Events
Killing the Black Snake — Resistance at Standing Rock
Opening Panel | Indigenous Rising: Standing Rock and Beyond with Cheryl Angel (Sicangu/Oohenumpa), Jaskiran Dhillon, and Elizabeth Ellis (Peoria)
6:00 pm | Welcome and viewing
With the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL), the time of the Sioux prophecy foretelling the arrival of a black snake (Zuzéča Sápa) that would poison the water before destroying the Earth has come to pass. Originally slated to cross the Missouri River near the mostly white city of Bismarck, the pipeline was rerouted to carry crude oil under Lake Oahe, the main source of drinking water for the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Answering the call of The Great Sioux Nation, indigenous people from more than 300 tribal nations across North America traveled to North Dakota to stop the construction of the pipeline, making this gathering the largest Native convergence in over a century. In a matter of weeks, thousands more—indigenous and non-indigenous—made the journey, settling in three camps near the site.
Reuters freelance photographer Stephanie Keith documented the protest encampment for 36 continuous days from the end of October through the beginning of December 2016. Keith’s photographs vividly document the actions undertaken by the Water Protectors in defense of the territory and the violent police repression with which they were met. They also immerse the viewer in the political community that emerged in the encampments. Her photographs capture an extraordinary moment in the long history of indigenous resistance--one in which unity, solidarity, direct action, and even fleeting victory, were enacted in a clearing on a Missouri River floodplain.
Indigenous Rising: Native American Activism in the Era of Standing Rock
6:30-8:00 pm | Panel (Reception to follow)
Images of the burning Standing Rock encampment--set aflame by protesters themselves in anticipation of the final police eviction on February 22--opened a new chapter in the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline and the struggle for indigenous land and sovereignty. As tribal elders, Water Protectors and the #NoDAPL movement assess the lessons and victories of Standing Rock, new arenas of struggle proliferate in the courts, in the movement for divestment, and in the streets of cities across the United States.
Please join us for a discussion with Standing Rock elder and activist Cheryl Angel (Sicangu/Oohenumpa), and activists/scholars Jaskiran Dhillon and Elizabeth Ellis(Peoria) about where the movement stands and what lies ahead.
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Photography and Imaging at New York University.