The Water Protector Legal Collective is an Indigenous-led legal nonprofit that provides support and advocacy for Indigenous peoples and Original Nations, the Earth, and climate justice movements.
Born out of the #NoDAPL movement, WPLC's founding mission was to serve as the on-the-ground legal team for the Indigenous-led resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) at Standing Rock, North Dakota. Since we first arrived at the request of tribal leadership and set up a legal tent in Oceti Sakowin, WPLC has been providing legal support to the Water Protector Movement.
We are guided by our shared vision of a world that is grounded in our belief that Indigenous peoples have a unique and profoundly important role to play to stem the tide of the unfolding climate emergency we live in. This vision is in part a result of the inspiration we draw from the transformative experiences that some of us glimpsed, and others of us lived at the #NoDAPL resistance camps at Standing Rock.
