Native American filmmaker and journalist Myron Dewey dies

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Myron Dewey, a filmmaker and journalist who help draw worldwide attention to the concerns of Native Americans fighting an oil pipeline near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, has died.

Dewey, a citizen of the Walker River Paiute Tribe, passed away Sunday when his car crashed in rural Nevada, the Nye County sheriff said. The 49-year-old had posted footage on Twitter a day earlier from a central Nevada military installation where he and other members of local tribes have long protested the proposed expansion of a U.S. Navy bombing range.

Dewey won acclaim for his live footage of the 2016 demonstrations over the Dakota Access Pipeline near the Standing Rock Reservation, which straddles the North Dakota-South Dakota border. His visuals of Native Americans being sprayed with water cannons in freezing weather were viewed by hundreds of thousands after appearing online and in the news.

He later co-directed the documentary “Awake: A Dream from Standing Rock,” which outlined the demonstrators’ motivations — to preserve the environment and fight for clean water.

Friends and relatives said they will remember Dewey for his commitment to advocating for Native Americans, for being a devoted friend and family member and for the authenticity of his work.

“He was able to show a perspective and viewpoint that was simply being ignored because of the systemic oppression our people have encountered as long as we’ve been here,” said Dewey's cousin Lance West. “It was his story to tell, and only someone like him could share it in a manner that really spoke to us.”

Dewey was among a group of Native journalists arrested during the Dakota Access Pipeline protests when he filmed employees of the company constructing the pipeline. The Morton County sheriff accused him...