Cold weather is setting in on the protest camp at the Stand Rock Sioux Reservation, where hundreds of protesters are attempting to block the construction of an oil pipeline they say would threaten the reservation's fresh water supply.  The population of the camp is now about 1,200, down from 5,000 in the warm summer months.

"A lot of people are not prepared, living in summer stuff," said protest camp coordinator Johnnie Aseron to Salon Magazine.  "And when that snow and sleet comes they’re going to need a place to get into," he added while erecting a large Army tent that will hopefully protect people when winter comes to the cold northern plains. "I have to figure out how we're going to be together to survive the winter.  People are living in a way they haven't, and they're learning little by little.  Me too, every day."

Not since seven Native American tribes fought together to defeat Colonel George Custer and the 7th Calvary at the Battle of Little Big Horn (earning him a posthumous promotion to General) have so many tribes cooperated on an issue.  It's almost certainly the first time 300 tribes came together.  "It's a historic time, this event that is gathering our people and making others aware of the importance of the sacredness of water," said Ivan Looking Horse from the nearby Cheyenne River reservation.  "A worldwide effort.  A big rebellion against the government and the corporations from all over the world," he added.  Supporters have come from the 300 tribes, Jamaica, Japan, Europe, and South America. 

The courts have been cold as well, allowing work on the Dakota Access Pipeline to continue in areas away from the Standing Rock Reservation protest.  but the protesters got some warmth from US President Barack Obama.  Last month, Mr. Obama ordered three federal agencies to temporarily suspend permission to build the pipeline under the Missouri River where the Reservation draws its water, or on lands adjacent to the reservation.

But the intimidation tactics from law enforcement continue.  Oil company and law enforcement helicopters hover overhead; residents of the protest camp report several incidences of surveillance drones buzzing around; someone has deployed "stingray" devices that vacuum personal data from cell phones. 

Trumped up rioting charges were dropped against journalist Amy Goodman, after prosecutors attempted to punish her for covering a protest during which private security goons sicced dogs on peaceful protesters.  But Goodman is a journalist with a national reputation.  A relatively unknown documentary producer Deia Schlosberg faces felony charges that could get her 45 years in prison, all because she covered the story.  The local media sure won't.  Talk radio is filled with fat-mouths referring to the demonstrably peaceful protesters as "terrorists".

"It is because of the behavior of the state that these tensions are heightened," said Standing Rock Chairman David Archambault.   "They put the blockade up.  They have low-flying planes they've brought in.  County sheriffs from all over.  In fact, the National Guard.  And they're the ones who use the terminology 'terrorist'.  So if there's a heightened level of confrontation it's not because of what the demonstrators are doing when they walk down that road to protest the construction that’s going on."