Stanley Mission to Standing Rock with Ricky Sanderson Jr.
On Jan. 22, after almost two months on the road, the water protectors returned to Stanley Mission.
Ricky Sanderson Jr, a water protector from Stanley Mission, saw what was happening in North Dakota, on Standing Rock Sioux treaty territory over the Internet. He was motivated to join his fellow protectors in their fight to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.
He made a rather unorthodox decision to walk between Stanley Mission and Standing Rock through a Saskatchewan winter. During his walk, he said he experienced many ups and downs along the way.
“There was days out there I wanted to quit,” Sanderson said. “I was starting to think about school… but I started thinking this is more important than school right now, we need this water to survive.”