End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock
Ethnic Ministries Circles of Color, Meaningful Movies Project offered by the Diocese of Olympia, and the Climate Justice Task Force is proud to present an online screening of END OF THE LINE: THE WOMEN OF STANDING ROCK, a film that captures history in the making, as a small group of indigenous women establish a peaceful camp in protest of the $3.8 billion oil pipeline construction that threatens their land, water, and existence. When their camp’s population exceeds 10,000, the women unwittingly find themselves the leaders of a global movement.
Featuring exclusive footage including shocking, never-before-seen evidence of police brutality surrendered to the filmmakers by a disgraced law enforcement officer, END OF THE LINE is both an exploration of the rise of indigenous and feminine power in the areas of social and environmental justice, and a searing and deeply personal story of four brave women: Sky Roosevelt-Morris, a human rights activist in her 20’s torn between the call to action and her own need for healing; Wašté Win Young, a mother born into the American Indian Movement who, at first resisting her family heritage of activism, emerges from the trauma of Standing Rock both scarred and emboldened; veteran indigenous rights activist Phyllis Young, whose example of unbowed courage and endurance serves to rally the movement to persevere in defense of Mother Earth; and LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, who emerges as an undaunted leader, despite witnessing the bones of her ancestors unearthed in Dakota Access’ wanton act of destruction.
END OF THE LINE also features searing testimony of the Indian boarding school and foster home atrocities, and the shocking record of forced sterilization programs. Exclusive interviews with Zintkala Mahpiya Win Blackowl (who gave birth at the Standing Rock protests) and visionary commentary from medicine woman Dr. Linda Black Elk give END OF THE LINE an authentic grounding in the essence of American Indian heritage, and the struggle for survival in the face of genocidal colonization.
The women of Standing Rock do not call themselves protestors. They are protectors. In interview after interview, they explain that their fight is for the greater good. Standing Rock is their home, but Mother Earth is home to us all. Human rights, land rights, and environmental justice concern us all.
“It’s very simple. We have to have water for life. And so we’re petitioning the world community to join our campaign. Every effort we make is for all of our children and grandchildren.
We make a commitment to continue the struggle, and to make every effort for all of us.”
PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Shannon Kring
Release Year: 2021
Running Time: 87 min.
Please stay after the screening for our panel discussion and community conversation – see the schedule below.
This event is free, but please register by using the Eventbrite link here.
ONLINE GROUP SCREENING via ZOOM: Saturday, November 27, 2021 at 2 – 3:30pm PT.
PANEL DISCUSSION AND COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ON ZOOM: Saturday, November 27, 2021 at 3:30 – 5:00pm PT.
PANEL: Phyllis Young, featured cast member, leader of the Oceti Sakowin camp and spokesperson for the “NoDAPL” peaceful resistance at Standing Rock, and Pearl Daniel-Means, Co-producer and featured cast member.
PHYLLIS YOUNG is no stranger to historic gatherings. The sister of the late Oglala Lakota patriot Russell Means, she comes from Standing Rock, home of Chief Sitting Bull’s people, the Hunkpapa Sioux. Says Young, “I have had the distinct honor and privilege to be at the heart of two of the largest American Indian gatherings to date: the 1974 Wakpala Standing Rock gathering where 97 Indian Nations convened.” The second is the recent “NoDAPL” peaceful resistance at Standing Rock. Young served as leader of the Oceti Sakowin camp and as a spokesperson for the movement, appearing on international media throughout the 10-month standoff against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The $3.8 billion pipeline construction desecrated sacred sites including ancestral graves, and threatens her tribe’s land and water. The resistance drew more than 13,000 supporters from around the world. Under Presidential Order, the Army Corps of Engineers shut down their encampment on February 24, 2017. 
PEARL DANIEL-MEANS, co-producer of End of the Line: The Women of Standing Rock, an activist, and author who speaks around the world on matters concerning indigenous issues, human rights, and environmentalism. She was born into the Ashiihi (Salt) Clan of the Navajo Nation. Her Lakota name, Iyoyanbya Izanzan Win, translates loosely to “Bright Light”. Pearl walked alongside the late American Indian activist, author, artist, and actor Russell Means, as his wife, business manager, and collaborator. She’s been published in Wicazo Sa Review Journal, a peer-reviewed academic journal of Native American Studies, with Almost too Much for the Average Indian; is a Current Board Member at The Romero Institute, an Interfaith Center for Law and Public Policy, and last year, she received an Honorary doctorate of Human Rights and Humanitarian Diplomacy, from Harvest Christian University.