Greg Grey Cloud is a Crow Creek Nation educator, singer and activist. Grey Cloud is a co-founder of Wica Agli, a non-profit to end

violence against women Violence against women (VAW), also known as gender-based violence and sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV), are violent acts primarily or exclusively committed against women or girls, usually by men or boys. Such violence is often consi ...

children A child ( : children) is a human being between the stages of birth and puberty, or between the developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger ...

, and in general in the community. He is a notable ecologist and defender of

Native American rights Native American civil rights are the civil rights of Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans in the United States. Native Americans are citizens of their respective federally recognized tribes, Native nations as well as the Cit ...

; gaining national attention when he sang an Honor Song in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

after the

Keystone XL Pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and as of 31 March 2020 the Government of Alberta. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Alberta ...

bill was defeated, and in leading the Spirit Riders to protect the

Standing Rock Reservation The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate and the Ihunktuwona and Pabaksa ...

affected by the construction of the

Dakota Access Pipeline The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) or Bakken pipeline is a underground pipeline in the United States that has the ability to transport up to 750,000 barrels of light sweet crude oil per day. It begins in the shale oil fields of the Bakken Forma ...

Activism

On November 18, 2014, Grey Cloud met with Senator Tim Johnson and other lawmakers about the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline. After the narrow vote of 59-41 by senators defeating the measure, Grey Cloud stood and sang a traditional song to honor the senators.

Elizabeth Warren Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...

, who had the gavel at the time of the decision, called security and had Grey Cloud and the others in the group arrested. Grey Cloud explained: "I wasn't chanting. It wasn't an outburst. It was a song of honor, honoring the senators, the hard work and courage for standing up and saying no to

Big Oil Big Oil is a name used to describe the world's six or seven largest publicly traded and investor-owned oil and gas companies, also known as supermajors. The term, particularly in the United States, emphasizes their economic power and influence ...

." At his appearance in court, all charges were dismissed. In the fall of 2016, Grey Cloud was on the front line blockade at the

Dakota Access Pipeline protests The Dakota Access Pipeline Protests, also called by the hashtag #NoDAPL, began in April 2016 as a grassroots opposition to the construction of Energy Transfer Partners' Dakota Access Pipeline in the northern United States and ended on Febru ...

, where Native American

water protectors Water protectors are activists, organizers, and cultural workers focused on the defense of the world's water and water systems. The ''water protector'' name, analysis and style of activism arose from Indigenous communities in North America dur ...

and their supporters were facing

security, local police, and police who had been brought in from other jurisdictions. Grey Cloud, on horseback in regalia and as part of a small group of people called the Spirit Riders, counted coup on the police. Grey Cloud reported that on October 28, several of the Crow Creek horses and riders were chased by police from the Morton County Sheriffs office, riding

ATVs ATV may refer to: Broadcasting * Amateur television *Analog television Television stations and companies * Ràdio i Televisió d'Andorra * ATV (Armenia) * ATV (Aruba), NBC affiliate * ATV (Australian TV station), Melbourne * ATV (Austria) * ATV ...

, and shot with rubber bullets. The attack resulted in injuries to the riders and two horses, with one horse sustaining such severe and extensive injuries that he fell, and had to be euthanized. As a visible member of the Dakota Access Pipeline resistance, Grey Cloud was one of the people interviewed about the increasing militarization of the DAPL security forces at

Standing Rock The Standing Rock Reservation ( lkt, Íŋyaŋ Woslál Háŋ) lies across the border between North Dakota, North and South Dakota in the United States, and is inhabited by ethnic "Hunkpapa Lakota, Hunkpapa and Sihasapa bands of Lakota Oyate a ...

, along with surveillance of water protectors, increasing media coverage and the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

, among other groups, issuing statements of solidarity with the water protectors.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grey Cloud, Greg Crow people Living people Native American activists Native American singers Year of birth missing (living people)