Dakota Access Pipeline Mind Map

Left: Found on NPR.com, photographed by Jose Luis Magana in 2017.

Left: Found on TIME, photographed by John Moore on October 1, 2016.

Right: Found on NPR.com, photographed by Cassi Alexandra on Thanksgiving Day 2016.

Right: Found on Forbes.com, photographed by Andrew Caballero-Reynolds on March 9, 2016.

Found on NPR.com, photographed by Andrew Cullen in September 2016.

Found on NPR.com, photographed by James McPherson in August 2016.

Dominant Narrative Found on The New York Times, photographed by Tom Stromme in 2016.

Found on NPR.com, photographed by Robyn Beck on September 3, 2016.

Robyn Beck’s photograph exerts didactic art as a plan to address the impact that the construction throughout the Standing Rock Sioux reservation had on its own people. The strategy is considered didactic art instead of ambiguous because it clearly shows its purpose and message to viewers that there is physical and emotional empowerment in this scene.

Dakota Access Pipeline

Counter Narrative Found on magnumphotos.com, photographed by Alessandra Sanguinetti on October 10, 2016.

Found on Forbes.com, photographed by Michael Nigro on February 22, 2017.

Michael Nigro’s photograph represents an ambiguous art strategy to vocalize through opaque art, that the Dakota Access Pipeline is having an effect on the Native American community there. The 1,134-mile pipeline that goes through four states and disturbs not only the sacred ground to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe but their drinking water as well. It is considered ambiguous due to the fact that the message is opaque and nontransparent to viewers for which they are uncertain of what the meaning is behind the photograph.

Dominant Narrative All of these photographs objectify; The Army Corps of Engineers rejected a plan to put the pipeline a mile north of the Standing Rock Sioux Indian reservation in North Dakota.

Therefore, the tribe sued federal regulators, saying it wasn’t properly consulted on the pipeline. The tribe feared the pipeline would disturb sacred sites and impact drinking water. On September 6th, U.S. District Judge James Boesberg granted a work stoppage on private property land.

On September 9th, Jude Boesberg denied the tribe’s motion for an injunction. Sections of the pipeline continued to be under construction despite protests. As of early July 2020, the Dakota Access Pipeline will shut down pending an environmental review and must be emptied of oil by August 5th. The decision could be subject to an appeal is a victory for the tribal community and the Standing Rock Sioux who have fought President Trump and the project for years. The responsibility and blame have appropriately been placed on the government itself, including Trump and the engineers behind the construction.

Counter Narrative All of these photographs stand for something monumental. They are opaque, open-ended, powerful, and poetic. They make the viewer question and understand what they mean and how they affect the people around them. The Native Americans from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe are standing up and objecting to the pipeline. Their primary water resource, the Missouri River, would run next to the pipeline itself and cause unknown disasters for which even the safest pipelines can leak. According to TIME, “The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has reported more than 3,300 incidents of leaks and ruptures at oil and gas pipelines since 2010.” Therefore, even the smallest spill can affect their water. Not only that, but the pipeline cuts through sacred burial ground, including fossil fuels, on the Standing Rock Sioux site, for which need to be kept in the ground.

The issue intersects with all types of people and social categories. For most of the protesters, the Standing Rock Sioux reservoir is their home; that’s all they’ve ever known and experienced. Families, Aztec Dancers, water protectors, and so many more activists, have come together for prayer ceremonies on the reservation, standing firm and not moving. Through it all, those responsible for the touch and go decisions for these people is U.S. District Court Judge James E. Boasberg. He has determined the stopping and going for the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline journey.

Sources: 1. Allen, Maggie., Dolsak, Nives., Prakash, Aseem. “The big fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline, explained.” Thewashingtonpost.com. 20 September 2016. Web. 17 July 2020. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/09/20/this-is-why-environmentalists-are-targeting-energy-pipelines-like-thenorth-dakota-project/ 2. Hersher, Rebecca. “Key Moments In The Dakota Access Pipeline Fight.”

NPR.com. 22 February 2017. Web. 17 July 2020. https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/22/514988040/key-moments-in-the-dakota-access-pipeline-fight 3. Mack, Eric. “A New Battle Over The Dakota Access Pipeline Has Just Begun.”

Forbes.com. 6 July 2020. Web. 17 July 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2020/07/06/judge-orders-dakota-access-pipeline-shut-down-and-drained-of-oil/#df25b3726def

Sources: 1. APNews. “Appeals court temporarily halts Dakota Access line shutdown.”

AP.com. 14 July 2020. Web. 17 July 2020. https://apnews.com/89daf5f73ab91d0c2fe13f406a0fc430 2. Havlin, Laura. “Portraits of Protest: The Women of Standing Rock.” magnumphotos.com. 26 June 2017. Web. 17 July 2020. https://www.magnumphotos.com/newsroom/environment/alessandra-sanguinetti-women-anti-dakota-acess-pipeline-demonstrations/ 3. Worland, Justin. “What to Know Abou the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests.”

TIME.com. 28 October 2016. Web. 17 July 2020. https://time.com/4548566/dakota-access-pipeline-standing-rock-sioux/