The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe refuses to surrender; earlier this month, the tribe challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ conclusions that the Dakota Access Pipeline poses no threat to the tribe. The tribe has fought the pipeline for over four years, culminating in headline-making 2016 demonstrations on the reservation in North Dakota. In Standing Strong, Josué Rivas (Mexica/Otomi) looks back at the water protectors and their camps. Rivas mixes moods in black-and-white diptychs, placing a photo of a man holding his eyelids open to be washed after he was sprayed with mace, next to an image of a landscape at dusk. Standing Strong is not merely an account of the protests; rather, it creates an environment of images that linger beyond the book. In the afterword, Ojibwe environmentalist Winona LaDuke writes that the demonstrations opened a “profound moment, when we awaken, look all around and find our people, people of many tribes, colors and histories. We find our power.”

Standing Strong
By Josué Rivas
140 pages, hardcover: $55
FotoEvidence, 2018

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Explore a world of images at Standing Rock

by Elena Saavedra Buckley, High Country News
November 26, 2018

<h1>Explore a world of images at Standing Rock</h1> <p class="byline">by Elena Saavedra Buckley, High Country News <br />November 26, 2018</p> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow aligncenter" data-effect="slide"> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_container swiper-container"> <ul class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_swiper-wrapper swiper-wrapper"> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-1-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86572" data-id="86572" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.1.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Matriarch. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. November, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-10-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86573" data-id="86573" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.10.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Police mace Water protectors. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. November, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-11-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86574" data-id="86574" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.11.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">A group of women carry a wounded warrior. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. November, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-12-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86575" data-id="86575" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.12.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Two men get sprayed by law enforcement with high pressure water during a demonstration near the Oceti Sakowin Camp. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. November, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-2-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86576" data-id="86576" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.2.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Home. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. November, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-3-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86577" data-id="86577" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.3.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Shadow of a dancer. San Rafael,CA , USA. October, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-4-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86578" data-id="86578" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.4.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Canoe ceremony at Oceti Sakowin Camp. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. August, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-5-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86579" data-id="86579" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.5.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Man under a teepe near the Dakota Access Pipeline. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. November, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-6-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86580" data-id="86580" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.6.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Last stand at Oceti Sakowin Camp. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. February, 2017.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-7-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86581" data-id="86581" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.7.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">Resistance. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. November, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-8-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86582" data-id="86582" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.8.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">An upside down American flag waves at a healing gathering. Fort Yates, North Dakota, USA. September, 2017.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standing-strong-9-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86583" data-id="86583" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Standing.Strong.9.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">A woman walks in the snow during a blizzard. Cannon Ball, North Dakota, USA. November, 2016.</figcaption></figure> </li> <li class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_slide swiper-slide"> <figure> <img alt="standingstrongcover-jpg" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_image wp-image-86584" data-id="86584" src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/standingstrongcover.jpg" /><figcaption class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_caption gallery-caption">standingstrongcover-jpg</figcaption></figure> </li> </ul> <p> <a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-prev swiper-button-prev swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><br /> <a class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-next swiper-button-next swiper-button-white" role="button"></a><br /> <a aria-label="Pause Slideshow" class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_button-pause" role="button"></a></p> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-slideshow_pagination swiper-pagination swiper-pagination-white"></div> </p></div> </p></div> <p>The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe refuses to surrender; earlier this month, the tribe challenged the Army Corps of Engineers’ conclusions that the Dakota Access Pipeline poses no threat to the tribe. The tribe has fought the pipeline for over four years, culminating in headline-making 2016 demonstrations on the reservation in North Dakota. In <em>Standing Strong</em>, Josué Rivas (Mexica/Otomi) looks back at the water protectors and their camps. Rivas mixes moods in black-and-white diptychs, placing a photo of a man holding his eyelids open to be washed after he was sprayed with mace, next to an image of a landscape at dusk. <em>Standing Strong</em> is not merely an account of the protests; rather, it creates an environment of images that linger beyond the book. In the afterword, Ojibwe environmentalist Winona LaDuke writes that the demonstrations opened a “profound moment, when we awaken, look all around and find our people, people of many tribes, colors and histories. We find our power.”</p> <p><strong> </p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full alignleft"><img src="https://www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/standingstrongcover.jpg?fit=540%2C540&amp;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-86584" /></figure> <p> </strong><a href="https://www.josuerivasfoto.com/prints/standingstrongbook" target="_blank" data-linktype="external" data-val="https://www.josuerivasfoto.com/prints/standingstrongbook" rel="noopener">Standing Strong</a><br />By Josué Rivas<br />140 pages, hardcover: $55<br />FotoEvidence, 2018</p> <p><em>Email </em><span>High Country News</span><em><span> </span>at <a href="mailto:editor@hcn.org">editor@hcn.org</a> </em><em>or submit a<span> </span><a href="https://www.hcn.org/feedback/contact-us" target="_blank" data-linktype="external" data-val="https://www.hcn.org/feedback/contact-us" rel="noopener">letter to the editor</a>.</em></p> <div class="wp-block-group hcn-print-edition-box"> <p>This article appeared in the <a href="/?p=187658">print edition of the magazine</a> with the headline <span class="hcn-magtitle">Explore a world of images at Standing Rock</span>.</p> </p></div> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hcn.org/issues/50-20/photos-a-world-of-images-at-standing-rock/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://www.hcn.org">High Country News</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/www.hcn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/cropped-HCN_Logo-Monogram_White_Sq-2.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://www.hcn.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=119737&amp;ga4=G-0NS3WVPPTN" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p> Copy to Clipboard

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