On Sunday, December 4, the water protectors at Standing Rock and their allies achieved a historic victory: the Army Corps of Engineers just denied the final permit for the Dakota Access Pipeline to drill under the Missouri River.

It shouldn’t have taken months. It shouldn’t have taken the sacrifices it did. It shouldn’t be something we have to fight for at all. But fight we did—and against odds that cynics said we could never overcome, we’re claiming this victory.