The Standing Rock Reservation (called Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ in the Lakota language) is a special area of land for Native American people. It sits on the border between North Dakota and South Dakota in the United States.

This reservation is home to several groups of Lakota and Dakota people. These include the Hunkpapa, Sihasapa, Ihunktuwona, Pabaksa, and Hunkpatina Dakota. It is the sixth-largest Native American reservation in the U.S. by land size.

Standing Rock covers all of Sioux County, North Dakota. It also includes all of Corson County, South Dakota. Small parts of northern Dewey and Ziebach counties in South Dakota are also part of it.

The reservation's land area is about 9,251.2 square kilometers (3,572 square miles). This is twice the size of the U.S. state of Delaware. In 2010, 8,217 people lived on the reservation. The tribe has 15,568 enrolled members. The biggest towns on the reservation are Fort Yates, Cannon Ball, and McLaughlin.

History of the Standing Rock Sioux
How Standing Rock is Governed
Environmental Concerns
Dakota Access Pipeline Protests
Presidential Visit to Standing Rock
Notable People from Standing Rock
See also

History of the Standing Rock Sioux

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is part of what was known as the Great Sioux Nation. This was a large group of Native American peoples. In 1868, the Fort Laramie Treaty reduced their lands. The treaty set their land east of the Missouri River and west of the South Dakota state line. The Black Hills, which the Sioux considered sacred, were in the middle of this land.

Gold Rush and Land Loss

In 1874, George A. Custer and his soldiers went into the Black Hills. This was against the treaty. They found gold, which started a gold rush. The U.S. government wanted to buy or rent the Black Hills. But the Lakota people, led by their spiritual leader Sitting Bull, refused.

The Great Sioux War of 1876 was a series of fights between 1876 and 1877. The Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne fought against the United States. A famous battle was the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also called Custer's Last Stand. Native Americans won this battle. However, the U.S. Army soon forced the Native Americans to give up. They did this by destroying their camps and property.

The Agreement of 1877 officially took the Black Hills from the Sioux Nation. It also created permanent Native American reservations.

Breaking Up the Great Sioux Reservation

In 1890, the U.S. government broke another treaty. They divided the Great Sioux Reservation into five smaller reservations. This was done to make room for white settlers. The government also wanted to make Native Americans live like white people. They gave each family 320 acres of land to farm.

The Lakota people were traditionally nomads. They lived in tipis and their culture was based on buffalo hunting and horse culture. They were now expected to farm and raise animals. Also, their children were forced to go to boarding schools. These schools taught English and Christianity. They often banned Native American languages and traditions. Children were punished if they tried to practice their culture.

Struggles and the Ghost Dance

Farming was very hard in the dry South Dakota region. By the late 1890s, the land could not grow enough food. The bison, a main food source, had almost disappeared. The Lakota people faced starvation.

Many turned to the Ghost Dance ritual. This dance worried government agents. Agent James McLaughlin asked for more soldiers. He claimed Sitting Bull was leading the movement. But another agent, Valentine McGillycuddy, said the dances were harmless. He warned that troops would cause trouble.

Thousands of U.S. Army troops came to the reservation. On December 15, 1890, Sitting Bull was arrested. During his arrest, a fight broke out. Sitting Bull was shot and died.

His followers and relatives fled south. They joined another group and went to the Pine Ridge Reservation. On December 29, 1890, the 7th Cavalry found them at Wounded Knee. The soldiers claimed they were disarming the Lakota. But they killed 300 people, including women and children.

How Standing Rock is Governed

Standing Rock Administrative Service building, Fort Yates

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has an elected Tribal Council. It has 17 members. These include the Tribal Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary, and 14 representatives. As of 2022, the chairwoman is Janet Alkire.

Council members serve four-year terms. Elections are held so that not all members are replaced at once. Six members are elected from the whole reservation. Eight members are elected from specific areas called districts:

Fort Yates (Long Soldier)
Porcupine
Kenel
Wakpala
Running Antelope (Little Eagle)
Bear Soldier (McLaughlin)
Rock Creek (Bullhead)
Cannonball

Environmental Concerns

In the 1960s, the Army Corps of Engineers built five large dams on the Missouri River. This was part of the Pick–Sloan Missouri Basin Program. These dams were for flood control and making electricity. But they forced Native Americans to move from large areas that would be flooded.

For example, the Oahe Dam flooded over 200,000 acres on the Standing Rock Reservation. It also flooded land on the Cheyenne River Reservation.

Even today, poverty is a problem for these communities. They have asked for payment for their towns that were covered by Lake Oahe. They also want payment for losing their traditional ways of life.

Dakota Access Pipeline Protests

Lakota man protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota, Summer 2016

The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) was planned to go near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. An earlier route near Bismarck was rejected because it was too risky for Bismarck's water. The tribe was against the pipeline going under Lake Oahe and the Missouri River. This river is the only water supply for the Standing Rock Reservation.

Start of the Protests

On April 1, 2016, LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, an elder of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, started the Sacred Stone Camp. This camp protested the DAPL. It became a center for cultural and spiritual resistance. Protests began in spring 2016. They brought together Native people from all over North America and many other supporters. It was the largest gathering of Native Tribes in 100 years.

The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe asked a court to stop the pipeline construction. In April 2016, three U.S. government agencies asked for a full study of the pipeline's environmental effects. In August 2016, more protests happened near Cannon Ball, North Dakota.

In summer 2016, young activists from Standing Rock ran from North Dakota to Washington, D.C. They presented a petition against the pipeline. They started a campaign called "ReZpect our Water." They argued the pipeline would endanger the Missouri River, their water source.

By late September, over 300 Native American tribes supported the protests. About 3,000 to 4,000 supporters were at the camp.

Clashes and Government Action

On September 3, 2016, the DAPL company brought in a private security firm. They used bulldozers to dig up part of the pipeline route. This area might have had Native graves and artifacts. When unarmed protesters approached, guards used pepper spray and dogs. At least six protesters were bitten by dogs. About 30 were pepper-sprayed.

The pipeline company said they hired security because protests were not peaceful. The local sheriff said protesters went onto private land and attacked guards.

On September 7, 2016, a federal court did not stop the pipeline. But then, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the United States Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation ordered a halt. They stopped construction until more environmental studies were done.

Dakota Access agreed to stop construction temporarily. On December 2, 2016, about 2,000 U.S. military veterans came to support the activists. They promised to protect the protesters.

Pipeline Completion and Legal Battles

In January 2017, President Donald Trump issued an order to speed up the pipeline's approval. This caused new protests. On February 3, 2017, the Army Corps of Engineers said they would close the protest camps. Many veterans and protesters were still there. Over 700 protesters had been arrested since August 2016.

On February 7, 2017, the Trump administration allowed the Army Corps of Engineers to continue. The pipeline was finished by April 2017. Its first oil was delivered on May 14, 2017.

The tribe sued again. In March 2020, a federal judge agreed with them. The judge ordered the Army Corps of Engineers to do a full environmental study. He said the earlier studies were missing important details. For example, the pipeline's leak detection system might not work well. The pipeline is still running while the case continues.

Public Attention

A video released in June 2017 showed how protesters were treated in September 2016. It showed Dakota Access guard dogs with bloody mouths after attacking protesters. A journalist named Amy Goodman filmed this. North Dakota Police tried to arrest her for trespassing. She said this was against freedom of the press.

During the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump did not comment on the DAPL. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, protested at the site. She was charged with trespassing. Bernie Sanders, a U.S. Senator, spoke out against the pipeline. Many Hollywood celebrities also supported the protests.

On September 20, 2016, Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault II spoke to the United Nations Human Rights Council. He talked about how the U.S. had broken treaties with the tribe.

Two days later, the pipeline company bought the land where protests were happening. This was seen as a way to stop more protests.

Presidential Visit to Standing Rock

In June 2014, President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Standing Rock Reservation. This was during the annual Cannon Ball Flag Day Celebration. It was one of the few times a U.S. President visited a Native American reservation. Some residents felt their concerns about treaties were not fully addressed.

Notable People from Standing Rock

David Archambault II (born 1960), Tribal Chairman from 2013–2017
Eagle Woman (1820–1888), a peace activist, trader, and diplomat
Sitting Bull (1831–1890), a famous Hunkpapa Lakota leader
Josephine Gates Kelly (1888–1976), Tribal Chairman from 1946–1951
Beatrice Medicine (1923–2005), a scholar, anthropologist, and educator
Tiffany Midge, a poet, editor, and author
Patricia Locke (1928–2001), a Lakota educator who worked to save Native American languages
Vine Deloria, Jr. (1933–2005), an activist and writer
Barbara May Cameron (1954–2002), a Hunkpapa Lakota photographer, poet, writer, and activist for human rights
Tomi Kay Phillips, an academic leader and president of Sitting Bull College
Susan Power (born 1961), a novelist
Laurel Vermillion, an academic leader and president of Sitting Bull College
Kyrie Irving (born 1992), a professional basketball player

Standing Rock Indian Reservation facts for kids

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