Excerpt: Settler colonialism is not one historical event. It is a structure, and the process of settling continues today. That process is not more evident in North America than at Standing Rock.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,172 mile long oil pipeline, constructed to carry hydraulically fractured crude oil from the Bakken fields of North Dakota to an existing oil tank farm in Illinois. Originally planned upriver from the predominantly white town of Bismarck, the pipeline was rerouted after residents voiced concern over the safety of their drinking water. The new route skirts Standing Rock reservation and crosses directly under Lake Oahe, the primary drinking water source for the reservation and another 17 million people downriver.