Looking to learn more about the Dakota Access Pipeline and the issues surrounding it, from tribal rights to the impacts of moving oil? Here's some recommended reading from Seattle Times reporter Lynda V. Mapes.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
This book is still one of the best, most comprehensive and moving histories of the violent displacement of tribal nations from their lands in the West. The illustrated, commemorative edition is particularly special, it contains many historic photos.
Custer Died for your Sins
This is a depiction of U.S. history probably very different from whatever you learned in high school. Acerbic and deeply revealing.
About the DAPL protest
The Trump administration has advanced the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipeline projects. Seattle Times reporter Lynda V. Mapes and photographer Alan Berner traveled to North Dakota last year to cover the protests against the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline. Here are recent stories to help you understand the conflict:- Background stories:Â Here's a primer on the pipeline project, including the key players on all sides, a brief history of broken treaty promises and a closer look at the courtroom battle. And here's what we're reading related to the controversy.
- March 28: What the completed Dakota Access pipeline means for key players.
- Feb. 23:Â Dakota Access Pipeline protest camp closed; 46 holdouts arrested.
- Feb. 22: Preparing to leave, Standing Rock protesters ceremonially burn camp.
- Feb. 13: Judge rejects tribes’ bid to halt Dakota Access Pipeline; feds plan to shut down protest camp.
- Feb. 1: Hundreds rally as the Seattle City Council considers divesting from Wells Fargo because of its role as a Dakota Access Pipeline lender.
- Jan. 24, 2017: Donald Trump signs executive orders advancing the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines. The Standing Rock Sioux tribe says it will push back.
- Dec. 4, 2016:Â Tribes celebrate as Corps rejects Dakota Access pipeline easement
- Nov. 21: Washington tribes urge that Obama stop, reroute Dakota Access Pipeline
- Nov. 12: Hundreds rally in Tacoma against Dakota Access Pipeline
- Live updates from from Seattle Times journalists on the scene Oct. 26, 27 and 28.
- Oct. 25: Tribes in Washington state call on President Obama to improve federal consultations over infrastructure projects
- Oct. 24: Citing treaty claim, protesters occupy land a rancher recently sold to pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners.
- See photos from the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.
North Dakota’s curriculum for high school students on the Standing Rock Tribe and its history
This website provides a comprehensive, informative, deeply and carefully sourced history of the Sioux and their lands from the 17th century to the present. Useful for any age level. The maps and graphics are particularly helpful in understanding the relentless reduction of the tribe’s land base by acts of Congress, renegotiations of the original Treaty of 1851, and flooding of the tribe’s best agricultural land by the Corps of Engineers to build a dam.
The history of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe
This website, created by the tribe, includes a deep account of the tribe’s history and struggle to survive as settlers and developers pushed West. Treaty documents are presented in their entirety.
The tribe’s website on the pipeline
This website is frequently updated with news about the tribe’s stand on the project and protest actions. The site includes helpful interactive maps of events since the protest camps were first set up beginning last April.
The developer’s website on the pipeline
This is Energy Transfer Partners’ web site and it provides a comprehensive overview of the project since its inception, and a useful FAQ. There are also maps of the pipeline in each of the four counties it crosses.
Magazine on Dakota Access Pipeline by Indian Country Today
Just published, this online magazine includes some reprints of works by others as well as original reports and commentary by Indian Country Today reporters in the field in North Dakota since last spring.
Permitting documents and FAQ by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
This website includes an FAQ and links to permitting documents, include pipeline construction plans from the developer, and the Corps’ environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact.
FAQ by EarthJustice
This website, from the law firm representing the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, includes a useful FAQ on the court cases surrounding the Dakota Access Pipeline, as well as links to court filings and decisions so far. The description by tribal archaeological experts as to what was destroyed by project construction can also be found here.
Inside Climate News
This news site won a Pulitzer Prize in 2013 for reporting on pipeline oil spills. Reporter Phil McKenna’s ongoing coverage on the Dakota Access Pipeline conflict is thorough and accessible. Useful links throughout.
Coverage in the Seattle Times
- What you need to know about the Dakota Access Pipeline
- Tribes march in Seattle to back Standing Rock Sioux in pipeline fight
- Washington tribes stand with Standing Rock Sioux against North Dakota oil pipeline
- United in fossil fuel fight, Northwest tribes inspire North Dakota pipeline foes
Editor’s note: Be sure to follow along on seattletimes.com as Seattle Times photojournalist Alan Berner and reporter Lynda V. Mapes visit North Dakota.