David Archambault II (Lakota: Tokala Ohitika) is the former tribal Chairman of the SRST. He’s a father of two and a husband of over 20 years. He holds a Business Administration Degree and a Master’s degree in Management. In 2014, Archambault hosted the historic visit of President Obama and the First Lady to the Standing Rock Reservation. In his role as Chairman, Dave was appointed to the US Sentencing Commission’s Tribal Issues Advisory Group, the Department of Justices Tribal Nations Leadership Council, and the US Department of Labor, Native American Employment and Training Council.
In 2016, Chairman Archambault emerged as a global leader for Indigenous Peoples’ rights as he led the opposition to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Archambault testified before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, led the Washington, D.C. “Native Nations Rise” march, and published editorials in The New York Times. Among many awards and honors Chairman Archambault was recently named a “Leading Global Thinker of 2016” by Foreign Policy Magazine, was given the “Native American Leadership Award” by the National Congress of American Indians, and received a “Doctorate of Law Honoris Causa” from the Vermont Law School.