RICHMOND, Va. -- Just days after President Trump signed executive orders to resume work on the North Dakota pipeline, water protectors from Standing Rock visited Richmond.

The woman known as Sioux Z, who lost sight in one of her eyes when she was struck by a teargas canister during the protests in November, spoke to a crowd of about two dozen people at Diversity Thrift in Richmond Saturday.

She said Standing Rock is a call for all Americans, not just indigenous people, to stand up for the planet.

Sylvia DeVoss of Chesterfield, who hosted the event, said she was looking for the truth when she made the trek to the pipeline protest last year.

"When the water is gone, it’s going to be gone,” DeVoss explained. “So I felt extremely compelled to do something.”

Sioux Z plans to be return to Standing Rock in a few weeks after seeking additional medical care for her eye and making several stops on the East Coast to warn about what she called the dangers of pipelines.

However, proponents maintain pipelines offer a much safer method to transport oil than by rail, truck or sea.