Oyate

Films With A Purpose | Irrelevant Media | 24 February 2022

Oyate is a powerful documentary that follows Indigenous activists and leaders as they reflect on the Dakota Access Pipeline protests and confront centuries of systemic injustice. Through personal stories and historical context, the film highlights the ongoing struggle for Indigenous rights and sovereignty in the United States.

I designed and animated a segment in the film that illustrates the history of the construction of pipelines through the Dakota people’s lands, leading up to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests in 2016 and 2017. The style was influenced by Dakota graphical styles, and I used as reference the remarkable “ledger art” drawings of the Plains Indians of the late 1800s when designing the figures of the animation.