Representatives of an estimated 300 native tribes and nations from around the world have come to Standing Rock Indian Reservation to stand in solidarity with the Sioux Nation in their fight against Energy Transfer Partners’ Dakota Access Pipeline, to be drilled beneath the Missouri River, just upstream of the community’s main drinking water supply. The movement is considered the largest gathering of native peoples in the U.S. in more than 100 years.
Most of what the world knows of Standing Rock is often encoded in violence. Circling the global mediasphere: images of blank-faced police oppressors employing baton and tear gas, the iconic snarling attack dogs, burning vehicles and the raised fists of activist resistance. Though a manifestation of the struggle, this violence is not Standing Rock.
At Oceti Sakowin, one of several camps along the Cannonball River, life is marked by ceremony and peacemaking. Prayers are offered at the Sacred Fire from the dark of the early morning, throughout the day, and back into the night. We walk in prayer to the river each morning, singing, to honor women, the water carriers. There are sweats every night and pipe ceremonies during the day. And despite the legacies of colonialism and genocide and long-standing antagonistic relationships between peoples and tribes, the power of Standing Rock as a healing ground, is its true message.
The world needs to see is the Spirit of Standing Rock. That is captured, in part, in those that one meets there. I spent part of a day walking the camp and asking how people came to Standing Rock and what the site means to them. Here are some of the responses I received.
-@-
Stuart Perkins
“This country will break you down in demographics and have you fighting against each other. But this right here tore those walls down.”
-@-
Deborah Sinclair
“This is not about good guys versus bad guys. This is about the wisdom keepers … holding and standing in the midst of ignorance and innocence.”
-@-
Rob Saw
“I would die for my mother, like anyone else would. To be here to defend our Mother, isn’t that what we’re all here for? … Gotta love your Momma.”
