Charger

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

Charger was born and raised on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation in South Dakota. They learned about activism from relatives who opposed a uranium mine, and learned indigenous traditions from their mother. Their father died two months before they were born. Charger has 15 half-siblings, and one full sibling, their twin sister, Jasilea Charger. Their paternal grandfather, Harry Charger, was chief of the Itazipco band. Charger explained that their mother cared very little for them and their siblings as she 'paid the bills and drank.' Charger found support through their twin sister, but after their mother called Child Protection Services claiming Charger was a runaway, they were taken to a group home while their twin was sent to another group home on the opposite side of the state. In 2009, the Department of Social Services placed 13-year-old Charger in mental health facilities after years in foster care homes. They didn't see their family again until they turned 18 and got released from the system. Charger returned home in 2014 without much connection to family and no home to stay. Many suicides, murders and funerals took place in their community that year, and addiction and violence were rampant among youth. Charger was homeless and despondent until Chief David Bald Eagle took them into his home. After a friend's suicide in 2015 and another suicide following closely after, Charger and two friends founded the One Mind Youth Movement, which encouraged young people to care for each other. Charger believed a safe space and activism would teach children survival skills to avoid bullying, drug abuse, and provide protection if home was not a safe space.

In Their Own Story

In November 2015, Charger and other members of the One Minded Youth Movement attended the Our Generation, Our Choice rally in Washington, D.C. to demand that politicians address racial, immigration and climate justice. Charger delivered a speech: 'We're tired, we've had enough,' they said. 'The murders, the suicides – we're losing our future, but we're here to make a change.' In April 2016, Charger, the One Mind Youth Movement and some experienced Keystone Pipeline activists established Sacred Stone Camp, the first small prayer camp in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Ladonna Brave-Bull Allard, who made space for the camp on their land, gave a speech that inspired Charger. This camp was a first step to block construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which would move large quantities of oil under the Missouri River, threatening the main source of drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux. On July 15 and August 2016, 30 activists, including Charger and their twin sister Jasilea, participated in a 2,000-mile relay race from Sacred Stone camp to Washington, D.C. to bring attention to the protests and deliver a petition with more than 140,000 signatures against the pipeline. The run was organized by ReZpect Our Water and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Youth and allies. About 40 runners completed the entire distance. Divergent actress and activist Shailene Woodley participated in the relay. The petition, on Change.org, eventually acquired 559,237 signatures. The group ran for 22 days, arriving on August 5 and were allowed to meet with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and a two-star general. 'I run for every man, woman and child that was, that is, and for those who will come to be... I run for my life, because I want to live,' said Charger. In an interview with Democracy Now! they stated: 'If the youth can ... work with other youth from different places and not know them personally and do this run ….and stand together in this fight, the elders, the adults, can do that, too.' In September 2016, Chief Arvol Looking Horse gave the youths a chanupa, a sacred ceremonial pipe, and the council declared the youth to be akicita, a Lakota term meaning something similar to 'warriors for the people.' In December 2016, the pipeline's needed easement was denied by the Army Corps of Engineers. David Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock tribal government, thanked the runners: 'When the youth ran to D.C., that's when this really got started.' When Standing Rock disbanded in early 2017, Charger returned to Eagle Butte, couch-surfing with friends. They were pregnant but miscarried their son, and became depressed and suicidal. His death and burial reinforced their determination to protect the earth. Charger and other tribal members formed Roots Camp, a small protest camp on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Charger locked themself to a pump station in November 2020. They were charged with trespassing, a class 1 misdemeanor, and faced up to a year in prison. Represented by the Lakota People's Law Project, Charger pled no contest and agreed to six months probation and $518 in fines, in exchange for no jail time. The Keystone Pipeline was officially cancelled on June 9, 2021.

Reader's Guide

Charger's activism centers on protecting water, land, and Indigenous youth. They co-founded the One Mind Youth Movement after two suicides in their community in 2015, creating a safe space for young people to learn survival skills and avoid bullying, drug abuse, and unsafe homes. At Sacred Stone Camp in Standing Rock, youths were in a safe space where they would learn skills to help them overcome trauma. Charger explained the importance of letting history go: 'We don't want our children to inherit this depression.' The camp members, now calling themselves International Indigenous Youth Council (co-founded by Charger), was the first family-like experience for many of the kids. Groups like the Indigenous Environmental Network (I.E.N.) provided support, paying for Charger to go to Washington to be trained as an organizer. 'Who better to speak for the past than the voice of the future?' said Charger. The 2,000-mile relay run from Sacred Stone camp to Washington, D.C. used a Native American custom of relay-style running to deliver an important message, passing messages like a baton to deliver them as quickly as possible. Charger's non-violent civil disobedience in November 2020—locking themself to a pump station—resulted in a trespassing charge. In December 2020, Charger was a featured speaker in the Indigenous Womxn Fighting Pipelines webinar, presented by the Indigenous Environmental Network. Charger has publicly come out as non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, particularly identifying as two-spirit, and has been open about being bisexual.

Did You Know?

• Charger has a twin sister named Jasilea Charger, who participated alongside them in the 2,000-mile relay race from Sacred Stone camp to Washington, D.C.
• Charger's paternal grandfather, Harry Charger, was chief of the Itazipco band.
• Charger was placed in mental health facilities at age 13 by the Department of Social Services after years in foster care homes, and did not see their family again until turning 18.
• The petition delivered by Charger and other runners to Washington, D.C. against the Dakota Access Pipeline eventually acquired 559,237 signatures on Change.org.
• Charger was represented by the Lakota People's Law Project after being arrested for locking themself to a pump station in November 2020, and pled no contest to trespassing.