Lakota elder Rita Long Visitor Holy Dance,

93, and her son Nathaniel Blindman traveled

12 hours from the Pine Ridge Reservation in
South Dakota to the Oceti Sakowin camp.
Rita offered her support and encouragement
to the camp's organizers and elders on
behalf of all Lakota people.

MARKETING NEWS | APRIL/MAY 2017

THE REVOLUTION

#LIVE
WAS

THE #NODAPL MOVEMENT MAY NOT

HAVE SUCCESSFULLY STOPPED A
PIPELINE, BUT IT BROUGHT NATIVE
AMERICAN VOICES AND ISSUES TO THE
TOP OF SOCIAL MEDIA FEEDS

BY SARAH STEIMER

PHOTOS BY LAURA FONG


THE
CAMERA IS
FOCUSED
ON 13-YEAR-OLD TOKATA IRON EYES. THE SUN IS BOUNCING
OFF HER CHEEK AS HER EYES BEAM AND SHE TELLS THE
AUDIENCE, I FEEL LIKE I GOT MY FUTURE BACK. AS IF ON
CUE, SHE BEGINS TO CRY.
There were, of course, no cues from a directorno
producer who plucked this young Native American from
a pile of headshots. Its unscripted and it aired in real
time, with almost 2 million views on the Facebook Live
video to date. The clip is of Iron Eyes celebrating a since-
overturned decision by the Army Corps of Engineers
not to grant an easement to allow construction of the
1,172-mile-long Dakota Access Pipeline, designed to
carry crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois. The video
captures the youth of the anti-pipeline movement, a
group that helped propel its messaging across the U.S.
and beyond using some of the simplest (and cheapest) of
marketing tools: social media.
The movementknown via hashtags
that include #NoDAPL, #WaterIsLife and
#StandWithStandingRockdid something still
relatively new in storytelling. Not only did it tell its
story in real time, but it opened that voice up to anyone
who would listen. Brands with some of the greatest
32 MARKETING NEWS | APRIL/MAY 2017
expertise, manpower and editing skills still havent
quite mastered the art of live storytelling, and they
certainly wouldnt give that power to just any average
web user, free to attach the movements name to
whatever is produced.
The NoDAPL movement chose to open this story
to gain traction and awareness, placing a spotlight on
an issue that wasnt getting much mainstream media
traction. It used promotional tools familiar to many
marketers, but the voices that rose werent from polished
brandsthey were from people and organizations rarely
projected through a corporate megaphone.
The pipeline has yet to be halted as of this articles
publication, which may suggest the movement wasnt a
complete success. But is it a complete loss if it led to Native
Americans gaining a larger audience within the national
conversation? In this case, a battle may have been lost, but
a considerable following was wonan outcome marketers
would consider a win in the long game.
INTRODUCING A MOVEMENT AND REINTRODUCING A PEOPLE
The general consensus was that the movement against
the Dakota Access Pipeline began with young indigenous
people. Specifically, many point to the Oceti Sakowin
Youth, or the Standing Rock Youth, and a number of
relays they ran to garner awareness and support for their
stance against the pipeline.
Bobbi Jean Three Legs, a young Lakota woman from
the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, organized the
runs, which grew in size and distance from March 2016.
The second run was a 500-mile relay from the Sacred
Stone Camp, ground zero for the movement, to Omaha
to deliver a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers. The
Indigenous Environmental Network set up a social
media campaign around the run, and the Standing Rock
Youth designed a Change.org petition for their efforts.
The run then expanded to include Washington, D.C.,
and New York. Juliana Britto Schwartz, a campaigner
at Change.org who supported the Standing Rock Youth
petition, says the groups storytelling ability, particularly
on social media, and use of Change.orgs update tools
were huge contributors to gaining more than 500,000
supporting signatures.
The real-time documentation that so many young
people do naturally throughout the day only deepened
the story for those following. Schwartz recalls an
instance on the relay to Washington, D.C, when the
runners learned one of the final permits for the pipeline
had been granted by the Army Corps. The group turned
to Facebook Live to record their reaction.
The Kalpulli Yaocenoxtli Aztec
Nation arrived at the Oceti Sakowin
camp in early October 2016. More
than 200 indigenous tribes offered
their support and solidarity with the
water protectors.
It was so powerful, Schwartz says. I was tearing up
just watching them feel like they had run all this way and
no one was listening. And then they made the decision
as a group to keep going.
Schwartz says there were two unique parts of the
Standing Rock Youths campaign: This was not just a
youth effort, but an organized youth effort that also
had the backing of elders. She says this campaign was
also particularly compelling because it brought the
Native American voice to the forefront of a massive,
mainstream campaign, something she says there isnt a
lot of at Change.org or elsewhere. They amplified their
message through authenticity.
They didnt manufacture a story to pull people in.
The campaign just escalated in a way that you couldnt
put your phone down, Schwartz says. You wanted to
see what was happening next.
Some of those who took note included celebrities.
Actress Shailene Woodley was among those who picked
up on the story, particularly via the relays, and boosted
the messages through her own social media channels.
This was no small victory in getting the oppositions word
out, as Woodley has more than 1.9 million followers on
Instagram and 1.22 million followers on Twitter.
While Woodley and other celebrities, including
actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, showed
their support on social media and in interviews, the
indigenous people being directly affected saw their own
voices rise to the top. Simon Moya-Smith, a journalist
and activist, emphasizes that Native Americans want
to tell their own story, and social media provided the
platform to do so.
This is the first time in history that the Native
American voice, the authentic, bona fide Native
American voice has been ubiquitous, Moya-Smith says.
You have people utilizing their phones, their Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, whatever they can to get
the narrative out.
According to Moya-Smith, a large part of getting
the narrative out is reminding people that Native
Americans do, in fact, still exist. In speaking with an
online audience, indigenous people arent only trying
to battle the pipeline, but theyre also tasked with
educating their readers or viewers of their existence.
Its a basic marketing conundrum: How do you
convince people to convert or transact if they dont
even know you exist?
This reeducation is happening online, and Moya-
Smith says the narrative of evicting Native Americans
hasnt changed much, but the way this story is being
told has. Its being told in real time, and sometimes its a
brutal story to watch.
APRIL/MAY 2017 | MARKETING NEWS 33
 Donations piled next to the
common eating area and
main prayer circle at the
Oceti Sakowin camp. In early
October, night temperatures
were as low as 30 degrees.
When you see these images and videos coming
through of unarmed water protectors being assaulted,
it starts to wake people up and it bridges the space,
Moya-Smith says. The idea of reservations was to
remove Native Americans out of sight, out of mind, to
geographically isolate us. Through social media, that
geographic isolation isnt there anymore.
When it comes to the Dakota Access Pipeline in
particular, he says, social media pushed Native American
voices to the front. Both young Native Americans and
the elders have embraced social media for responding in
real time to the national conversation, which can often
include correcting misunderstood or mis-told stories
that have circulated for centuries.
This isnt revisionist history, its history, Moya-Smith
says. Were telling you whats been canceled out of the
conversation, and what has been canceled out has been
our voice. But not with social media. With social media,
we get to speak loudly and people are listening.
34 MARKETING NEWS | APRIL/MAY 2017
MESSAGING AND UNIFICATION
Messaging has remained relatively consistent among
the various stakeholders, be they individuals or
organizations. Anything that includes #NoDAPL or
similar hashtags could be considered branded content
for the movement, and this pseudo trademark has spread
like wildfire over the internet.
A Twitter Listening Report provided by marketing
and communications agency Media Cause, whose clients
include nonprofits and educators, shows #NoDAPL
was used on Twitter an average of 48,517 times per day
between Sept. 1 and Nov. 30, 2016, for a total volume of
4.41 million. Joining the conversation became as simple as
searching for and using the hashtag over any social media
platform. Amplifying the message was as easy as a retweet.
Taylor Johnston, account director at Media Cause,
was involved in creating social media content about the
Dakota Access pipeline on behalf of her agencys client,
the National Resources Defense Council. She says the
 NRDCs conversation about the pipeline, to which they
are opposed, would most often include the #NoDAPL and
#WaterIsLife hashtags. They also frequently retweeted or
reposted other accounts posts about the pipeline.
The NRDC and other organizations made sure to
tag and check in to Standing Rock as part of their
social media messaging as well. Johnston says this
only strengthened the unification against the pipeline,
suggesting the protest was far larger than just those on
the ground and included a massive online community.
She credits the Indigenous Environmental Network for
helping to unify the messaging used by so many opposed
to the pipeline. IEN acts as an umbrella organization
that builds alliances among indigenous communities,
environmental organizations and other groups in an
effort to organize campaigns, direct actions and create
public awareness.
They (IEN) were the ones that were really creating
these coalition groups, these coalition messaging points,
and distributing it out, Johnston says. IEN figured out
who was involved, who was protesting and unified the
audience, she says. They pushed out different pieces of
information, and other organizations put IEN at the
forefront, letting them push out messaging and direct
the dialog. Having a coalition with cohesive messaging
helped to strengthen that messaging, get out the truth
and fight through all the cloudiness of all the other
dialog, Johnston says.
The way this unification works on social media
is relatively simple. Johnston says the NRDC would
amplify the messages posted by othersfor example,
reposting items from the Standing Rock Sioux
WERE TELLING YOU social media accounts. There was a day of action
(#NoDAPLDayOfAction) on Nov. 15, 2016, that many

WHATS BEEN CANCELED organizations opposed to the pipeline took part in,
with their varied social media accounts working to get
petitions signed and create buzz.
OUT OF THE CONVERSATION ... Jade Begay, a producer and communications
coordinator for IEN, calls social media use crucial for

OUR VOICE. WITH SOCIAL

grassroots movements. Begay says one example of its
success was in bringing U.S. military veterans to defend
Standing Rock water protectors.
MEDIA, WE GET TO I conducted interviews with veterans who were there
[at Standing Rock], asking them how they heard this call

SPEAK LOUDLY AND

and what it felt like to get this call of duty, so to speak,
Begay says. A lot of the response was, Well, I first heard
of Standing Rock on social media, or, I first heard of the
PEOPLE ARE LISTENING. movement from social media and then I continued to
follow, I continued to stay engaged via Facebook and when
the call was made for veterans to come, thats when I knew it
was the right time for me to join. Everybody I interviewed

APRIL/MAY 2017 | MARKETING NEWS 35

 or who our team interviewed said that they heard of the
movement or learned about it via social media.
Begay says a large part of IENs work prior to rallies
or marches is focused on unifying messaging and
visuals: What will the banners say? What artwork will be
present? If IEN is holding its own action, it will bring its
delegates together from across the nation and huddle on
the messaging.
Were learning more and more that we need to be
very clear in our messaging, Begay says. We cant
just say, for instance, protect indigenous rights. To
indigenous people, we know what that means. We know
what our goal is. But when non-native people see that
message we dont know if people understand what
indigenous rights are really because of hundreds of years
of erasure and not respecting treaties.
She says the use of phrasing related to treaties, such
as honor the treaties, is often debated because the
audience may not know that any treaties even existed
between the U.S. government and Native Americans.
Another key point of phrasing, she says, relates to how
those opposed to the pipeline are referenced. She says
her organization has worked to get journalists to use
the phrase water protectors, rather than protestors.
Not because these people arent protesting, but because
of the negative connotation that can be attached to the
word protesters.
With the messaging defined and the audience
growing, the calls to action came rolling in. Chief
among them has been the call to defund the pipeline,
often referenced via the #DefundDAPL hashtag. The
dedicated website for defunding explains how to do so,
with individual, organizational and governmental steps.
The site describes how to remove money from banks
involved in a key loan for the pipeline, but also urges
those who took specific action to post about it on their
social media accounts. The sites tracker claims $74.91
million has been divested from the Dakota Access
Pipeline in personal funds and $4.07 billion divested in
city funds. The #DefundDAPL hashtag is seen on almost
6,000 public posts on Instagram, with users showing
their divestment letters and envelopes or standing in
front of their former banks.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Native Organizers
Alliance and Indigenous Environmental Network also
called for the organization of a camp and march on
Washington, D.C. Much like the Womens March before
it, the call went out via social media: Invitations came
through Facebook, and the hashtag #NativeNationsRise
grew in use as attendees posted from the event. The
number of RSVPs on Facebook came to about 2,000.
36 MARKETING NEWS | APRIL/MAY 2017
ANCIENT CULTURE, MODERN TECHNOLOGY
The impact and necessity of social media was clear from
the start of the movement. While the land at Standing
Rock is considered sacred, some modern updates were
needed. Specifically, the movement required an internet
connection to broadcast the stories in an area where cell
service was notoriously spotty. There was even a ridge
nearby that was nicknamed Facebook Hill, where people
would try to get cell service.
Begay says IEN and some other groups were able
to get Wi-Fi connectivity in some of the tents in the
Standing Rock camp, but there still werent ideal internet
conditions. Live video from some of the final days of
the camp in February was fairly poor, but vital, still, in
telling the story.
Having this ability to go live gives us a really useful tool
to bring attention to what is happening in the moment,
Begay says. Those live feeds were such a powerful way
to show what was happening, and not necessarily from a
biased place because youre not editing. Youre showing
exactly what is happening in the moment.
Marketers speak constantly about the use of live video
and social media to tell stories, and young people in
particular have taken to these formats for their everyday
lives. It can, however, feel like a clash of cultures to
digitally document such an old, indigenous population.
Moya-Smith says there are some situations and
ceremonies where people are not allowed to use a cell
phone or take photos. But where Native American elders
request sacred ceremonies remain undocumented,
they also understand the importance of social media to
connect the community.
Native Americans are the smallest racial minority
in their own ancestral land, only 5.2 million people,
Moya-Smith says. Thats a very small community of
people, but social media brings our people together and
our elders want us to come together. They want to make
sure that somebody who wasnt born on the reservation
can go back to the reservation and learn the language,
learn ceremony, etc. Thats where social media helps
you become that community, but it cant be in certain
situations like [a] ceremony. Turn it off.
There have been some instances where modern,
digital light has illuminated certain Native American
practices for the rest of the world. For example, a
member of Standing Rock Rising posted a photo on
Facebook of a Sacred Fire, by request of the water
protectors, prior to the final prayer walk and exit from
the campgrounds on Feb. 22. The post read, For those
of you not aware, the Sacred Fire has always been
off limits for media, as it contains the spirits. I was
A holy woman of the Kalpulli
Yaocenoxtli Nation offers prayers
for the water protectors at the Oceti
Sakowin camp in October 2016. Each
nation performed a welcome dance
in their full regalia from the camps
entrance to the main prayer circle.

APRIL/MAY 2017 | MARKETING NEWS 37


BRANDING THE MOVEMENT
The media focused its attention on the pink pussy hats worn by the
attendees of the Womens March, but there was another piece of
clothing that stood out: a turquoise scarf. On it was an illustration of
native women performing the Shoshone Warbonnet Dance.
The scarf was worn by the Indigenous Women Rising group that
attended the march, and they urged other Native American women
to wear the scarf as a sign of solidarity. The scarf was created by
Los Angeles-based designer Bethany Yellowtail, a member of the
Northern Cheyenne Tribe.
That image and the scarf, that clothing item, became a symbol
for us to know where our allies are, to know whos raising their
voice, Yellowtail says. Its been really incredible to see that clothing
can be a way to get people out and get people active. Its a very
obvious issue to know whos standing with you.
This wasnt the first time Yellowtail used her fashion design skills
for a movement. She created T-shirt imagery for Sen. Bernie
Sanders campaign in early 2016 and for the Standing Rock
water protectors. Proceeds from the Protector line went to the
Standing Rock Siouxs legal fund.
At the end of February, Yellowtail partnered with Sarah Eagle
Heart, CEO of Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP), to launch
a social impact clothing brand called SACREDx. The brand features
shirts that include words such as Resistance and Strong Hearts to
the Front. The goal, according to a press release, is to dress the
resistance, and bring indigenous voices back to the forefront. Ten
percent of the proceeds will be donated to NAP.
Yellowtail says non-native companies try to capitalize on native
movements, including the Standing Rock movement, and theres no
way to know where proceeds from these products go.
This (SACREDx) is a native-owned brand, its owned by myself
and Sarah Eagle Heart. We come from reservation communities and
we understand our people, Yellowtail says. By streamlining a brand
and streamlining messaging, we know its been taken care of in a
way it should be. Many times, when you have these big movements
happening, people try to take our perspective from us.
Yellowtail says she hopes the clothing line will be worn as people
shop, bank and go about their daily lives.
We know that the front lines are everywhere now, she says.
Thats the beauty of it, right? These scarves or the T-shirts or the
imagery that is coming from SACREDx is helping to keep the
momentum of the movement going beyond just the gatherings. Its
constantly advocating for people. Its a great visual to see out there
and know indigenous people are everywhere.
38 MARKETING NEWS | APRIL/MAY 2017
honored to be asked to do this. A Facebook Live video
of this final prayer and fire also exists.
Another strong tech presence has been from drone
footage. Myron Dewey, a producer at Digital Smoke
Signals, used a drone to document Standing Rock
and surrounding camps, posting the video regularly
to Facebook. Some of the footage went up raw, while
some went into edited video used on other Facebook
pages or websites.
Documenting the movement for the web may have
enabled a certain amount of armchair activismthe
idea of publicly supporting something without having to
physically leave your space to advocate and get involved.
Power exists through engagement, and more often
than not that engagement is due to the smartphone,
says Scott Goodson, a movement marketing expert and
author of Uprising: How to Build a Brandand Change
the Worldby Sparking Cultural Movements. What the
thumb wants, the thumb gets.
Goodson recalls the Facebook check-in phenomenon
from early November 2016. More than 1 million people
checked in on Facebook to the Standing Rock Indian
Reservation page, a move largely sparked by a rumor that
suggested local police were using Facebook check-ins to
track activists protesting the pipeline. There was never any
proof of this, with the Morton County Sheriff s Department
posting to Facebook that it did not follow check-ins.
Whether these check-ins actually thwarted any police
actions really isnt the point, Goodson says. It was about
a show of support.
The idea of standing for righting a wrong was more
important in creating and spreading the movement
than the details of what the protesters were fighting
for, Goodson says. Thats not to say that what the
protesters fought for was insignificant. On the contrary,
movements spread faster and wider when they are
grounded in something important but are simplified into
something that people can stand for or stand against.
Think of it this way: Facebook likes on a brand page
or video are not as valuable as actual purchases. But they
absolutely add some form of brand value.
To understand just how powerful these online
conversations, photos and videos on social media
are, consider a warrant filed by the Whatcom County
Sheriff s Department in Washington. The department
is seeking information from the Facebook page of a
Bellingham, Washington, group fighting the Dakota
Access Pipeline. The warrant would cover not only
protestors information, but that of those who interacted
with the page as well. The American Civil Liberties
Union has filed a motion to throw this warrant out.
"MOVEMENTS SPREAD FASTER
AND WIDER WHEN THEY ARE
GROUNDED IN SOMETHING IMPORTANT
BUT ARE SIMPLIFIED INTO
SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE CAN
STAND FOR OR STAND AGAINST.
MEASURING SUCCESS
To determine how successful this movement has been
depends on what you choose to measure. It could be
ruled a failure because the pipeline has not been halted,
and the water protectors have left Standing Rock. On
the other hand, it may be deemed a success because
awareness of not only the pipeline increased, but also of
Native Americans continued fight for indigenous rights.
A Quinnipiac University national poll released
in February found 51% of respondents oppose the
restarting of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access
pipelines, compared with 38% in favor of restarting.
Similarly, a Pew Research Center poll from February
found 48% of respondents oppose building the Dakota
Access Pipeline, versus 43% in favor. The Quinnipiac
poll broke its findings down by age as well, with 66%
of those ages 18 to 34 and 54% of those 35 to 49 in
opposition to the pipelines.
These figures suggest the movements massive social
media presence may have missed a large chunk of the
American audiencespecifically older populations,
considering there was far more web coverage of the issue
than traditional media coverage. Another Pew study from
2016 found 50% of those ages 18 to 34 and 49% of those
ages 35 to 49 often get their news online; compared with
29% of those ages 50 to 64 and 20% of those 65 and older.
The movements open web presence also ran the
risk of negative social media posts that were tagged
#NoDAPL or #DAPL. Those leading the movement,
however, have done their best to correct what goes
out when they can. For example, the Standing Rock
Sioux Tribe posted a statement in February referencing
false reports, saying, We cannot let media and social
media divide us. We have always been transparent
in our messages and actions; it is unfortunate when
certain media take messages out of context. We must
remain focused on our goals. The movement is bigger
than just the tribe. It is bigger than the Chairman, or
any individual. We should all be working together to
protect the tenets of the movement.
With so many different organizations and individuals
now involved, there has been some confusion over who
exactly to listen to or follow. Those trying to donate money
to the effort may also face some chaotic responses online.
For instance, a search for NoDAPL on the crowdsourcing
website GoFundMe produces 710 results. Its unclear if
theres a way to determine which pages are legitimate.
Despite all of the noise, many contend that the
movement has become much larger than protesting the
pipeline: It has brought the Native American voice toward
the front of the national conversation, at least online.
Arguably one of the most successful strategies of
the movement was incorporating an environmental
discourse. Many Americans may not know or
understand treaties or sacred burial grounds, but
most have heard about climate change and pollution.
In fact, a Pew Research poll found 59% of U.S. adults
believe stricter environmental laws and regulations
are worth the cost, compared with 34% who say such
regulations cost too many jobs and hurt the economy.
For the NoDAPL movement, tapping into the potential
environmental effects of the pipeline meant tapping into
Americans existing concerns and anxieties. As Begay
explains, using the term water protector, versus protester,
also tapped into a more environmental message.
We were protecting water and protecting ecosystems,
not just for our communities but for the 7 million people
downstream and the global community, Begay says.
Goodson says this environmental angle may have
been what helped give the movement momentum.
Native issues, he says, can come to the front and center
when the movement taps into what people already care
about, issues that are relevant to others lives.
Blame it on global economic pressures, general
restlessness, populism or the hyper-connectivity that
enables people to instantly organize around causes and hot
topics, Goodson says. Its probably some combination
of all of these factors, but the net result is that we are now
dealing with a populace that is more socially engaged,
more aware of whats going on in the world and hungrier
to get involved and be heard on various issues.
If I was consulting for native leaders, I would say
listen to what people are crying out for. ... Find out what
theyre passionate about, what theyre talking to each
other about. If you listen closely, you may detect the
rumble of an idea on the riseand it might be one you
can build a movement around. m
APRIL/MAY 2017 | MARKETING NEWS 39