#NoDAPL

#NoDAPL (No Dakota Access Pipeline) is a Twitter hashtag and social media campaign that supported protests and encampments attempting to stop the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe argued that the 1,172-mile-long pipeline’s construction would threaten the tribe’s drinking water and sacred sites due to its proximity to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. 1 2

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At-A-Glance

Type: Organization, Other
Issue Areas: Environmental Policy, Energy Policy
Website: www.nodaplarchive.com
Formation:

2016

Location:

Standing Rock Indian Reservation, North Dakota

Contents

    Biden administration Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland (D-NM) supported the #NoDAPL movement and saw it as a “drum beat for environmental change.” 3 Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, 4 5 the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 6 left-of-center National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), 7 far-left NDN Collective, 8 Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), 9 the Sierra Club, and the left-of-center Native Organizers Alliance, also supported #NoDAPL. 10 11

    #NoDAPL grew to promote other pipeline-related protests in the United States 12 and claimed to support the concept of “tribal sovereignty.” 13

    History and Leadership

    The #NoDAPL social media hashtag began in March 2016 in support of protestors at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline, which was originally proposed in 2014. 1 By April 2016, the protest had turned into a full-time encampment targeting the pipeline and anyone funding the pipeline. 14 In November 2016, then-North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple (R) issued an executive order to expel the protestors due to harsh winter conditions and illegal camping on U.S. Army Corps of Engineers land. 1

    Despite the protests, the Dakota Access Pipeline came online in 2017 several months after then-President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to resume construction of the project. This order reversed a December 2016 decision from the Obama administration blocking the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. 15 16

    In June 2021, a federal judge struck down a lawsuit from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to shut down the pipeline. 17 In a 2022 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to overturn a lower court ruling that permitted a federally mandated environmental impact statement (EIS) to take place along the pipeline. 18

    Lakota People’s Law Project Action Center, which is a project of the Romero Institute, 19 advocates for the removal of the Dakota Access Pipeline from the ground 20 and has lobbied the Biden administration to end the pipeline “once and for all.” 21

    Activities and Funding

    #NoDAPL is a Twitter hashtag and social media campaign that raised awareness and supported protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline, a 1,172-mile-long pipeline which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe alleged threatened their drinking water and sacred sites due to the pipeline’s proximity to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. 1 2

    The protestors established an encampment near Standing Rock Indian Reservation to block the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. With time, #NoDAPL grew to promote other pipeline-related protests in the United States 12 and claimed to support the concept of “tribal sovereignty.” 13

    The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), 6 left-of-center National Congress of American Indians (NCAI), 7 far-left NDN Collective, 8 Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN), 9 the Sierra Club, and others supported #NoDAPL. 10

    ActionNetwork.org urged activists nationwide to join the #NoDAPL movement, saying, “to defeat a pipeline, it takes a movement of people from all corners of the nation,”  22 23 and the left-of-center Native Organizers Alliance sponsored a #NoDAPL petition on MoveOn.Org. 24 Change.org hosted a petition to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline which had 559,089 supporters 25 and the International Indigenous Youth Council (IIYC) also formed as a part of the NoDAPL protests. 4

    Before being appointed as the Biden administration‘s Secretary of the Interior, future Rep. Deb Haaland (D-NM) was part of the DAPL protests and claimed to support the #NoDAPL movement. 26 In addition, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), former Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, 4 and U.S. Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-CA) voiced support for the protests. 5

    In 2017, left-wing media outlet Unicorn Riot produced a documentary about #NoDAPL called Black Snake Killaz. 27

    As of February 2025, environmental advocacy group Greenpeace is part of a civil trial after being sued in 2017 by Energy Transfer, the energy company that owns DAPL, over their alleged role in planning the NoDAPL protests against the pipeline. The advocacy group claims they were only supporting the protests which they allege were mainly organized by local Native American advocacy movements. Thought the initial 2017 lawsuit was dropped, another one filed by Energy Transfer in North Dakota state court proceeded as of 2025. Energy Transfer is allegedly seeking $300 million in damages from Greenpeace, which, according to the New York Times, could potentially bankrupt the latter. Two other organizations named as defendants in the case include Greenpeace Fund and Greenpeace International. 28

    Related Organizations

    NoDAPL names left-of-center Amnesty International, Earth Guardians, Honor the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN), Indigenous Rising (a project of IEN), left-environmentalist International Rivers, Native Renewables, Our Children’s Trust, Owe Aku International, and Bring Back the Way as related organizations and allies in support of the left-wing concept of “environmental justice.” 29

    Funding

    NoDAPL organizers encouraged donors to support the protests through the Water Protector Legal Collective by making donations the radical-left National Lawyers Guild. 30

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    References

    1. “Next test for pipeline protestors: The brutal North Dakota winter.” Chicago Tribune. December 2, 2016. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.chicagotribune.com/nation-world/ct-dapl-north-dakota-winter-20161202-story.html.
    2. Bess, Gabby. “It Was Just So Hard to Watch’: the Police Brutality at Standing Rock.” Vice. November 23, 2016. Accessed March 26, 2021. https://www.vice.com/en/article/ywmdbv/it-was-just-so-hard-to-watch-the-police-brutality-at-standing-rock.
    3. Haaland, Deb. “More than Politics – it’s Personal.” Medium. September 26, 2017. March 26, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-environment-and-nature-business-a075491826f66240fe2b1865d58b0078.
    4. Garcia, Brenda. “#NODAPL.” University of California, Berkeley. A guide to Social Movements and Social Media. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://moveme.berkeley.edu/project/nodapl/#ftnt51.
    5. Congressman Ruiz. “I stand with Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. I am calling on the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct meaningful conversations with the tribe in any re-…”Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_3q-5Nm-Ag&feature=emb_title.
    6. “The ACLU Stands with Standing Rock.” YouTube. Posted January 24, 2017. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_3q-5Nm-Ag&feature=emb_title.
    7. “Climate Action: Other Resources.” National Congress of American Indians. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://ncai.org/ptg/climate-action-other-resources.
    8. “#ShutDownDAPL: Environmental Impact Statement Public Comment Period.” NDN Collective. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://climatejustice.ndncollective.org/take-action-on-dapl/.
    9. “#NoDAPL: Solidarity Statement.” Asian Pacific Environmental Network. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://apen4ej.org/nodapl/.
    10. “Hundreds of Indigenous Leaders, Environemntal Groups, & Influencers Call on Biden and Harris to Stand with Standing Rock and Shut Down the Illegal Dakota Access Pipeline Inbox.” Sierra Club. February 9, 2021. Accessed March 26, 2021. https://www.sierraclub.org/press-releases/2021/02/hundreds-indigenous-leaders-environmental-groups-influencers-call-biden.
    11. “Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline once and for all – #NoDAPL.” MoveOn.org. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/no-dapl.
    12. “Pipeline Struggles – Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).” #NoPADL Archive – Standing Rock Water Protectors. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.nodaplarchive.com/related-struggles.html.
    13. Petronzio, Matt. “How young Native Americans built and sustained the #NoDAPL movement.” Mashable. December 7, 2016. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://mashable.com/article/standing-rock-nodapl-youth.
    14. Rabbit. “The #NoDAPL movement was powerful, factual, and Indigenous-led. Lawsuit lies can’t change that.” Center for Constitutional Rights. February 21, 2018. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://ccrjustice.org/home/blog/2018/02/21/nodapl-movement-was-powerful-factual-and-indigenous-led-lawsuit-lies-can-t.
    15. Renshaw, Jarrett. “East Coast refiner shuns Bakken delivery as Dakota Access Pipeline starts.” Yahoo Finance. April 19, 2017. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/east-coast-refiner-shuns-bakken-delivery-dakota-access-043752521–finance.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly9kdWNrZHVja2dvLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAEMY_6sktNYP9UTBZ1ajCiAAQ1pjdptAtpddTrLOOiPYVr8gky_kqgVuojDn2ZLb0Cl-G73-s4uwUzXfc0GHJZ891c7YchyCuit4vjENFHp11c6KCkY5yQztdU18mKpFS9tIElKFmBX-crDSzF5mol08Z39aoIjdxDCqi8yiXh9d
    16. Wolff, Eric. “Obama administration blocks Dakota pipeline, angering Trump allies.” Politico. December 4, 2016. Accessed March 27, 2022. https://www.politico.com/story/2016/12/us-army-corps-blocks-dakota-access-pipeline-232172.
    17. “Dakota Access lawsuit dismissed; future challenges possible.” Associated Press News. June 23, 2021. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://apnews.com/article/lawsuits-environment-and-nature-business-a075491826f66240fe2b1865d58b0078.
    18. Lakhani, Nina. “US supreme court rejects Dakota Access pipeline appeal.” The Guardian. February 22, 2022. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/22/us-supreme-court-dakota-access-pipeline.
    19. “Romero Institute.” Candid GuideStar. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.guidestar.org/profile/95-3527131.
    20. “No DAPL.” Lakota People’s Law Project Action Center. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://action.lakotalaw.org/nodapl.
    21. “Tell Biden: End DAPL.” Lakota People’s Law Project Action Center. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://action.lakotalaw.org/action/biden-pipelines.
    22. Estevez, Marjua. “#NoDAPL: A Growing Movement To Stop The Dakota Access Pipeline.” Vibe via Yahoo. September 12, 2016. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/nodapl-growing-movement-stop-dakota-111844434.html.
    23. “#NoDAPL Day of Action – Tuesday Sep. 13.” The Action Network. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/nodapl-day-of-action-tuesday-sep-13.
    24. [1] “Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline once and for all – #NoDAPL.” MoveOn.org. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://sign.moveon.org/petitions/no-dapl.
    25. “Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.” Change.org. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.change.org/p/jo-ellen-darcy-stop-the-dakota-access-pipeline.
    26. Cook, James. “Deb Haaland: Why more Native Americans are running for office.” BBC, November 2, 2018. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46050464
    27. “Tweet.” Twitter. Posted March 25, 2022. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://twitter.com/CSagataw/status/1507341813824344077/photo/1.
    28. Zraick, Karen. “Greenpeace Goes to Court in $300 Million Suit That Poses Bankruptcy Risk.” New York Times, February 25, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/24/climate/greenpeace-energy-transfer-dakota-access-lawsuit.html
    29. “Some organizations involved in relevant work, and some resources.” #NoDAPL Archive – Standing Rock Water Protectors. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.nodaplarchive.com/organizations.html.
    30. [1] “Donate to Support the Water Protector Legal Collective.” National Lawyers Guild. Accessed March 26, 2022. https://www.nlg.org/donate/waterprotectorlegal/.