BISON BOOKS ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES / NATIVE STUDIES / POLITICAL SCIENCE / GREAT PLAINS
Black Snake
Standing Rock, the Dakota Access Pipeline, and Environmental Justice K AT H E R I N E W I LT E N B U R G T O D RY S
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 U.S. 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 Native nations combating environmental injustice and longtime discrimination and rebuilding their communities. It is the story of a new generation of environmental activists, galvanized at Standing Rock, becoming the protectors of America’s natural resources. “I’m so happy this book exists—it tells much of the backstory behind an absolutely epic environmental drama, and it highlights some of the remarkable women who led the fight. If you didn’t get a chance
Katherine Wiltenburg Todrys is a human rights lawyer and former researcher at Human Rights Watch. She specializes in health and human rights issues. JUNE 336 pp. • 6 x 9 • 28 photographs, 1 map, index $24.95T • paperback • 978-1-4962-2266-4 $33.00 Canadian World rights except United Kingdom
to join the encampment at Standing Rock, this account will put you there!”—Bill McKibben, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? “Black Snake is a necessary book, something that Indigenous history needs right now; it is an absorbing story of Native American resilience, protest, and agency. It is a book that should be on reading lists across the United States and beyond.”—Pekka Hӓmӓlӓinen, author of
ALSO OF INTEREST Rez Metal Inside the Navajo Nation Heavy Metal Scene Ashkan Soltani Stone and Natale A. Zappia $16.95 • paperback • 978-1-4962-0509-4
Lakota America: A New History of Indigenous Power “Todrys tells the story of the people in this fight, of their heartening advances and demoralizing setbacks, in a textured, personal way that brings to life their mistreatment and their inspiring response. This book is a dramatic illustration of how to stand up to powerful interests that are long used to simply casting aside the people in their way.”—Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch
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