Kenny Moll

Date of Award

Winter 1-30-2026

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts (BA)

Department

Environmental Studies

Advisor(s)

John Van Buren

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the current scope of environmental injustice on Native lands in the U.S. Specifically it examines The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and its impacts on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota. Western colonialism and capitalism have dominated North American ecosystems since their forcible introduction hundreds of years ago, causing the commodification of natural resources and leading to injustices such as that of the “Black Snake.” However, the story of The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s resistance will be analyzed through the framework of Indigenous philosophy and environmental justice. Chapter 1 analyzes the implementation of the DAPL and provides a brief history of U.S. colonialism through highlighting its ubiquitous damage to ecosystem services. Land misuse, resource exploitation and unjust treatment of Indigenous communities in the U.S. is surveyed using quantitative and qualitative data. The first chapter will also provide in-depth analysis of how these effects are compounded by other “natural” disasters caused by the climate crisis through the specific ecosystem services it so greatly impacts. The DAPL will remain a focus in the coming chapters. Chapter 2 examines the longstanding history of U.S. colonialism and the exploitation of Native lands and natural resources for profit. Beginning with an anthropologic history of the North Americas, the state of the continent is explored through the integration of humans and the development of their connection to the land. The chapter then addresses the unique cruelty of European settler colonialism and the subsequent campaigns of imperial expansion. Through the discipline of history, this chapter showcases how the seed of our current capitalist system and fossil fuel addiction was planted with the aim to control labor and amass land. The current day situation of the DAPL and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s principled fight against environmental injustice using grassroots activism will then lead into chapter 3. Chapter 3 acts as a comparative analysis of the differing worldviews of Western colonial ideology and American Indigenous philosophical thought. Through a framework of philosophy and culture, this chapter will explore language and social practices to determine why European and British colonists view nature through domination and Indigenous Americans act with ecological reciprocity. This chapter will examine the implementation of the DAPL through this philosophical lens and the possibility of Indigenous land stewardship. Chapter 4 utilizes an environmental justice framework to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the politics surrounding the DAPL. Through examining the allied and non-allied actors of the DAPL conflict, this chapter will feature the federal actors involved with the implementation of the pipeline as well as the Native and non-Native environmental justice organizations who fought against the DAPL. Specific instances of environmental racism in the development and implementation of the DAPL will be analyzed to provide a thorough understanding of the disproportionate effects of natural resource extraction on Indigenous communities. The chapter finally analyzes the legal battles underlining the famous protests against the construction of the DAPL. By delving into specific court cases, this chapter will provide an extensive investigation on the politics behind the pipeline project and subsequent resistance. Chapter 5 provides possible steps forward in terms of policy solutions. The proposed solutions will be suggested following themes analyzed in each of the previous chapters. For example, fossil fuel transition policies follow a climate science framework in evaluating renewable infrastructure projects and ensuring Indigenous energy sovereignty. Economic degrowth policies will be assessed on a global and national scale, leading to the recommendation for Native reparations and Land Back initiatives. Governmental environmental protections will be analyzed through strengthening treaties, revamping environmental policy and facilitating meaningful improvements in Indigenous participation in environmental decision making processes. This also includes granting protections to natural resources through the apparatus of legal personhood provided by the Rights of Nature movement. The U.S. educational system will also be investigated in proposing important adjustments in terms of Native representation and environmental focus. This chapter offers a call to justice for those harmed by the DAPL. Finally, the addendum chapter will analyze the repetition of history as the current presidential administration has deployed a campaign of mass censorship of climate change data and the erasure of non-white communities. This chapter explores how current policy initiatives recall past dispossession and removal strategies while offering a hopeful look to the future.

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