Standing Rock as a place of learning - Strenghtening Indigenous Identities

Abstract

ABSTRACT The paper looks at Indigenous identities and ways of decolonization through the lens of Standing Rock, an indigenous movement called, located by Lake Oahe (the Missoury River), North Dakota, from the spring in 2016 until late february 2017. The movement arose to protect the local drinking water against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and with time came to symbolize Native American Resistance, environmentalism and the fight against eco-racism worldwide. Standing Rocg saw an unprecedented growth and became well known internationally for its many participants (called water protectors), the indigenous people and allies who came from all around the world, and its focus on peaceful ways of resistance. The paper is based on interviews with Zintkala Mahpiya Win Blackowl, Hehaka Wakan Win and Sara Marielle Gaup Beaska, three indigenous women who travelled to Standing Rock during the water protector camp. Due to the processes of colonization indigenous peoples all over the world have had to struggle to preserve their ways of life and traditional knowledge. This has created a shared frame of reference particular to colonized people, just as the indigenous ways of life share inherent commonalities through such aspects as relationship to the land, community, spirits and all living beings. The focus of this thesis is Standing Rock as a place of learning with a special attention on the process of self-identification as a way of decolonizing for indigenous people and their communities.