that it's now sure to miss.

If Energy Transfer Partners misses the Jan. 1, 2017, deadline to finish the project, companies committed to ship oil through the pipeline at 2014 prices have the option of rescinding their support for the pipeline.

What does this mean? In short, even if the Trump administration reverses course on Sunday's decision, many of the companies keeping the project afloat financially can deliver their own blow to the pipeline's prospects. Should the administration go forward with the pipeline, putting pressure on some of the companies involved to pull out of the agreement might be the next step in pipeline activism.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

Fighting for what's right is a group effort, and the victory at Standing Rock truly shows that it's up to all of us to press for change.

With the help of religious leaders, Native American tribes and activists, celebrities, and many others, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe claimed a huge victory in both the fight for its land and the fight for justice.

Though not over by any means, what unfolded at Standing Rock can serve as a lesson for those who feel helpless in our current political climate: If we join together, we can overcome seemingly insurmountable challenges.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.

For now, and hopefully for good, DAPL is leaving Standing Rock.

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images.