Houska co-founded Not Your Mascots, an organization and social media campaign that educates the public about stereotyping and representation of Native Americans, including work on getting Washington, D.C.'s football team to change its name.

The area's tribal nations maintain the treaty rights to hunt, fish, and gather on land along the pipeline, which crosses many bodies of water.

The Giniw Collective often uses their bodies to stop or slow construction as a form of protest, including crawling inside the pipeline, squatting in trees, and tying themselves to machines.

Houska has also engaged politicians directly, including meetings with the Biden administration to push for the federal government to intervene and suspend the project's permit.

[5] Houska is involved in other climate and social justice efforts, having published essays in All We Can Save, Vogue, the New York Times, and CNN.