Cheryl Angel, a Sicangu Lakota tribe member who has been at the Standing Rock camps since April, said she has personally seen what appear to be indigenous artifacts in the line of construction and that she believes the pipeline operators have intentionally hidden discoveries of sacred sites and knowingly destroyed them. 

“It’s a tremendous blow to our history. They are trying to erase our existence,” said Angel, 56. “That’s a blatant disregard for our culture. That hurts when someone purposefully tries to erase you as people from … the land we’ve occupied for centuries.”

Angel said she suspected the state might be taking action against the company simply because there is now international attention on the conflict.“They have no choice now, because the world is watching.”