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Start giftingBlack Snake
Standing Rock, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and Environmental Justice
Narrator
Rainy Fields
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Length
8 hours 25 minutes
Language
English
The controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) made headlines around the world in 2016. Supporters called the pipeline key to safely transporting American oil from the Bakken oil fields of the northern plains to markets nationwide, essential to both national security and prosperity. Native activists named it the "black snake," referring to an ancient prophecy about a terrible snake that would one day devour the earth. Activists rallied near the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota for months in opposition to DAPL, winning an unprecedented but temporary victory before the federal government ultimately permitted the pipeline. Oil began flowing on June 1, 2017.
The water protector camps drew global support and united more than three hundred tribes in perhaps the largest Native alliance in US history. While it faced violent opposition, the peaceful movement against DAPL has become one of the most crucial human rights movements of our time.
Black Snake is the story of four leaders—LaDonna Allard, Jasilyn Charger, Lisa DeVille, and Kandi White—and their fight against the pipeline. It is the story of a new generation of environmental activists, galvanized at Standing Rock, becoming the protectors of America's natural resources.
Katherine Wiltenburg Todrys is a human rights lawyer and former researcher at Human Rights Watch. She specializes in health and human rights issues.
Rainy Fields was born in Claremore, Oklahoma. Fields is a registered member of the Muskogee Creek Nation and is of Cherokee descent. She spent most of her childhood in a small town in Illinois. Around the age of eleven her family moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico. She slipped a disc the summer before starting college. Which lead to a MED (Micro-endoscopic discetomy) during her freshman finals week. Life came to a stand-still. Her type-A personality had to take a back seat and she slowly learned to stop and smell the roses. The need to boast her GPA after having surgery, led her to taking an acting class at the University of New Mexico. She fell in love with acting and later graduated with a BA in theater, with an emphasis in acting. Upon completion of UNM, Fields moved to Los Angeles, California. Rainy enjoys spending her time taking improv classes at UCB. She is a member of the all-Native Improv Troupe, The Mayflower Welcoming Committee. Rainy is an ensemble member of Native Voices at the Autry, the country's only Equity theater company dedicated to creating and developing new works by Native playwrights. She also cohosts the podcast Hollywood Ndnz, which explores what it's like to be Native and in the entertainment industry.