David Archambault II

David Archambault II (Lakota: Tokala Ohitika) is the tribal Chairman of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. A graduate of North Dakota State University, with a master's from the University of Mary, he had education in business and management.
In relation to the 2016 protests of the Standing Rock Reservation reservation against the Dakota Access Pipeline, Archambault has written for The New York Times, spoken on Indigenous rights before the United Nations Human Rights Council, and is a leading voice at the protest site. protests.

David Archambault was born in Denver, Colorado, and was named after his father. He grew up with his family on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, and attended the Little Wound School in Kyle, South Dakota. Later he attended the Standing Rock Grant School. In addition to his Lakota name and warrior society titles, he is known as "Little Dave." His parents are Betty Archambault and Dave Archambault Sr., also known as Joe Bucking Horse (The Ol’ Bull Legged One).

Archambault is part of a college-educated generation: he attended Standing Rock Community College (now Sitting Bull College), Bismarck State College, and eventually earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from North Dakota State University. He earned a Master’s degree in Management from the University of Mary.

Archambault was elected as Chairman of the Standing Rock Tribal Council on September 25, 2013, defeating Mike Faith and replacing Charles Murphy, who had been chair for many of the previous thirty years (1983-93, 1997-2005, and 2009-2013). He was inaugurated October 9, 2013. The reservation had 8217 residents in 2010.

The reservation has been dealing with a variety of environmental and resource issues. Among these are water quality. A major pipeline project was proposed to pass near the reservation and under the Missouri River, their water source. The stand against the Dakota Access Pipeline was begun and is led by Indigenous women elders and youth from Standing Rock. Archambault has been instrumental as a leader in his tribe's legal efforts to stall the project and have the route reconsidered. He asked the federal government to halt or review the pipeline permits. He has met with politicians and spoken on behalf of the tribe, and all Indigenous people, at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva. In September 2016, a federal court denied an injunction on the project.

Immediately after, in an unprecedented action, three federal agencies issued a multi-agency order withdrawing permissions for construction, and ordering further review. Subsequently, President Barack Obama announced that the agencies would review the process of permitting to ensure tribal consultation was included; he discussed this issue at a White House tribal summit.

In August 2016, pipeline security forces intervened in prayer vigils at the Missouri River, arresting Archambault and others on misdemeanor charges. Archambault and others were strip-searched. When asked in October if strip searches are common during arrests for disorderly conduct, he replied that he didn't know since he had never before been arrested. He said they also searched his hair braid for weapons, which he found odd since he does not have a very thick braid.

In October 2016, Archambault asked the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene to protect protesters against "strong-arm tactics, abuses and unlawful arrests by law enforcement."