It’s the third Monday in November, which means this is our second episode as part of Native American Heritage Month! This week, we’re bringing you an in-depth breakdown of the whole situation concerning the protests at Standing Rock Reservation over the Dakota Access Pipeline, the significance of the land (to both parties) and where things stand right now. To really understand the controversy behind the protests at Standing Rock and the fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline, we have to understand the history of mistrust and negligence that marks the relationship between our First Nations people and the United States government.  Because this isn’t just a philosophical struggle over the potential impact of a long-distance crude oil pipeline - this situation brings to the forefront the centuries old efforts of Native Americans to have their sovereign rights respected and to see the treaties they made with the United States honored. There is discussion of violence - in the context of battles and massacres that occurred historically, and in the context of contemporary protests. Some of that includes violence against women and children. If that makes you uncomfortable, here are the time stamps to miss: