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Why they're staying: A win for Standing Rock, but not a victory
Near Cannon Ball, North Dakota (CNN)The sweet taste of victory has already begun to sour at the Oceti Sakowin Camp just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.
Over recent months, thousands of people have settled in this off-the-grid community, united in their mission to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline from snaking through nearby treaty land and under the Missouri River that serves millions of people.
The mantra silkscreened on T-shirts, painted on signs and embroidered on hats drives home what matters here: Mni Wiconi -- or Water is Life.
On Sunday, the US Army Corps of Engineers said it would seek alternative routes for the pipeline. The "water protectors" and their supporters sang, drummed and cheered in triumph.
But by Monday morning as a winter squall descended and temperatures dropped, so too did the enthusiasm here.
Energy Transfer Partners, the corporation behind the $3.7 billion project, had pushed back. It blamed politics, specifically the Obama Administration, for the Army Corps statement, adding that it was in the corporation's legal right to proceed as planned.
This latest twist is raising questions, stoking suspicions and, quite possibly, fueling rumors. Among those: The pipeline has already been completed.
'We'll stay here until we're told otherwise'
"Some people say they are digging from the other side," says Daniel Calderon, a former Marine and retired police officer.
Calderon, 45, came here from Malibu, California. He's one of thousands of veterans who, in recent days, answered a call to defend the water protectors. They were summoned so they'd be here Monday, when an evacuation order was supposed to go into effect.
"The call to service and to help Mother Earth is a huge honor," Calderon says. And the Army Corps announcement about rerouting the pipeline doesn't change a thing.
Nor does the blizzard that's rolling in.
"We're still sticking it out and hoping that what they say is true and that there's no sneaky business going on," Calderon says. "We'll stay here until we're told otherwise."
Lots of people here assume the pipeline company would rather pay fines than change its plans.
Melanie Schure of Fort Collins, Colorado, notes how barriers and vehicles remain on the other side of the Backwater Bridge, the area where law enforcement and demonstrators have met in ways that, at times, have become violent.
"If my president asked me to do something, I think I'd start moving my stuff out of the way," she says. "That they haven't suggests to me that they have no intention of going anywhere. They'll just push through and pay fines. That's my personal opinion."
Schure, 41, took a leave of absence from work to be here. She's only been at the camp for three days but would like to stay for however long she's needed.
