Decade Since DAPL Protests Began, Standing Rock Flashpoint Remembered

The world’s attention turned to North Dakota in early September 2016 as protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) intensified into a major standoff, according to a report from the Williston Herald. The conflict began after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved plans for the $3.7 billion crude oil pipeline half a mile outside the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The decision pitted American energy interests against tribal sovereignty, according to the source. It sparked a grassroots movement where Indigenous protesters and allies argued the project threatened water, sacred sites, and the environment. Pipeline developers and state officials maintained that modern steel pipelines offered safer fossil-fuel transit than railroads or trucks.

Thousands of Native Americans and climate activists flocked to the protest camps south of Bismarck. Public figures, including actors Shailene Woodley and Mark Ruffalo and the Rev. Jesse Jackson, arrived to show support. Activists employed various tactics, chaining themselves to equipment, building resistance hubs, holding prayer runs, and blocking roads, which reportedly began costing Dakota Access Partners $83.3 million per month.

Environmental groups like Greenpeace supplied activists with assistance including tents, solar-powered vehicles, cameras, and training, the Williston Herald reported. While activists such as Winona LaDuke and then-Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault II focused on environmental and cultural concerns, Energy Transfer Partners was concerned with pipeline integrity, worker safety, and project budgets.

Before September 2016, protests were comparatively calm, with 37 arrests primarily for trespassing and disorderly conduct. However, by September 3, the situation changed dramatically as protester numbers threatened to overwhelm law enforcement responses. The standoff became a defining event for Bakken infrastructure, highlighting the complex social, legal, and political challenges surrounding major pipeline projects critical to moving the region's oil to market.