Megan Lane Toben, daughter of Jeff and Donna Lane of Hayes, has taken a group of 16 individuals from her Eco-Institute at Pickards Mountain in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, to Standing Rock in North Dakota.

Standing Rock is the site of protests against the construction of an oil pipeline from the Bakken oil fields in western North Dakota to southern Illinois.

“Megan felt a calling to take supplies, hugs and support to the Native Americans who are peacefully protesting the oil pipeline crossing their reservation and causing possible contamination to their water supply,” Donna Lane said of her daughter.

The citizens of Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Saxapahaw, North Carolina, have donated supplies and also a hauling truck and the group is building a Yome—a round, dome-like structure—on the site with a wood-burning stove as protection for the older members of the tribe from the frigid temperatures and snow. This is the largest gathering of Native American tribes in on...