Chase Iron Eyes, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and an attorney with the Lakota People’s Law Project, describes the movement to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline and his almost two-year fight against felony charges. His work to develop a necessity defense led to the uncovering of corruption and collusion between industry, law enforcement and government. Chase also gives his analysis of what the mobilization at Standing Rock means in the greater context of colonialism, capitalism and the absence of democracy. He explains the work that he and others at the Lakota People’s Law Project are doing to reclaim Indigenous culture and sovereignty and create alternatives to current systems.
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Charges against Chase Iron Eyes Dropped
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Chase Iron Eyes: A Member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Chase has a distinguished career fighting for the civil rights of Native Americans. He currently serves as lead local counsel in the Dakotas for Lakota People’s Law Project, and he co-founded the Native news website LastRealIndians.com and is known for his work in the Native Lives Matter movement. In 2016, he was the Democratic congressional nominee for North Dakota. Since the beginning of the movement, Chase has been involved on the front lines of the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline, hosting tribal leadership, providing legal services, and joining the water protectors in their prayerful and peaceful protest.
Chase holds bachelor’s degrees in political science and American Indian studies from the University of North Dakota, and a Juris Doctor of Law degree with an emphasis in Federal Indian Law from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law. He is the father of three Lakota children.