Art, music and food from Edmonton will help fund the efforts of Standing Rock protesters camped in the dust 1,500 kilometres away.

A group of Edmontonians raised more than $3,000 during a benefit concert and silent auction at Whyte Avenue's Buckingham bar on Sunday. Their money will be sent to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota.

"It's hard when you're up here and you want to do something," said Moira Mackinnon, one of the organizers.

"It's hard when you're up here and you want to do something," says Moira Mackinnon, who helped organize the benefit concert for Standing Rock protesters. (Zoe Todd/CBC) "The easiest way is to just throw a party. One of the best parts of this is selling stuff from local artists and local businesses."

Tensions between police and protesters in North Dakota have escalated, as those who call themselves the 'water protectors' attempt to divert the Dakota Access pipeline from what they claim is sacred land.

More than 500 people have been arrested during the protest against the $3.8 billion pipeline which is to carry crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois.

The Texas-based company trying to complete the project, Energy Transfer Partners, still needs to drill underneath Lake Oahe on the Missouri River which flows through the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Thousands are camped just north of the reservation in a largely peaceful protest, though police have resorted to using water cannons, tear gas and rubber bullets to control the crowds.

'Constant state of threat'

Gitz Crazyboy travelled from Alberta to Standing Rock twice this summer. He recalls tense, sleepless nights as police spotlights illuminated his tent and their helicopters circled above.

"Always that feeling of threat like they're going to do something, it's really unsettling," he said. "The constant state of threat, even the force of threat is there.

Gitz Crazyboy (far right) travelled from Alberta to join the Standing Rock protest twice this summer. (Supplied by Gitz Crazyboy) "The feeling that it leaves me with, there's a bit of anger, there's a bit of sadness."

Crazyboy stood near the bar on Sunday and watched as Edmonton volunteers set up their benefit concert.

The fundraiser will help bolster Standing Rock protesters by paying for supplies for North Dakota's looming winter, he said.

"You might not be able to get down there, even though you want to. You might have this inner drive that you want to help out.

"This is a great opportunity to help the cause from the comfort of your own city."

The money may also help protesters weather an eviction notice from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Crazyboy added.

A letter to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe states the Corps of Engineers will shut down the protester's main camp on Dec. 5, closing the site to all public use and access.