Shailene Woodley Joins Dakota Access Protesters on Thanksgiving

— -- Shailene Woodley spent her Thanksgiving with protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline, but instead of celebrating the holiday, the actress fought back tears.

"Today is a day that many call Thanksgiving, and it’s a day where kids in elementary school in America are taught false narratives about our native brothers and sisters," the 25-year-old "Divergent" star told "TYT Politics" in an interview Thursday from Mandan, North Dakota.

"From the time we’re little kids, we cut out cardboard paper pictures of pilgrims and feasts and turkeys, and yet none of our children know the truth about not only what happened to Native Americans when Westerners decided to colonize this country, but what is still happening to Native Americans," she said.

"Thanksgiving was founded on a massacre," the star said. "And yet we’re here with these cops, with snipers with rubber bullets, and I’m honest -- I’m just sick of it. There is no excuse. Where is everyone? Why isn’t everyone standing up and saying something?"

Woodley was not the only celebrity joining demonstrators against the pipeline Thursday. Oscar winner Jane Fonda served an "appreciation dinner" to the protesters Thursday night.

Construction of the 1,172-mile crude oil pipeline has been embroiled in controversy for months, with environmental activists and tribes including the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux fighting the project because they fear it will harm drinking water and cultural sites.

Texas-based pipeline developer Energy Transfer Partners says the pipeline through the Dakotas, Iowa and Illinois will be safe.

The company's CEO wrote in an internal memo to staff in September that "concerns about the pipeline’s impact on the local water supply are unfounded," and that "multiple archaeological studies conducted with state historic preservation offices found no sacred items along the route."

Over the weekend, Woodley traveled to Washington, D.C., where she participated in a march and rally on Sunday.

The actress recorded herself during the march from the Department of Justice to the Washington Monument encouraging others to get involved and suggesting ways to help the people of Standing Rock.