Despite multiple court rulings denying its permit on valid environmental grounds, the Dakota Access pipeline continues to pump noxious oil through the heart of my homeland every day. As you know, this injustice has to be corrected. And if the courts won’t take the necessary steps to protect my relatives on the Standing Rock Nation, then once again it’s up to us — the grassroots — to use our voices and find a political solution.

Fortunately, as you can see in our new blog and video, our movement to stop DAPL has gained new traction. I feel echoes of the days when our protest camps filled with tens of thousands. Four Lakota tribal leaders, several organizations, and an online army of folks like you have taken up the call to tell President Biden to use his authority as the chief executive and stop this dangerous pipeline before it spills and kills.

Watch my video with Chase Iron Eyes to get caught up on our NoDAPL movement

We’ve got an organizing and media team on the ground here at Standing Rock — I’m so happy to be working hand-in-hand with my nephew, Chase Iron Eyes, on this — and we’re cooperating with members of our tribal council to help get the word out about the need to act now. We met at length on Tuesday with the full council, and we have been given a room in the tribal building to shoot interviews with tribal leaders and make videos featuring a range of knowledge and perspective.

We’re distributing all our videos to other concerned organizations via a sharing tool created by Earthjustice, the law firm representing the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its NoDAPL legal resistance effort. It’s an all-hands-on-deck moment, and many organizations — from the Sierra Club to one affiliated with actor Mark Ruffalo — have joined the effort to pressure the president and the Army Corps of Engineers to do right by my people.

I offer my gratitude to you for standing with us. The president has already made several positive decisions on pipelines and the environment, but he has yet to show that he understands the gravity of our plight here at Standing Rock. Our immediate goal is to make sure that he does — ideally before this Wednesday, the pipeline’s next day in court. By working together and by reforging our movement in bigger numbers, with more volume than ever, I believe we can do it.

Wopila tanka — I can’t thank you enough for your activism and your prayers!

Phyllis Young
Standing Rock Organizer
The Lakota People’s Law Project