"Today is a bad day, they're in meetings all day." Click. This is not the usual cool reception one gets from the operator when calling Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, in Fort Yates, North Dakota. But it's understandable.
President Trump signed an executive order around 11 am Eastern today, directing the US Army to "review and approve in an expedited manner" the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,172-mile oil project that's attracted thousands to an encampment near Standing Rock's reservation in protest. The protesters are concerned primarily about the project's risks to the local water supply.
Many considered the months-long fight to be over after Obama's December 4 declaration to halt construction. Indeed, on Inauguration Day the tribe unanimously agreed to evacuate all remaining "water protectors," as the protesters refer to themselves, citing community exhaustion and the upcoming spring floods.
But that's all up in the air now, as activists and tribal leaders respond to Trump's actions, which include restarting the Keystone XL Pipeline, whose dormancy many Standing Rock activists considered a source of inspiration.
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