Standing Rock Rally and Prayer Gathering
On a beautiful fall day in Fort Collins, Colorado, with a light breeze and clear blue skies, I stood with a community that came together in solidarity and peacefully protest and to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).
The gathering was the Standing Rock Rally and Prayer Gathering of the Water Protectors. It was humbling to be a part of an event that talked about action, hope, love, forgiveness and unity. Right now pressing donations needed are winter coats, for the people in the camps, tents and financial donations. In addition their website has a list of the financers of the project and they shared that a simple way to support their cause is to go to the website and divest from the companies listed.
While we were there some of the women representing the 1000 grandmothers announced that at the rally someone had just donated a new grandmother teepee and the gathered crowd was invited to join them in the camps if they wanted to serve the cause but only if they decided to come with love and service in there heart. Seeing these strong and courageous grandmothers was a blessing. A Hopi stood on the stage saying that today was the age of the digital warrior and asked of those that come to bring cell phones in order to keep the outside world abreast of happenings at the camps. A particularly inspirational moment came when one speaker, a young Lakota man, he was a Veteran of the Iraq war and had lost an eye, shared that although our government had repeatedly let down the Lakota people “his” people if you looked him in one eye you would find love and forgiveness there.
The water protectors are trying to protect the waters from the pipeline that is proposed to run through tribal treaty lands and which risks contaminating the land and water, which ultimately impacts us all. The website offers details on how to help and support the Sioux tribe. The website is standingrock.org.
One of trumps donors is Kelcy Warren, CEO behind the pipeline he sees the protesters threats, to financiers funding the project, as terrorism. He's already confident that his pipeline will go through once trump is in office and has said as much. According to Warren he made a $120,000 donation to the trump campaign. I have now doubt it was more than that and call it for what it was a bribe. Amazing how easily men like Warren and trump dismiss wholescale the rights, dignity and honor of others.
From what we’ve seen of this election I fear for the Water Protectors, for the 1000 grandmothers and for the Standing Rock tribe. I honor their message of peace, love and forgiveness. There is more dignity and grace represented by the people camping on the sacred lands of the Dakotas than in those who preparing to enter the highest office of the land.