1.
INDIGENOUS RESISTANCES AS
DISRUPTIVE PUBLIC
PARTICIPATION: THE
ELSIPOGTOG FIRST NATION
AND STANDING ROCK SIOUX
Molly Simis-Wilkinson, Jill Hopke (@jillhopke) and
Patty Loew (@paloew)

2.
• Internet-mediated activism by individuals, or
groups of people, who see themselves as
outsiders to decision-making processes
• Use of digital and social media applications
to amplify and document dissent
• Traditional modes of public participation are
exhausted or perceived to be ineffective
Disruptive Public Participation

3.
Twitter conversation case studies
¨ 2013: Elsipogtog First Nation opposition to
shale gas exploration in New Brunswick,
Canada
¨ 2016/17: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline in
North Dakota, United States

4.
Map credit: By Mikmaq - Own work, CC BY-SA 2.5. Available at:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=966044
Elsipogtog First Nation

5.
Mi’kmaq Encounters & Colonization
¨ 1534 King Francis I claims
“Acadie” for France; Mi’kmaq
never consulted
¨ By 1780s, 6,000 Acadians
living on Mi’kmaq lands
¨ Colonization Effects
¤ British sign peace & friendship
treaties with Mi’kmaq
¤ French lose war; cede Acadia
(New Brunswick) to British.
¤ Loyalists flood area after
American Revolutionary War.
¤ Mi’kmaq experience massive
land loss
2013 New Brunswick signs fracking
contract with Texas energy company; no
consultation with Mi’kmaq

6.
Great Sioux Nation

7.
Great Sioux Nation
¨ Standing Rock is one of 5 Lakota
Reservations in the West
¨ Encountered French, then
Americans
¨ 19th Century Colonization
¤ First Fort Laramie Treaty—safe passage
for settlers & miners heading west
(immediately broken)
¤ Second Fort Laramie Treaty-
acknowledged Sioux claims to Black
Hills, safe passage for settlers
(immediately broken after gold is
discovered in Black Hills)
¤ Battle of Little Big Horn, Wounded
Knee Massacre; land loss, poverty,
despair

8.
Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline
Map credit: By Carl Sack, A #NoDAPL Map. Available at:
https://northlandia.wordpress.com/2016/11/01/a-nodapl-map/

9.
Standing Rock and DAPL Twitter
Standing Rock: 13,596,975 posts
Dakota Access Pipeline: 1,571,896 posts
Data collected with Crimson Hexagon

10.
Elsipogtog Twitter
Elsipogtog: 185,329 posts Data collected with Crimson Hexagon

11.
Twitter Conversation Topics
A series of chi-square tests for independence were conducted, all were significant.

12.
Standing Rock vs. DAPL – Nov. 20-21, 2016
Standing Rock Dakota Access Pipeline
“Use of force” posts make up 58%, followed
by “water protection” (31%). Top 10
retweeted include more individuals and two
from @IENearth.
“Native/treaty rights” posts make up 57%,
followed by “calls for government
intervention” (24%). Seven of the top 10
most retweeted are mainstream news.

13.
“Use of force” images can spark viral topics

14.
$3 million…GoFundMe
$2.8 million…Legal Defense Fund
$ millions more…online supply wish lists (ie., Amazon.com)
How much did DAPL resonate?
10,000
supporters
visited
DAPL
camps
400 Tribal
Flags
posted at
Sacred
Stone
DAPL camp
561,000+
signed
online
petition

15.
Disruptive Social Media as Participation
¨ A way for marginalized groups to draw
attention to their concerns
¨ Social media attention, similar to media
and public attention, is episodic and
event-driven
¨ Images depicting violence can spark “viral
topics” and heighten public attention
¨ Political opportunities still critical to
achieving movement goals

16.
THANK YOU! QUESTIONS?
Jill Hopke (jhopke@depaul.edu), Patty Loew
(paloew@wisc.edu)