As winter descends on North Dakota, thousands of Native Americans from tribes around the U.S., as well as Canadian First Nations and other allies, continue to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The project, which will run through sacred sites and under the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, could also affect the water supply of as many as 25 million people in the event of an environmental disaster.

Leena Minifie, videographer and editor at Ricochet`s Indigenous Reporting Fund, recently joined the protest encampment outside of Canon Ball, North Dakota and has filed a video report at Ricochet Media. In this conversation, she discusses what she witnessed at the encampment.

For more background and historical context to this story, go to
http://www.ndstudies.org/resources/IndianStudies/standingrock/timeline_1889.html

To learn more about the ongoing fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline or for information on how to get involved check out the Indigenous Environmental Network at ienearth.org.