Take Action to Stop KXL
Tell your congressional representative and the UN Environment Programme's executive director to take a vocal stand against the Keystone XL pipeline.
Justice for the Lakota People
We partner with the Lakota to help renew Indigenous culture and secure Native autonomy and self-determination.
Ongoing Campaigns
Dedicated to reversing the slow genocide of the Lakota People and destruction of their culture, the Lakota People’s Law Project partners with Native communities to protect sacred lands, safeguard human rights, promote sustainability, reunite indigenous families, and much more.
Supporting Children and Families
Supporting Children and Families
Every morning, South Dakota’s Department of Social Services seizes Lakota children without warning. Lakota grandmothers asked us to help bring them home.
Preventing Pipelines
Preventing Pipelines
The coming of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines have fulfilled the Lakota prophecy of a terrible black snake meant to bring harm to the people of Turtle Island. Our organizers stand on the front lines every day to protect the sacred systems of Unci Maka—our Grandmother Earth.
Defending Dissent
Defending Dissent
For five decades, from Wounded Knee to Standing Rock, our leaders have championed indigenous and social justice. We won’t stop standing against human and constitutional rights violations.Long-Term Partners
For over a decade we’ve been standing strong with the Lakota to end the long history of treaty violations and systemic corruption that has resulted in the loss of their most sacred lands and the epidemic of children being removed from their families and traditions.
Kinship Care on Standing Rock Nation
The Lakota People's Law Project opens a new foster home at Standing Rock to provide Native-run kinship care for kids in need.
Thousands Join Tribes' Opposition to Dakota Access Pipeline Expansion
LPLP attends the North Dakota Public Service Commission public hearing to oppose DAPL expansion. Over the past two months, LPLP and tens of thousands of supporters have joined the Standing Rock, Cheyenne River, Rosebud, and Oglala Sioux nations in demanding the hearing and asking that the Commission deny the dangerous plan to double DAPL's oil capacity.
Greta Thunberg Visits Lakota Territory
LPLP is overjoyed to join the Oglala and Standing Rock Nations in welcoming teenaged Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg to Lakota Country. LPLP, Red Cloud Indian School, and the Oglala Sioux Tribe host a climate panel at Pine Ridge with Greta and Tokata Iron Eyes. The two also lead a panel at Standing Rock and a march in Rapid City.
Pine Ridge Passes Marriage Equality and Anti-Hate Legislation
Muffie Mousseau and Felipa De Leon lead the charge for LGTBQ2S-positive change to the Pine Ridge Reservation. LPLP helps document and publicize their tireless efforts to convince the Oglala Nation Tribal Council to pass a landmark marriage equality statute on Pine Ridge and South Dakota's first anti-hate legislation.
AOC Welcomes Oglala Nation President Bear Runner and LPLP to Washington
LPLP joins Oglala Sioux Tribe President Julian Bear Runner's D.C. delegation to meet with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) about Keystone XL, the climate crisis, and the Green New Deal.
LPLP Assists the Oglala Lakota Nation with Flood Relief
From April to June 2019, in the wake of massive flooding, LPLP provides organizing and media support to facilitate flood relief for the Pine Ridge Reservation. This work culminates in two landmark disaster declarations and badly needed aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Standing Rock The Vote!
North Dakota implements a restrictive voter ID law meant to disenfranchise Native voters. The Lakota People’s Law Project, Four Directions, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe fight back with a ground campaign to enroll tribal citizens and get them to the polls on election day. Standing Rock issues 727 new IDs and more than doubles its turnout from the prior midterm election.
GOP aims to suppress ND Native American vote to hinder Heitkamp
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#StandingRockTheVote in Full Swing
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Thank You for Helping #StandingRockTheVote
North Dakota Drops Charges Against Chase Iron Eyes
After LPLP's legal team begins deposing law enforcement personnel, North Dakota prosecutors drop both serious charges against Chase Iron Eyes—alleged criminal trespass and incitement of a riot. Many thanks to all the kind and generous supporters who made this victory possible!
#NestlePledge: LPLP Joins the Nestle Boycott
Citing Nestle's unethical business practices, LPLP launches the #NestlePledge and joins the movement to #BoycottNestle and its products. #WaterIsLife
#GreenTheRez: Renewable Solutions and Energy Independence for Standing Rock
LPLP's Phyllis Young spearheads the campaign for energy independence on Standing Rock. Sustainable solutions, new statewide renewable standards, and incentives for green projects can move the Dakotas, which still rely on coal for 70 percent of their energy, away from dependence on fossil fuels.
LPLP Petitions North Dakota to #DropDAPLCharges for Water Protectors
Leaked documents reveal that a private security firm hired by DAPL parent company Energy Transfer Partners targeted, surveilled, and provoked the peaceful and prayerful water protectors at Standing Rock. LPLP's campaign—which ultimately gathers over 55,000 signatures—calls on the state of North Dakota to drop the charges of water protectors arrested during #NoDAPL.
Pipeline Battles Shift to the Courts
After militarized police raid the newly-established Last Child Camp and arrest Chase Iron Eyes, LPLP Chief Counsel Daniel Sheehan steps in to organize Chase's defense. LPLP also provides litigation support to several tribes’ fights in Washington, D.C. against DAPL.
The #NoDAPL Fight Begins
In the spring, members of the LPLP team—including lead counsel Chase Iron Eyes and tribal liaison Madonna Thunder Hawk—join the resistance camps on Oceti Sakowin treaty land to stop the Dakota Access pipeline. In addition to providing organizing, logistical, and media support, LPLP petitions to prevent the pipeline from violating Lakota treaty rights and threatening Standing Rock‘s water supply.
“Native Lives Matter”: LPLP Tackles Indigenous Justice
Nine Tribes Join LPLP to Put Forward ICWA Solutions
"South Dakota is still trafficking our children, Lakota children, Indian children, and they get millions of federal dollars every year for their so-called 'child welfare services.'"