Rise

A long time ago, they told us this story

that there will be this big snake that comes.

And when the black snake comes,

the world will end.

One hundred years ago, they said

when that happens, we have to stand up.

We have to stop the black snake.

_

'Kay, so we got some news from down the line.

We got calls of police coming in,

but they're actually about 7 miles down the road.

They built a road in,

and they dropped barricades

to keep people from going in, but they've been getting their

equipment in through the back.

If any of you guys know any other people with horses,

they're asking them to scout in and see where the machinery is.

Alright, so we need to...

send in everyone over there now?

- Yeah. - Three...

Three gravel trucks and one crane.

- Okay. - Coming this way?

Yeah, coming this way.

It should be here.

Half hour ago, they were in a big cemetery.

Okay. 'Kay, ready?

Stand up, fight back!

What do we do when our water is under attack?

Stand up, fight back!

What do we do when our people are under attack?

Stand up, fight back!

What do we do when our lives are under attack?

Stand up, fight back!

What do we do when our land is under attack?

Stand up, fight back!

They're staying out of the way of everyone.

They don't want no problems.

You know, they've been going

probably about half a day without water,

so if any of you have extra water, share it with them,

'cause I know that they probably don't wanna be here.

So you know, be kind, be a human

and share it with them.

Oh, well, thank you.

I appreciate that, thank you very much.

Oh, you guys truly don't need to...

Thank you very much.

There is a standoff in the Great Plains.

Two hundred Native American tribes are fighting construction

of an oil pipeline.

Dakota Access Pipeline

would have the same impact on the planet

as 21.4 million cars.

It would also pose a serious threat to the water supply

along its entire 1,170 mile route,

not just on Standing Rock Sioux land,

but down stream in the Missouri and the Mississippi Rivers.

In what possible world is this a good idea?

Here at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation,

thousands have come together,

camped along the banks of the Missouri River,

in unity against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

This is the largest mass gathering of Natives

and allies in more than a century.

I arrived when the camp was still young,

before we knew this would grow into the movement it has become.

Before the police barricades, before the arrests,

before the world began to take notice,

when just a few dozen people had collected on a patch of land

known as the Sacred Stone Camp.

So I know that this camp has just been set up

for about two months now, and

I'm not sure what to expect when I get down there,

but I know for sure that

there's definitely an occupation now.

Sacred Stone Camp is ground zero

for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's resistance

against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

This largely female-led movement

is bringing together people from all walks of life.

While they call themselves water protectors,

water is not the only thing they are here to preserve.

They stand in defense of Native sovereignty,

their presence a reminder of whose land

the United States was built upon.

_

Founder of Sacred Stone Camp Ladonna Brave Bull Allard

has invited people to camp on her land since April 1st, 2016.

We sent out the word,

and all the Lakota Dakota Nations responded,

and they said, "We'll come."

The youth said, "We'll have a run,"

and these are young people.

And it was just a movement,

and it happened so fast.

Just even setting up the camp, it just

all happened so fast.

It's because young people

understand how important our water is.

Once that water's gone,

it's gone for everybody along that path.

_

In opposition of the Dakota Access Pipeline,

a group of Indigenous youth organized a 500 mile relay run

from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation

to the office of the United States Army Corps

in Omaha, Nebraska.

They delivered a petition asking them not to grant

the final federal permits needed to complete the pipeline.

One of the main organizers of the youth run

was 24-year-old Bobbi Jean Three Legs.

It doesn't take extraordinary people

to do extraordinary things.

It takes a good mind and a good heart.

We started out with four runners,

just two girls and two older guys from the camp.

It took us eight days to do the whole run

to get down to Omaha.

It was to bring awareness to the people

about the Dakota Access Pipeline being built here.

Not a lot of people knew about it.

Like when we were coming through the towns, that was

some of the people's very first time hearing about it.

I wanted to bring awareness to the youth,

'cause this is gonna affect them the most.

All the runners were really random.

We didn't even plan anything.

Kinda just sorta happened, and

it felt really good.

And you could see it in the people's faces,

especially in the elders.

What do you think that they're seeing

when they see young people running, and when they see you

running, and when they hear about the camp?

That we wanna learn, that we care,

and we care about Mother Earth,

that we care about our traditions, our culture.

Pretty much just not letting it die out.

And that's our responsibility,

to keep it alive so that

my grandchildren from 100 years from now will know all these things.

Bobbi, do you want kids?

- I have a baby! - You have a baby?

She's the reason why I kinda started with my efforts

against all this, 'cause every morning she wakes up

and she asks me or her dad for a drink of water.

It's just that simple, you know?

And what am I gonna do if I can't give her water,

or give her a bath, or feed her?

It's pretty scary to think about when you're a mom.

Originally the Dakota Access Pipeline

was supposed to be built by Bismarck-Mandan,

but they said that the people of Bismarck-Mandan

- were concerned that, you know, - _

- it would affect their water source and stuff. - _

So they decided to put it

not even a half a mile away from our reservation.

It pretty much just makes us feel like oh,

it's just Indians, you know?

We're humans too.

We're human beings.

Hey, I'm Sarain.

What are you doing?

Well, I'm just gonna give my daily check

and see what kinda...

if there's any progress or movement over here.

Let us see.

Where are you looking?

I'm looking over there where they got their staging at.

Oh, there's those big red...

big white boxes again.

Oh, they're getting ready to put them in somewhere.

It's new though? Something new is down there?

- Yeah, see, check this out. - Okay.

You see those... see that...

that field where they grated the ground there?

- You see those big white things? - Yeah.

And plus that... a little to the right,

you can see that they got equipment over there,

so they're working over there.

Across the river from the Sacred Stone Camp,

the Dakota Access Pipeline construction has begun.

But they cannot complete it without a final permit

from the Army Corps of Engineers,

a decision that could happen any day.

If approved, the pipeline could be fully operational

by the end of 2016.

Maybe the greatest insult of all

is that the tribe has repeatedly objected

to the construction of a pipeline in the first place.

Its intended path crosses under the Missouri River,

just a half mile from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation,

cutting through ancestral lands,

threatening to destroy hundreds of sacred sites.

We're waiting for 'em to come down that last hill

towards the river, and once we see them do that,

then we're moving over, setting camp right up

in the pathway of the pipeline to the river, and

that's when we're gonna start letting ourselves be noticed.

And when do you think you're gonna make that move?