Shailene Woodley Says She Was Strip-Searched After Standing Rock Arrest
Shailene Woodley revealed new and horrifying details of her 2016 arrest at Standing Rock in a recent interview with Marie Claire UK.
The actress and activist joined thousands of demonstrators last October on the front lines of Standing Rock, where they were gathered to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which was set to be built over portions of the Sioux Nation’s sacred land.
Woodley was arrested on October 10—which happened to be Indigenous Peoples’ Day. While the fact that she was arrested is well known, Woodley is only now sharing the gruesome details of what transpired between her and the local police.
“I was strip-searched,” Woodley told Marie Claire. “Like get naked, turn over, spread your butt cheeks, bend over. They were looking for drugs in my ass.”
She added, “When you’re in a jail cell and they shut that door, you realize no one can save you. If there’s a fire and they decide not to open the door, you’ll die. You are a caged animal.”
This isn’t the first time Woodley has spoken out about her very public arrest, which was streamed live and has since been viewed by more than 5 million people on Facebook.
Just days after the arrest, Woodley wrote an essay for Time explaining that she was there in solidarity with the indigenous people who “we are still silencing [for] their dedication to protect us from the planetary consequences that will catastrophically bleed from our ignorance.
“We wear their heritage, their sacred totems, as decoration and in fashion trends, failing to honor their culture,” she wrote. “Headdresses, feathers, arrows. Moccasins, sage, beadwork. You know what I’m talking about, Coachella.”
As Woodley noted to Marie Claire, she’s not letting her arrest slow down her activist mindset. Instead, the actress has started a nonprofit called Up to Us, which provides people across the U.S. with the community-organizing tools they need to start their own movements.
“There’s a misconception that, in order to start a movement, you need to have gone to college, or have a ‘name,’ or look a certain way,” Woodley said. “But you don’t. We want to eradicate that narrative.”
As for something simple that everyone can do right now to make a difference, Woodley advised that you start by simply educating yourself on the issues that matter most to you.
“None of us are perfect,” Woodley said. “To me, the biggest shift we can make is the mindfulness around these things. That’s the catalyst for change. We must wake up every morning and ask ourselves, ‘How can I do more? How am I willing to shift my lifestyle to actually create the change I complain about?’ Now, all of a sudden you’re empowered, you’re passionate, you have a fuel beneath your feet to move forward in a way that’s conducive not only for your own personal life but also for the world as well.”
The Morton County Sheriff’s Department was not immediately available for comment.