Photographer Josu茅 Rivas spent seven months living at Standing Rock, documenting the gathering force of Native Americans and their allies. He says it wasn鈥檛 just a protest; it was an awakening.
Americans saw the Indigenous struggle鈥攖he violence, stolen resources, colluding corporations and governments鈥攖hat goes hand in hand with protecting the Earth.
The white male-centric colonial system is incapable of the leadership we need, and Indigenous knowledge is essential for the innovation that will follow this disruption.
鈥淭he Standing Rock I knew was not a mystical place with a uniform perspective. It was a complex place鈥攁n experiment in love, hope, courage, and solidarity.鈥
Last year鈥檚 water protectors garnered worldwide attention, but several pipeline fights鈥攕uch as the Enbridge Sandpiper pipeline victory鈥攇ot little public notice.
South Dakota鈥檚 Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate tribal members would rather share their food than sell it. But that gets in the way of building a local cash economy.