Protesters react to Standing Rock tribal chair's request to go home

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not be granting an easement for the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota. Assistant Secretary for Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy said in a release that her decision was based on the need to "explore alternate routes" for the pipeline's Missouri River crossing.

Following that announcement,the tribal chairman told the protesters, who call themselves "water protectors," that they can go home.

"People are divided about what to do and how to approach this," MPR News reporter Doualy Xaykaothao told MPR News host Tom Weber Monday.

Xaykaothao has been covering the protests from protest Camp Oceti Sakowin. "Obviously the tribal elders here want to make sure that things are done in a peaceful, as they say, prayerful way."

Xaykaothao joined Weber and Lauren Donovan, a reporter from The Bismarck Tribune, who discussed the impact of the Army Corps' decision.

To hear the full conversation, use the audio player above.