Water Protector Legal Collective

Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC) is an Indigenous-led nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that protects the rights of Indigenous Peoples and Original Nations, the Earth, and climate justice movements. We provide Indigenous Peoples and frontline communities with legal representation and advocacy in a way that is trauma-informed, culturally safe, and relational, beyond traditional lawyering. Born out of the #NoDAPL movement, our founding mission was to serve as the on-the-ground legal team for the Indigenous-led resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock where we provided legal support for Water Protectors in over 800+ criminal defense cases in North Dakota. Today, as we face a global crisis of climate disruption and accelerating rollbacks of environmental and regulatory protections, our work continues across frontlines as a legal holding line for Indigenous Peoples and the Earth.