Standing Rock Fights On: Tribal Activism Goes Solar

Three years after the historic anti-pipeline protests in North Dakota, activists are bringing renewable energy to the oil-rich land

If you climb one of the many buttes that rise above western North Dakota, you’ll gaze upon a landscape of roaring methane flares, hidden pipelines and over 12,800 active oil wells. This is the Bakken oil boom, and it has helped make America the top world producer. But Cody Two Bears has a very different story to tell. “When Europeans first came to Turtle Island 500 years ago, we knew how to take care of this land and taught them how to live,” says Two Bears, referring to a name for North America used by many Native Americans. “Now the world is falling apart, so it’s time when us as Native people have to use our ancient wisdom to show this country how to live sustainably. And what better way to do that than with renewable energy?”