For many Americans, the 2016 protests against the Dakota Access oil pipeline served as an introduction to the Indigenous peoples’ movement. Over the course of more than a year, activists and members of various Native communities assembled at the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota to prevent the destruction of natural resources and sacred lands, while people around the world followed their progress. Photographer Josué Rivas was there for much of that time, documenting the evolution of the protests as seasons changed and political tensions rose and fell. His captivating images of Standing Rock, featured in this issue, evoke questions of development, environmental justice, and conflict and peace—demonstrating, in short, how the Indigenous peoples’ movement is not only one of the most significant social-justice movements of our time, but also among the most multifaceted.
Part of this is the result of scale. According to the United Nations, there are nearly...
