Though the encampment sits on land controlled by the US Army Corps of Engineers, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their supporters say that the proposed 1,160-mile crude oil pipeline rightly belongs to them, under the conditions of a treaty signed 150 years ago.
Oceti Sakowin spokesman Cody Hall told the Chicago Tribune, "We're not leaving until we defeat this big black snake."
But some conservative lawmakers and residents have called the camp illegal and say that the growing crowd makes them feel unsafe.
"If that camp was full of people advocating for fossil fuels, they would have been removed by now," claimed US Representative Kevin Cramer (R-ND), "There is some discretionary enforcement going on."
The camp began as overflow from areas where protest is permitted, and has been growing since August. Eileen Williamson, spokeswoman for the USACOE, said that people were being 'encouraged' to make their way back to the permitted protest areas.
"We don't have the physical ability to go out and evict people — it gives the appearance of not protecting free speech…Our hands are really tied," she said.
Close to 100 people have been arrested in connection with the protests, but Cramer opined that a larger issue is fears of purported "illegal activity that may be orchestrated" from the camp. Farmers in the area are concerned about damage to fields.
Hall said that protests have been peaceful, and that "People don't leave from the camp with malicious intent to do harm…[but] There are always going to be a few bad eggs in any group you can't get the message to."
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, and her running mate Ajamu Baraka, were both charged with criminal mischief in early September for spray-painting solidarity messages on pipeline construction equipment. Stein later said in a statement, "I hope they take action against the Dakota Access Pipeline company that is endangering drinking water, not only for the Standing Rock Sioux, but for millions of people downstream of the reservation who depend on the Missouri River."
On September 9 the US government ordered a temporary halt on pipeline construction, after US District Judge James Boasberg rejected a request from the Standing Rock Sioux to block the pipeline altogether.
The Sioux have said that the proposed $3.7 billion pipeline will desecrate sacred lands and burial grounds, and devastate local wildlife.
The Department of Justice, the Department of the Army, and the Department of the Interior released a joint statement: "This case has highlighted the need for a serious discussion on whether there should be nationwide reform with respect to considering tribes’ views on these types of infrastructure projects."
