LaDonna Brave Bull Allard (1956-2021) helped kickstart one of the largest indigenous movements in the last century: the #NoDAPL movement, or the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests.
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard (1956-2021) helped kickstart one of the largest indigenous movements in the last century: the #NoDAPL movement, or the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I’m Constance Zimmer. And this is Womanica.
This month, we’re highlighting Eco Warriors: women fighting for conservation and ecological justice.
Today we’re talking about a woman who helped kickstart one of the largest indigenous movements in the last century - the #NoDAPL movement, or the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests. Let’s talk about LaDonna Brave Bull Allard.
LaDonna was born on June 8, 1956 in Fort Yates, North Dakota. She was a citizen of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. In the 1950s, the US Army Corps of Engineers built the Oahe Dam in the Mississippi River, destroying a part of the river the Sioux people considered sacred. The dam also flooded hundreds of thousands of acres of Standing Rock Sioux land - forcing LaDonna’s family to relocate. She later wrote, “This river holds the story of my entire life.”
In 1990, LaDonna graduated from the University of Northern Dakota at Grand Forks. She started working for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe as a historian and genealogist. While doing her work, LaDonna was often confronted with the traumas her ancestors endured - like the 1863 massacre at Whitestone Hill, where the US Army killed hundreds of Sioux people who had been peacefully gathering. Those histories inspired her present-day activism.
In 2016, LaDonna learned about the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline - a 1,170 mile-long underground oil pipeline that would run from North Dakota to Illinois. The pipeline was going to be built close to sacred burial ground, where LaDonna’s own son was buried. And many indigenous people in the area thought the pipeline could contaminate the water supply.
LaDonna owned land in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, near the pipeline’s construction. She volunteered her land - and five days later, in early April, she established Sacred Stone Camp. It was a site where activists could live together and resist the pipeline's construction. The name, Sacred Stone, was the pre-colonial name for Cannon Ball.
Sacred Stone Camp became the nexus for a cultural movement. Thousands of people traveled to Sacred Stone Camp, determined to stop the pipeline’s construction through prayer and peaceful protest. The movement brought together Indigenous peoples from all over the world - in total, more than 200 tribal nations were represented.
The protesters often came into conflict with law enforcement. Hundreds of protesters were arrested, and police fired rubber bullets at them, and blasted them with pressurized water in below-freezing temperatures.
In 2017, Sacred Stone camp was forced to close. The Dakota Access Pipeline finished construction that same year, and continues to operate today.
After the camp closed, LaDonna made it clear that the fight wasn’t over. She wrote: “This movement is not just about a pipeline. … we are fighting for our liberation, and the liberation of Unci Maka, Mother Earth. We want every last oil and gas pipe removed from her body. We want healing. We want clean water. We want to determine our own future.”
LaDonna made sure the spirit of the camp survived. She put the same Mongolian yurts that had housed protesters at Sacred Stone on the land next to her home in Fort Yates. That way, when activists came to the area to work on community projects, they could stay with LaDonna. Together, they would return to the Sacred Stone site to hold water ceremonies. In 2019, LaDonna became the representative for indigenous peoples within the UN Economic and Social Council.
LaDonna died on April 10, 2021 at 64 years old. She left behind 8 children, 21 grandchildren, 2 great-grandchildren, and an entire generation of indigenous youth following in her footsteps. Shortly before her death, a group of youth activists on their way to a rally stopped by her house. They put up signs in her yard that read: ‘water is life’ and ‘we love you LaDonna’.
LaDonna’s son later said that LaDonna heard the youth chanting and knew they were there. She said not to be sad for her - but to continue the fight.
All month, we’re talking about eco-warriors. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.