We at Cultural Survival are disheartened and dismayed that a North Dakota jury has found Greenpeace liable for defamation, ordering the non-profit organization to pay at least $660 million in damages to Texas-based oil company Energy Transfer. Energy Transfer sued the environmental group over protests from April 2016 to February 2017 against the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, claiming that Greenpeace “incited” people to protest by using a “misinformation campaign.” The March 19, 2025, Energy Transfer vs. Greenpeace ruling has implications for everyone, raising serious concerns about the future of the United States democracy, freedom of speech, right to peaceful assembly and protest, and the self-determination of Indigenous Peoples.
Indigenous Peoples’ rights are non-negotiable. The Standing Rock #NODAPL protests were led by Tribal leaders in defense of clean water, Tribal sovereignty, sacred sites, and Free, Prior and Informed Consent of affected communities. Water Protectors, Elders, and youth stood on 1851 Treaty land for more than eight months in peaceful and spiritual resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline and its crossing of the Missouri River. They were exercising treaty, national, and international rights to defend their lands, environments, communities, and futures. Greenpeace, along with many allied organizations, acted in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, including drawing attention to Tribal complaints that Energy Transfer desecrated burial grounds and culturally important sites during construction.
In the U.S., the “supreme law of the land” is defined by treaties and the Constitution and underscores the sovereignty of Tribal Nations and the legal responsibilities of the United States. Despite claiming to be a country of law, the U.S. has continuously violated treaties with Tribal Nations, including ignoring Tribal concerns about the Dakota Access Pipeline. The Constitution also protects freedom of speech and the right to peaceably assemble under the First Amendment. Furthermore, it establishes the right to be tried by a “jury of one’s peers,” yet, The Guardian reports that more than half the jurors in the case against Greenpeace had ties to the fossil fuel industry – clearly a potential bias and just one of several due process violations in the case. This ruling is a dangerous precedent to undermine Indigenous leadership, criminalize free speech and the right to assembly, and could have profound implications for activism by those who oppose abuse of corporate power.
Now is the time to protect the values we hold dear. We stand with Greenpeace and all those impacted by the ruling in support of the appeal process. May justice prevail. Water is Life. Mni Wiconi.
Read: Greenpeace's press release.
Photo: During the winter months at Standing Rock, it was intense and emotional, as the militarized police force aggressively moved into encampments. Photo by Robby Romero.
