Commentary Marks 10-Year Anniversary of Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

A commentary marking the 10-year anniversary of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) protests asserts that the Standing Rock resistance "transformed us" and highlighted "how far North Dakota was willing to go for oil," according to a piece published on Bing News. The opinion column, authored by LaDuke, frames the 2016-2017 protests as a pivotal event with enduring consequences for the state's political and environmental discourse.

The commentary states that Water Protectors witnessed "the brutality of Tiger Swan" and "$38 million in repression and violence against unarmed people" during the pipeline standoff. It further claims that North Dakota's judicial institutions have since "relentlessly pursued Water Protectors, with the vigor of the cavalry of a century before." The piece casts North Dakota as a "meth lab" for democracy, alleging its policies have been adopted by the Trump administration, with former Governor Doug Burgum now "systematically dismantling federal land and wildlife protections" as U.S. Secretary of the Interior.

From the perspective of Bakken operators and the state's oil industry, the DAPL protests represented a significant logistical and public relations challenge that underscored the high stakes of energy infrastructure development. The 570-mile pipeline, which became operational in 2017, was critical for moving Bakken crude oil to market more efficiently. The decade-old conflict remains a reference point for ongoing debates over permitting, environmental review, and tribal consultation for energy projects in the region.

The commentary notes that the movement's legacy continues locally. It mentions David Archambault II, the former Standing Rock Tribal chairman who was "in the crossfire most of 2016 and 2017," now works at Wozu, an Indigenous-led nonprofit in Cannon Ball, North Dakota. Down the road, the SAGE renewable energy initiative, coordinated by a descendant of Sitting Bull, aims to "harness the power of the land and our people to create economic opportunities and energy independence," according to its website cited in the piece.

The opinion piece concludes by linking the activism at Standing Rock to broader political change, citing that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited the camps and began posting on social media in support before launching her successful campaign for Congress. The column ends with the phrase "Power to the people," framing the anniversary as a moment of continued reflection on energy, sovereignty, and resistance in the Bakken region.