The first Henry A. Wallace Award honored the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for its brave resistance to corporate power as they protested the Dakota Access pipeline.
Wallace Global Fund presented the inaugural Henry A. Wallace award to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for its brave resistance in defending sacred land and water against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Protests against fossil fuel infrastructure projects were already a key tactic in the fight for climate justice, but the #NoDAPL movement brought a new moral clarity to the fight.
Standing Rock’s youth protestors demonstrated extraordinary courage in standing up to this abuse of corporate and government power. They were attacked by guard dogs, police in military gear, and even pummeled with water cannons in the freezing weather. Their bravery highlighted the degree to which the government would side with corporations defending their profits and changed our national debate around climate justice.
In addition to a monetary award to the SRST, the Fund pledged a $1m investment in a new wind farm project in early stages of development by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The pledge catalyzed other foundations and impact investors to be early supporters of a project led by the Tribe and based on a shared ownership model to maximize returns to SRST.
Read more about Standing Rock and other indigenous energy projects on our Investments page.