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Standoff: Standing Rock, the Bundy Movement, and the American Story of Occupation, Sovereignty, and the Fight for Sacred Lands
The Bundy takeover of Oregon's Malheur Wildlife Refuge and the Standing Rock Sioux tribe's standoff against an oil pipeline in North Dakota are two sides of the same story that created America and its deep-rooted cultural conflicts. Through a compelling comparison of conflicting beliefs and legal systems, Keeler explores whether the West has really been won―and for whom.
220 pages, Paperback
First published May 12, 2020
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December 29, 2021
"Eye-opening and compelling … required reading for those who would call this land home.” – Kirkus Reviews
Jacqueline Keeler, a journalist and the daughter of a Navajo mother and a Lakota father, is eminently qualified to write about the contrasting standoffs that occurred in Oregon and North Dakota in 2016.
BUNKERVILLE ALLOTMENT, NEVADA (2014)
Her account of the Bundy revolt begins in Nevada before skipping to Oregon two years later. It began when Cliven Bundy, patriarch of the clan, refused to cease and desist in grazing his cattle on public land, meaning land owned by the federal government, unless he paid delinquent grazing fees and fines of over a million dollars that had accrued over the course of twenty-one years.
Bundy maintains that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to own any land, with the exception of the District of Columbia and land allocated for military installations. He argues that the rightful owners of the land in his area are the ranchers and farmers, because ranchers and farmers were the original settlers.
Because Bundy’s supporters were armed and there was a fear of violence the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) backed down in their effort to force Bundy to obey the law.
At the time of the book’s publication, March, 2021, Cliven Bundy was a free man; he was not paying grazing fees; nor had he paid any delinquent fees or fines; and his cattle still grazed on public land.
MALHEUR NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, OREGON (2016)
On January 2, 2016, armed protestors took control of the Malheur National Wildlife headquarters located in south central Oregon near the community of Burns. Ammon Bundy, son of Cliven, who also had been involved in the standoff in Nevada, was the leader of the protest.
Ammon put forth the same argument that his father had presented in the Nevada standoff. He said that the occupiers would not leave until the rightful owners, meaning the local ranchers and farmers, took control of the refuge.
The siege finally ended on February 11. A number of the occupiers entered pleas of guilty to the charge of conspiracy. Seven others stood trial and were acquitted, including Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan.
Today, Ammon Bundy, a resident of Idaho, is running for the office of governor.
STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION, NORTH DAKOTA (2016)
In December 2014, the Standing Rock saga began with a Texas oil company’s application for a federal permit to build an oil pipeline which they named the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
The pipeline would run close to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. It would cross the Missouri River under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir that is the source of drinking water for both reservations.
In April 2016, a camp was set up at Standing Rock to protest the pipeline. It eventually attracted Native and non-Native people across the U.S. as well as people from around the world.
In September the governor of North Dakota activated the National Guard to assist state and local law enforcement. At one point attack dogs were used against demonstrators, with several people being bitten. In November the authorities resorted to rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons in order to break-up a demonstration.
Yes, water cannons – in November – in North Dakota.
By the end of January, 2017 the last of the demonstrators had been forced to leave the camp. The incoming Trump administration green lighted the project and today the oil flows through the pipeline without interruption – except when leaks occur – which have been reported at different points in North and South Dakota.
CONTRAST
Keeler goes into great detail about how the concepts of property ownership of the Bundy followers differ greatly from those of Native Americans. She also points out that the original owners of both the Bunkerville Allotment in Nevada and the Malheur Refuge in Oregon were not ranchers and farmers, but were Native Americans, specifically the Paiute tribe, and that if the land should be given to anyone, it should be given to that tribe which was not only the original owner but also signed treaties with the U.S. guaranteeing its ownership. Of course the treaties were later broken and the Paiute reservation, like the reservations of other Native people, were greatly whittled down in size.
Keeler also describes how law enforcement treated the Bundys far differently from the way the Standing Rock protestors were treated. No attack dogs, rubber bullets, or water cannons were used by authorities in the standoffs in Nevada and Oregon, as they were at Standing Rock. This was true even though the protestors in Nevada and Oregon were armed and those at Standing Rock were not.
Another difference documented by Keeler deals with how the news media covered the stories. For example, there was wall-to-wall coverage of both Bundy standoffs on cable-TV news. On the other hand, for the first five months there was practically no media coverage of the Standing Rock standoff. As it turned out, it was social media that spread the word that led to the influx of hundreds of additional protestors that finally caught the attention of the news media.
A MISSED OPPORTUNITY
I’m glad I read the book. I agree with the Kirkus reviewer; it should be read by everyone. But it was a painful experience for me – and not just because its subject is painful.
Keeler is a good writer and a thorough researcher, but the repetitious and disjointed nature of the account was a distraction for me. It left me with the feeling that a number of essays or journalism pieces had been glued together without smoothing out the transitions from one to the next.
There are also some factual errors, mostly minor, but there was one glaring error that was later repeated and was finally stated correctly late in the book, but the original errors were not corrected.
A good editor (and/or proofreader) could have eliminated the repetition and the errors that kept the book from being what it should have been. Perhaps that negligence is part of the reason that the Kirkus review is the only one that I found online, which in turn may have prevented an important book from gaining the readership that its subject deserves.
Jacqueline Keeler, a journalist and the daughter of a Navajo mother and a Lakota father, is eminently qualified to write about the contrasting standoffs that occurred in Oregon and North Dakota in 2016.
BUNKERVILLE ALLOTMENT, NEVADA (2014)
Her account of the Bundy revolt begins in Nevada before skipping to Oregon two years later. It began when Cliven Bundy, patriarch of the clan, refused to cease and desist in grazing his cattle on public land, meaning land owned by the federal government, unless he paid delinquent grazing fees and fines of over a million dollars that had accrued over the course of twenty-one years.
Bundy maintains that it is unconstitutional for the federal government to own any land, with the exception of the District of Columbia and land allocated for military installations. He argues that the rightful owners of the land in his area are the ranchers and farmers, because ranchers and farmers were the original settlers.
Because Bundy’s supporters were armed and there was a fear of violence the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) backed down in their effort to force Bundy to obey the law.
At the time of the book’s publication, March, 2021, Cliven Bundy was a free man; he was not paying grazing fees; nor had he paid any delinquent fees or fines; and his cattle still grazed on public land.
MALHEUR NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, OREGON (2016)
On January 2, 2016, armed protestors took control of the Malheur National Wildlife headquarters located in south central Oregon near the community of Burns. Ammon Bundy, son of Cliven, who also had been involved in the standoff in Nevada, was the leader of the protest.
Ammon put forth the same argument that his father had presented in the Nevada standoff. He said that the occupiers would not leave until the rightful owners, meaning the local ranchers and farmers, took control of the refuge.
The siege finally ended on February 11. A number of the occupiers entered pleas of guilty to the charge of conspiracy. Seven others stood trial and were acquitted, including Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan.
Today, Ammon Bundy, a resident of Idaho, is running for the office of governor.
STANDING ROCK SIOUX RESERVATION, NORTH DAKOTA (2016)
In December 2014, the Standing Rock saga began with a Texas oil company’s application for a federal permit to build an oil pipeline which they named the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
The pipeline would run close to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation and the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. It would cross the Missouri River under Lake Oahe, a Missouri River reservoir that is the source of drinking water for both reservations.
In April 2016, a camp was set up at Standing Rock to protest the pipeline. It eventually attracted Native and non-Native people across the U.S. as well as people from around the world.
In September the governor of North Dakota activated the National Guard to assist state and local law enforcement. At one point attack dogs were used against demonstrators, with several people being bitten. In November the authorities resorted to rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannons in order to break-up a demonstration.
Yes, water cannons – in November – in North Dakota.
By the end of January, 2017 the last of the demonstrators had been forced to leave the camp. The incoming Trump administration green lighted the project and today the oil flows through the pipeline without interruption – except when leaks occur – which have been reported at different points in North and South Dakota.
CONTRAST
Keeler goes into great detail about how the concepts of property ownership of the Bundy followers differ greatly from those of Native Americans. She also points out that the original owners of both the Bunkerville Allotment in Nevada and the Malheur Refuge in Oregon were not ranchers and farmers, but were Native Americans, specifically the Paiute tribe, and that if the land should be given to anyone, it should be given to that tribe which was not only the original owner but also signed treaties with the U.S. guaranteeing its ownership. Of course the treaties were later broken and the Paiute reservation, like the reservations of other Native people, were greatly whittled down in size.
Keeler also describes how law enforcement treated the Bundys far differently from the way the Standing Rock protestors were treated. No attack dogs, rubber bullets, or water cannons were used by authorities in the standoffs in Nevada and Oregon, as they were at Standing Rock. This was true even though the protestors in Nevada and Oregon were armed and those at Standing Rock were not.
Another difference documented by Keeler deals with how the news media covered the stories. For example, there was wall-to-wall coverage of both Bundy standoffs on cable-TV news. On the other hand, for the first five months there was practically no media coverage of the Standing Rock standoff. As it turned out, it was social media that spread the word that led to the influx of hundreds of additional protestors that finally caught the attention of the news media.
A MISSED OPPORTUNITY
I’m glad I read the book. I agree with the Kirkus reviewer; it should be read by everyone. But it was a painful experience for me – and not just because its subject is painful.
Keeler is a good writer and a thorough researcher, but the repetitious and disjointed nature of the account was a distraction for me. It left me with the feeling that a number of essays or journalism pieces had been glued together without smoothing out the transitions from one to the next.
There are also some factual errors, mostly minor, but there was one glaring error that was later repeated and was finally stated correctly late in the book, but the original errors were not corrected.
A good editor (and/or proofreader) could have eliminated the repetition and the errors that kept the book from being what it should have been. Perhaps that negligence is part of the reason that the Kirkus review is the only one that I found online, which in turn may have prevented an important book from gaining the readership that its subject deserves.
May 23, 2021
Standoff is an acutely-observed study in contrasts. Jacqueline Keeler employs her journalistic and analytical skills to examine the ways in which Native American water protectors protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota and the white Bundy-led occupiers of Oregon’s Malheur Wildlife Refuge were subjected to very different treatment by law enforcement and the media.
One of the book’s strengths lies in Keeler’s exploration of the two groups’ vastly different conceptions of the land. For the Lakota/Dakota, land and water are precious, nurturing, life-sustaining. The Bundy family and their followers, on the other hand, regard the land as little more than a resource to be exploited. Keeler uses these diametrically opposed worldviews to dive deeper into some of the issues, such as the exercise of sovereignty, raised by each of the two standoffs.
This book is important and thought-provoking reading for anyone seeking a greater understanding of what happened in 2016 at Standing Rock and at Malheur.
One of the book’s strengths lies in Keeler’s exploration of the two groups’ vastly different conceptions of the land. For the Lakota/Dakota, land and water are precious, nurturing, life-sustaining. The Bundy family and their followers, on the other hand, regard the land as little more than a resource to be exploited. Keeler uses these diametrically opposed worldviews to dive deeper into some of the issues, such as the exercise of sovereignty, raised by each of the two standoffs.
This book is important and thought-provoking reading for anyone seeking a greater understanding of what happened in 2016 at Standing Rock and at Malheur.
May 15, 2021
This is a fascinating book comparing two facets of the American psyche- the Manifest Destiny Bundy's, and the century self-defense of indigenous Americans against capitalist violence cumulating at Standing Rock.
The author provides unique insight as an indigenous woman involved in the North Dakota pipeline protest against corporate occupation. She doesn't shy away from describing internal controversy with activists, either. By merely putting the Malheur occupation in the same book as the fight for indigenous American treaty rights, she exposed their ignorant worldview by summing up the fantasy world they live in as they attempt to embody a history (county supremacy, etc.) that isn't based in reality-- and yet, because of the USA's white supremacy, gets a more fair day in court than legitimate tribal sovereignty.
It feels like a collection of essays in the sense at some points information is defined multiple times as if they haven't been introduced before, but the quality of the writing is so interesting.
"The colonial relationship is not contained by boundaries, only the calculus of profit-- more rightly described as plunder, because the real costs are never deducted from the taking. The original colonial instructions are not bound by a specific place on earth, like the Great Plains, or, for my mother's people the Dinétah, our homeland between the four sacred mountains and the four sacred rivers. Without the boundaries, the corporation does not have to pay for the consequences of its moneymaking ventures. It merely moves on to somewhere else when the oil field runs out."
The author provides unique insight as an indigenous woman involved in the North Dakota pipeline protest against corporate occupation. She doesn't shy away from describing internal controversy with activists, either. By merely putting the Malheur occupation in the same book as the fight for indigenous American treaty rights, she exposed their ignorant worldview by summing up the fantasy world they live in as they attempt to embody a history (county supremacy, etc.) that isn't based in reality-- and yet, because of the USA's white supremacy, gets a more fair day in court than legitimate tribal sovereignty.
It feels like a collection of essays in the sense at some points information is defined multiple times as if they haven't been introduced before, but the quality of the writing is so interesting.
"The colonial relationship is not contained by boundaries, only the calculus of profit-- more rightly described as plunder, because the real costs are never deducted from the taking. The original colonial instructions are not bound by a specific place on earth, like the Great Plains, or, for my mother's people the Dinétah, our homeland between the four sacred mountains and the four sacred rivers. Without the boundaries, the corporation does not have to pay for the consequences of its moneymaking ventures. It merely moves on to somewhere else when the oil field runs out."
December 8, 2021
I did not finish this book.
I had high hopes for this book, but it turned out to be more of a "what the Lakota did better than the Bundys" account, sourcing social media as fact. Politically, I would be inclined to side with the protestors in Standing Rock but not those in Malheur, but there was very little fact about what was really happening in either occupation/protest, and more of an argument as to why one side deserved more media coverage than the other (and how unfair it was that they didn't get it). I was looking for predecessors, sourced accounts of what happened, and a compare/contrast. I did not find any of that here.
I had high hopes for this book, but it turned out to be more of a "what the Lakota did better than the Bundys" account, sourcing social media as fact. Politically, I would be inclined to side with the protestors in Standing Rock but not those in Malheur, but there was very little fact about what was really happening in either occupation/protest, and more of an argument as to why one side deserved more media coverage than the other (and how unfair it was that they didn't get it). I was looking for predecessors, sourced accounts of what happened, and a compare/contrast. I did not find any of that here.
February 15, 2024
This book feels like a series of articles or essay inexpertly stitched together resulting in a disjointed and repetitious read. If it had focused solely on Keeler’s background and how it informed her reactions to the Standing Rock protests the book probably would have been far more successful as she often seems uninterested in writing about the Bundy protest, ignoring it for large sections of the book. I wanted to like this book, its subject matter is fascinating and upsetting but unfortunately found it mostly just frustrating.
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April 13, 2022Capitalism relies on colonization, enclosure, and exploitation.
May 4, 2024
I think it's great that she wrote this book. It was such an important event that happened that people across the country knew about it. I remember watching this on the news & it was simply astounding. Keeping track of the standoff in Oregon vs Standing Rock was simply appalling. What a dichotomy in how they were not only covered (or not) but how they transpired as well as the outcomes. The way the author describes how this all came about was completely eye-opening. People can't always believe what's happening in the news along w/ what's not being shared. It is such an awful issue of plain old racism that makes the story come to light on how white people take over land & nothing happens to them. The police & gov't just turn their heads like nothing is going on. Yet on the other side where Indigenous People are trying to save their land from being plowed through for an actual pipeline is horrifying. The assaults, destruction, criminalization, & complete mistreatment of all the people who came from all over to stand in solidarity is appalling & shameful. Reading about all the differences between these events was just a reminder on how white people will go unscathed while BIPOC lose everything & deal w/ attacks & the aftermath trauma of losing their homeland. Go read this so you can get the knowledge of what transpired & how it was so poorly handled.
December 23, 2023
This is the first book I've read about Standing Rock. I was there for a bit and read a lot of articles and essays while it was going on, but haven't had the chance to find/read a book. The comparisons to the Bundy movement were very apt and the history of US government/Native relations were illuminating and on point. The only thing preventing me from giving it more stars was the liberal lean she took at the end, making weird claims against Red Warrior Camp and others who took a more direct action oriented approach; and the way she sided with tribal governments.
I would have given this 3.75 stars, but Goodreads is too lazy to use fractions. I highly recommend The StoryGraph to keep track of your reading, as it has a lot more cool stats and isn't owned by Amazon.
I would have given this 3.75 stars, but Goodreads is too lazy to use fractions. I highly recommend The StoryGraph to keep track of your reading, as it has a lot more cool stats and isn't owned by Amazon.
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May 29, 2023A lot of learning from reading this book
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews