Chairman Archambault is regarded as one of the global leaders for Indigenous Peoples’ rights, in particular for leading the opposition against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline in 2016. That protest quickly came to represent the long and arduous struggle of indigenous peoples everywhere to protect their sovereignty and ancestral heritage.

Archambault grew up with his family on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and attended the Little Wound School in Kyle, South Dakota. He attended Standing Rock Community College (now Sitting Bull College), Bismarck State College, and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from North Dakota State University. He also earned a Master’s degree in Management from the University of Mary.

In September 2013, Archambault was elected as Chairman of the Standing Rock Tribal Council. In his role as Chairman, Dave was appointed to the US Sentencing Commission’s Tribal Issues Advisory Group, the Department of Justices Tribal Nations Leadership Council, and the US Department of Labor, Native American Employment and Training Council.

Under his chairmanship, the Tribe opposed the $3.8-billion pipeline built by Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners over fears it would harm cultural sites and the tribe’s Missouri River water supply. The tribe’s opposition inspired protest camps that attracted demonstrators from around the world. The internationally-broadcasted protests that lasted from April 2016 to February 2017 partially achieved their goal of blocking the pipeline until the new administration authorized the completion of the pipeline.

Chairman Archambault and the Tribe received support from many high profile activists and politicians, including President Obama. Archambault testified before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva and was named a “Leading Global Thinker of 2016” by Foreign Policy Magazine, was given the “Native American Leadership Award” by the National Congress of American Indians, was honored as the “Global Green Champion” at the 14th Annual Global Green Pre-Oscar Party and received a “Doctorate of Law Honoris Causa” from the Vermont Law School.