Greenpeace went on trial this week in North Dakota in a lawsuit brought by the pipeline company Energy Transfer, which accuses the environmental group of masterminding protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline almost a decade ago.

Greenpeace denies the allegations, calling them baseless, and says the $300 million lawsuit is an intimidation tactic aimed at bankrupting the organization and stifling protest groups more broadly.

But the group and its allies also call the case a racist attempt to erase the story of the Native American activism that led to the huge protests around the Standing Rock Reservation.

“When you look back at history, they always try to wipe us out,” said Waniya Locke, an activist who lives on Standing Rock, at a recent media briefing.

The lawyers made their opening statements on Wednesday and each side now has two weeks to argue its case. As the case proceeds, it’s worth looking back on what we know about the origins of the Standing Rock protests and what the activists at its center say about what drove them.

‘Great historical and cultural significance’

The protests began in early 2016, when the 1,172-mile pipeline, which carries crude oil from North Dakota across several states to a transfer point in Illinois, was still under construction. Its planned route had raised alarm about damage to sacred sites and water supplies.