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“Hate is too great a burden to bear.”                                                                                  Martin Luther King, Jr.

One of my favorite things about January is that we remember and revisit the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King.

There are many who have not yet understood the humanity of Dr. King. Many who have not taken the time to drink in more than the allotted sound bite, “I have a dream”. Many who have not yet begun the transformation from doubt of the possibility of peace to the commitment to act on behalf of peace, as did this courageous man. Today there are some who assert he could have done better, and there are some ready to dismiss the practice of nonviolence altogether making Dr. King an easy mark for intellectual debate.

As I see it, the movement that encompassed Martin Luther King was right on. Evolution doesn’t come along and change things over night, as much as we may wish. It is however, undeniable that we would be here now had it not been for the people of that time and the stand they were willing to take.

Having learned from Gandhi and as a man of peace in his own right, Martin knew the perils of asking white patriarchal hierarchy for justice. He knew and was delivered the harshest of judgments and paid the ultimate sacrifice for his efforts. So when people sit back and call his undertakings failures, I am suspect. Perhaps it is time we stop putting pedestals up for the heroes we create and setting them up for the fall.

The greatest way to honor those who call forth our humanity – is to stand next to them not behind them.

In other words, be your own hero. Learn from the voices of the past. Recognize that if we can stand together none would have to fall alone. Save time and energy on philosophical debate and put into action the truths that you carry in your own heart.

I will continue to learn from the genius of this man and draw courage from his character. I will take what I have learned and move deeply within myself to match his humanity with my own. What I will not do is walk lockstep behind him, nor will I take him down with hindsight babble.

One year before his assassination, he began to link the Vietnam War to poverty and racism. In doing so he not only risked the anger of his government but also the rejection of some of the people on whose behalf he spoke. Yet the words are as true today as the day they were spoken. We are foolish to continue to ignore them.

“Why I am opposed to the war in Vietnam”

We insult our own humanity when we do not change the course of action that keeps bringing us to war.

Stick with love and lay your burdens down. Stick with love and war will end.

Thank you Martin.

I am a Peace Warrior

During a conversation recently regarding NATO’s intervention on the Russian border, I was asked what would it take for me to want to stop Putin’s aggression; I took time to think about that.

I have to make things personal, I have to think about who I am and what I know about myself, and I had to admit that if I were accosted by someone, I would fight to the death if it meant saving my life or someone I loved. And then I had to think more about this honest revelation. Here is what I know:

Every day my peace is being assaulted by ignorance. Every day what I know is possible is being corrupted and attacked by ignorance and greed. Every day there are provocateurs infiltrating my humanity demanding my allegiance, my integrity and every bit of my worth to stand up for inhuman acts perpetrated by the very authorities deemed to be for my protection.

This is not new. I have lived through the lies that brought us Vietnam, through the lies that destroyed Iraq, and have witnessed our invasion and co-conspiring against six additional sovereign nations in the last few years. Now I have the first hand experience of militarized police attacking unarmed citizens at Standing Rock, N. D.

And we are about to do it again.

So when I am asked, what would I do to stop Putin, I can only answer this: I will do everything within my power to help people realize there is no need for war. That the military might is a corrupt invention of power and greed and that it has outlived its course in human history.

I may not succeed.

But I will not surrender my understanding of peace to anyone. I may not succeed in convincing anyone. But I will not compromise my humanity.

I may not succeed in my insistence that fear and hatred can be replaced by love and kindness. But you can count on this: I will keep putting my words, actions and prayers towards that end.

Why? Because any thing less is absolute folly.

Let us not leave more regret to those who will come after us. Let us for once, stand up in one voice and declare, “Enough.”

Stop for a moment and ask yourself, “What is peace worth to me”? And when you hear the cry of your soul saying, “It is everything”, then I say give yourself to that, fight for that. It is time we acknowledge that what is crying to be heard within us cries as well in every beating heart. It is time for Peace Warriors to rise.

Arguments for and against the costs of war will rage on, or we will, each one of us, end the war within our own being with one courageous and decisive blow, “I stand for peace.”

 

photo compliments of Lauren West

 

 

You get good at what you practice.

Things are moving at break neck speed these days. Pundits are paid to spin it all even faster and if we are not careful, it is quite easy to jump on stories, opinions and judgments that lessen us as human beings.

It is commonly thought that it takes 60 days to change a habit. So how about taking this challenge – try not to say, “I hate” for 60 days. Try not to speak or cast blame until you have read, heard or at least considered all angles of a story.

And how about this: in place of “I hate”, tell yourself, “I love”. I love you so much that I am not willing to demean you. I love you so much that I am willing to hold you like a lotus, above the dirty water, so that I can really see how beautiful you are. Try loving yourself so much that you are not willing to demean yourself by dropping down into the filth.

Yep, it isn’t easy. It is much easier to agree with the pundits on either side. But there is that seventh direction – within, that keeps calling.

Answer the call. We can do this.

Happy New Year, friends; make it a good one.

****

Please take some time to listen to words of hope and clarity for the New Year. I am grateful for the friendship of Rivera Sun and Sherri Mitchell and to be included in this podcast from their weekly Love and Revolution Radio. 

New Year’s Special:
5 Guests Envision the Challenges and Possibilities Coming in 2017!

This week on Love (and Revolution) Radio, as the old year turns over into the new, we take a moment to speak with five guests from earlier episodes about the challenges and possibilities opening up in 2017. Kazu Haga of the East Point Peace Academy, Dena Eakles of Echo Valley Hope, Heart Phoenix of the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuiling; Rhonda Fabian, Editor of Kosmos Online; and Larry Spotted Crow Mann join Sherri Mitchell and Rivera Sun to look into what’s coming . . . the frightening, the hopeful, the encouraging, and the inspiring.

 

cover photo compliments of Lauren West

“Teach me how to trust my heart, my mind, my intuition, my inner knowing, the senses of my body, the blessings of my spirit. Teach me to trust these things so that I may enter my sacred space and love beyond my fear, and thus walk in balance with the passing of each glorious sun.”
- Lakota Prayer

Echo Valley continues to support the People of Standing Rock and the People throughout the world who have come together to say, “We are human beings and deserve to be treated with respect. The Earth and the Water are the givers and sustainers of life and we must protect them.”

We recognize the razor path that is being walked at this moment. Human beings are standing before institutions of greed and might and are asking to be heard. The marriage of government and corporation is being called out as the sinister coupling that it is – and the offspring of that union is violence. On one hand people are attempting to be peaceful and assert their rights to clean water and unbroken treaties – in stark contrast to a militarized police force that seems dedicated to support Energy Transfer Partners, the corporation currently breaking laws and refusing to comply with Army Corp requests to fulfill an EIS, Environmental Impact Statement.

And while the American public remains divided over media outbursts regarding the election, Russian involvement and the terrors of what is to be – yet, what is happening before our very eyes is overlooked as if it is harmless. Worse still, as if it doesn’t matter. Canada has now opened the door to bring military might against its citizens who dare to challenge the pipelines there, citing the violence of water protectors of Standing Rock, most of which is fabricated lies – and yet very few and none in power, are uttering cries at the unnecessary and documented violence perpetrated by police.

I was in Standing Rock for nearly seven weeks. I was there for the water cannons, tear gas, razor wire, and concussion grenades. I was there for the militarized tanks and masked men and women who were ordered to harm unarmed human beings. I was witness to our government turning away from the violence and once again allowing treaties – made by the US with Native People – to be violated.

This photo from my friend Ryan of Standing Rock Rising depicts the imbalance of power and the shock of pitting human against human for profit.

So when I listen to friends on social media complain about what they think is coming, I am stunned. I am reminded of the story of the parrots, which have been warned about the hunter’s net, and so remind themselves, “Beware the hunter’s net.” “Beware the hunter’s net.” As they succumb to the crumbs the hunter has left for them inside that very net.

Court cases are beginning for the over 550 people who have been arrested – and nearly half are facing trials without the support of legal representation. This is adding more gasoline to the fire of racism that burns so freely in North Dakota.

Emotions are running high and accusations of violence from water protectors have become the signal for police to unleash unnecessary force upon unarmed people.

This is of great concern to me. This should be of great concern to all of us.

The move to divest is gaining traction with millions of dollars being diverted from fossil fuel extraction and is finally gaining the attention of industries that must now consider moving toward green and more efficient energy production or become obsolete.

Standing Rock is one very important piece in the puzzle of resistance to the continuation of inhumanity and desecration of the Earth. What has been shown is that there is a very real interest in changing the course of fossil fuel use. Oceti Sakowin and the other camps have demonstrated that communities can sustain and thrive without hierarchical leadership. They have proven that capitalism is not the only means of exchange of goods and services – and most importantly, that people who are willing to place their self in the care of a higher power – or are willing to seek a common purpose from a higher vision – are capable of great things.

Everyone I met said, “I came because of the prayers.” Do not forgo those prayers. Do not lose site with what was learned. There are many games afoot; many agendas seeking to be satisfied. But the single most significant thing about the Stand at Standing Rock was that we came together. We did stop the black snake and we made it known that we will continue to stop it every time it rises up.

Yes, we must continue to wake one another up. We must insist on treating one another with respect and dignity, and we must be willing to resist in nonviolent, creative and passionate ways. This is not a time for despair. This is a time for free thinking. This is a time for humanity rising.

Keep the faith, friends. Everything is possible.

Please excuse my rant; it is long overdue. I beg those of you who celebrate the season, not to take this as a reprimand nor as a request to stop celebrating – on the contrary, I hope you recognize it as it is offered: as a challenge to unhinge the season from a few days or weeks and allow the savoring of peace to carry on throughout the year.

The hardest thing about Christmas for me, or for that matter all of the Festival of Light holidays, is dashed hope.

I was quite young when I realized the hypocrisy of the season. That never stopped me from wishing I could be normal and simply go along with the scripted programs that seem to bring so much pleasure to so many.

I just couldn’t do it.

I cry too easily at “peace on earth good will toward men”. I do not find solace in hope that lasts until the decorations come down. It actually frightens me. I believe there is a danger in flaunting peace on earth, and then behaving as though it is not possible.

This year I was grateful for the holi-daze as it gave a much-needed respite from the fear baiting used to keep us divided and ignorant.

There is a good thing about getting older; one is less inclined to compromise.

So I ask you all, my friends, as we turn this corner of yet another new year, can we each take a step towards peace?

Can we recognize that love of all human kind requires courage and may we find the inspiration to ask for the courage that it will take?

It is possible. Love until there is no room for fear. Serve Love until the Spirit of the Season lives in every day of our lives, in every moment. Celebrate in whatever form it takes for you and allow the same for others. Don’t put your hope away as you take down your decorations. Wear your love proudly. We got this, people. We can do this.

Look around. See the Good. It is our time.

 

 

There are many trying to piece together what is occurring at the stand off at Standing Rock. Some are looking for what is coming next, complicating the storyline with questions about the Trump presidency, his ties to Energy Transfer Partners, his support of the militarization of police, and his certainty that the extraction of fossil fuels is key to economic success.

Others are content with tying up these several months into a secure and seamless bundle of information, helping us understand how this led into that and from that linear equation (the assumption is that) we can extrapolate what will come next.

Many, sorry they could not be there, are still looking for ways to support those remaining on the ground. And many on the ground are asking themselves is this the best place for me to be at this time?

Some are using this as an excuse to keep up racial tensions and blatant hatred. And by most measures, and unfortunately, the residents of North Dakota and Morton County in particular are willing to allow that strain of inhumanity to lead.

A very few have and continue to use this stand off for personal, political and monetary gain. Like hollow bamboo they strike the pose, but lack the depth of internal fortitude.

There are some (nearly 570 arrested) who are tied to this moment through upcoming trials; hoping justice is not as blind in North Dakota as the force of the police has been. This is where the cyber water protectors can play a huge role in continuing to drive social media, the court system  and the “arc of the moral universe” towards justice.*

There are many rallying behind the cry for divestment from fossil fuels, and veterans asking where are we needed next? There are interfaith clergy happy to have found camaraderie with like-minded souls.

Far too many would like it to be over, either with the pipeline running through the headwaters or not. Just give us the ending, please.

Many words have been written about the “spirituality” at the center of the stand, but placed more as a footnote to be recorded in history rather than being understood as an evolutionary step for human kind.

So when you ask me what did I learn, what am I feeling, and will I return… I am wary to tie it all up in a sound bite for you.

I was drawn to Standing Rock, as many of us were, because of the prayers. I think we are a weary bunch who prefer peace and truly believe that unity formed through the intention of love will always be the most powerful of all weapons. I was pleased and excited to come upon a thread of humanity who began each day before the rising sun with an offering of gratitude. I breathed in the cold morning air and the request from Lakota elders for all to offer their prayers in whatever way together. I felt the welcome. I felt the stillness. And I felt the decisiveness of those prayers. This daily act informed my day and strengthened my knowing that this simple and humble dedication was the glue that held the camp together and allowed peoples from around the world to stand as one. The tears that flowed from me and around me, reflected the pain of denial and separation rampant in our world, but also heralded the joy of what can be.

I found myself growing in ways I had not expected. A deepening of what some may think of as “spiritual” but for me it is an acceptance of my humanity, a bit of dirt holding on to the light of the universe – until breath is no longer mine to take.

I was reinvigorated with the power of humility, as I allowed myself to learn and awaken from within. “If you have not understood that the sacred fire represents the fire burning within you, you have not learned anything at all”, one elder told us. And his words echoed “Truth” in my being.

The understandings born of the daily dedication and discipline calling forth our highest and deepest natures can never be recorded, nor can they be defined or scripted. They must be felt.

So while I will not try to stop the views and undertakings of those who are busy defining and categorizing what has happened and what will happen next, I am one hundred percent certain that our way out of this moment is found in our way “in”.

For years I have heard the question asked, “How many directions are there?” And the simple and true answer is four, east, south, west, north; the answer for the clever is six, including the earth and the heavens. But the answer of the wise has always been seven. It is in the seventh direction – within our own being – where the battle to stop the black snake is waged. That is where the warrior lives, that is where the hard work lies. For some this is a linear story that will end with the pipeline being stopped or running through the headwaters. For others it is an epic journey with multiple layers and most likely with no beginning or end.

When you hold a diamond in your hand, it is best to watch it shimmering in the sun. Trying to explain and define it will only make you miss its beauty.

For those struggling to leave or to return to Oceti: hold precious the time, hold precious the prayer and always remember: the fire is burning within you.

The fire is burning within you.

*“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

For a long time, I have tried to explain to people how important is the Native perspective. Nearly two decades of traveling to the land of the Dine, and the gift of a Grandmother there who called me her daughter brought back my Remembrance.

In the course of that time, I made real what I had always wanted to do: I bought land and as my Navajo Grandmother told me that it would, it has taught me.

I did not buy the land for myself. I bought it with the intention of taking it out of “buy and sell”. It was clear to me then, as it is now, that the earth is not ours to own. I bought it to share.

I would love to say that the past fifteen years have been all beauty and light, but that would be a fairy tale. It has been a doorway to my heart, an opportunity of constant learning and a canvas for me to paint my story. Our story.

Trying to challenge the status quo is never easy. Trying to do it with love is damn near impossible. But it is possible. And the challenge is the gift.

“Your people forgot a long time ago”, she told me once as I began to awaken to my relationship to the earth. “You do what has been done to you”, she told me as I struggled to find peace with people and situations, torn between reacting from my wounds or responding with the dignity new understanding afforded me. We always have choice. Practicing kindness is a good one. “We all have a hard spot here”, she said as she pointed to my chest, “it needs to be softened. In some it is bigger than in others.” And so I have spent my time softening my heart. Loving the land helps that process. Rising before the sun, welcoming the new day, feeling grateful for life and not simply things, the animals, and the stark reality of Nature have all become my teachers. The people who come and go from my life teach me, too. Once you know we are all related, it grows harder and harder to hate. That softening process comes from experience and allowing oneself to step out of the boxes of our limited existence.

Give yourself the gift of diversity. I am not one for Christmas. I give and receive all the time, and I have no interest in keeping alive a holiday so heavily based in the material world. I do however celebrate the spirit of the season and respect the love that people feel at this time. And when I come upon those celebrating the spirit of Christmas, it is sweet.

And that is as simple as it needs to be: respect and allowing others their right to participate in life as they choose. That requires a few things. We need to share. We need to share resources. We need to find ways together that help all of us, not plunder some for the sake of others. There is beauty in each of us and in our ways. A tapestry of colors and textures made more beautiful by acceptance and appreciation. It is time to let that tapestry be.

And yes, it will mean teaching tolerance and nonviolence to our children. It will mean meeting and greeting your neighbor, as you would like to be treated. It will mean investing dollars and muscle into new ways of fueling our world. Yes, it requires a bit of a dance as you realize your customs and your worldview are not the same as others, but nor are they better.

I came to Standing Rock, because I know it is time to keep oil in the ground. It is past time. I am doing all I can to reduce consumption of fossil fuels and to help others to do the same, so that was a given. What I had no way of knowing was the strength and compassion I would meet at the Oceti Sakowin Camp

I have always delighted in finding human beings who are determined to be human. It has been my honor and my joy to find so many here. The Lakota, Dakota, Nakota are remarkable people who have been strengthened by their love of land and one another. We have much to learn from them.

I am taking leave soon, but I know I will return. I have to stand with these people (and a little clean laundry won’t hurt). I will continue to support all indigenous whose lives and land are being threatened by domination and might. I will do this by continuing to change my lifestyle and encouraging others to do the same. I will do this in whatever way is afforded me, because I recognize there is no time for anything less.

There is brilliance in the simplicity of relationship to land that too many of us have forgotten. We need to remember. The Lakota and others have extended their hands and their hearts to teach and to guide. We would be foolish to not learn and unlearn. We would be wasting a great gift, if we ignored this offer.

We are in the process of fulfilling the dream we have dreamed of this country, a land of abundance for all, a place of freedom, a place of peace and in that process we must let go of the fear of the other. We must upend the shortsighted idea that the earth and her resources are ours to plunder for monetary gain. We must stop thinking that in some way we are superior, and we must be willing to help others end this foolish game.

It is time to find our humanity. In it lie all the compassion and tolerance and vision that we need to navigate through this dark time.

We don’t need another leader. We don’t need to fear the next one. We need to resurrect our humanity. We need to do this, each one of us, for our self and for those yet to come.

We can do better than we have done.

Give yourself some Christmas, some joy to the world, some peace on earth and this time as the season spins by – hold onto it. It is the best we have.

Tonight I will sleep in the gymnasium here at the Cannonball recreational center with quite a few water protectors. It is cozy with cots and sleeping bags and blankets. A few dogs squeak in – helping curb my missing of my canine pals at home.

I want to thank you for the encouragement and the expressions of humanity that you have shared with me during my stay here.

I have felt for a long time that we all need to put our judgments in check – the Lakota seem to do that well – trust our humanity and let peace find its course.

I am more certain of that now than ever. It is time to not just talk about prophecy but also to fulfill it.

What is needed? A critical mass of those who recognize we are not the color of our skin; we are not our gender, our nationality, the sum of our wounds or of our successes. Those who recognize we are a brief shining star that gets to inhabit a body of dirt and water and a few other very mortal things, and those who know that the point of our being here is to shine. That is what is needed.

I will never be able to tell you the sweet moments here at Oceti Sakowin Camp of shining stars touching one another. I will never be able to tell you all the hope and the love that has passed before and through me here. I will never be able to remember the names, the words, the tears, the laughter or even the kindnesses, but they have and they will continue to guide and inform me.

What if it is only our doubt about what is possible that keeps heaven at bay?

Our words, our glances, our actions carry great weight. They are powerful tools of healing or of destruction. It is within our power to chose. Who we are as a People and what we will be is still unformed. It is up to us to shape our destiny. That destiny can no longer be formed from a system or systems that have harmed us – any one of us. It is time to create anew. It is time for the dawn. The darkness will have no place when we shine.

Shine on.

********

Couldn’t resist this photo by Tom Jefferson of “Big Dog” as he is called here. Big Dog was chased from the rec center many times, but he has the great gift of persistence, and finally it seems he has been granted access. I suppose that is why I love him so much, we share that same trait and he has continually reminded me of its importance. When he is not sleeping he is at play, doesn’t seem to have a care in the world. Hmmm, we are related.

I woke this morning before the sun. It is my customary ritual for decades now. Setting my sites on the new day, feeling gratitude, wondering what this moment of life will teach me and how I can dance through it. This morning I cried.

I replayed the last several months of my coming to be part of Oceti Sakowin Camp. My first visit brought my posse and me to Sacred Stone. That is the camp I had learned about and where I intended to stay. On my last day there I walked the distance to Oceti, then known only to me as the “Big Camp”. I was told there were many camps and while I was amazed at the size, it was the call to prayer that touched me. That day it poured rain and I found myself under a shelter around a fire. Blinded by rain, I had no idea that I had come upon the sacred fire and that the words spoken there would galvanize my intention to return.

An elder Lakota man spoke. He spoke about the prophesies, about the seven generations, and about the reuniting of the four colors of human kind, red, yellow, black and white. He spoke softly but with a determination and clarity I have grown to accept as dearer than food to me and as vital as the air I breath.

At one moment he looked my way and said that although the first encounters with whites had been horrible for his people, that now Natives must accept those coming because they come with a different heart. That is in fulfillment of the prophecy. I cried. And I knew I would return to this camp.

My next visit was for a week and I slept on my makeshift bed in my Honda. I continued my learning, moving from the fire to orientations and to meetings on what was needed to keep Oceti going into the winter. And I ate a lot of peanut butter, not wanting to take resources from the camp.

Fifteen years ago, I created Echo Valley Farm out of a need to step away from the main stream status quo that keeps us imbedded in war, in useless wastes of resources and most importantly, in the framework that keeps us in ignorance and hate. In doing so, I altered my course, and have promoted community and sustainability built on peace. It has not always been easy, but it has been rewarding.

Earlier in my life I had lived in an ashram, focused on the pursuit of peace and a youthful attempt at living in community. Coming to Oceti Sakowin Camp, for me, was like coming home.

I called my team at the farm and told what I had found. I thought it a good idea for us to establish a site at Oceti Sakowin Camp, the consensus we seek was agreed upon and so next steps were set in motion.

My first step would be to ask permission. Everyday I had listened to the prayers of Guy Dull Knife ( see video below) before the rising sun. He called us to the sacred fire, encouraged us to pray and reminded us why we had come, to stop the black snake. There is gentleness and strength about the man that is compelling. I approached him and asked and he said, “Yes, come”.

Everything came together as it does when intention, heart and action are united. Lauren and Andy and I came back to Oceti Sakowin Camp with a refurbished army tent a wood burning stove and open hearts.

It was quickly obvious to me that I have been in training my whole life for this moment. I have inherited from my lineages keen awareness of survival and how to make the most of things. I honed that skill spending time with my Navajo mentor and gleaned from my time with her that my education in life is never over and that the end game is, as I had always expected, love.

The Navajo taught me to Walk in Beauty and that the first prayer is for yourself. The Lakota have taught me about community founded in prayer. My studies with Prem Rawat gave me the undeniable and unwavering knowledge that peace is possible. And so I walk.

My time at Oceti Sakowin Camp will soon end. Now I will find out who I have become and what is expected of me. This I know: The mindset of might is right, which permeates all colors of the rainbow, must be laid to rest once and for all. The lure of greed, which has consumed human kind the world over for centuries, is the monster that must be slain. We cannot continue the destruction of the earth and the harming of one another and future generations.

And I know this: when you complain and moan about the way things are and not make an effort to change yourself and your own life’s course, you are feeding the monster. The words we utter, the fears we allow, the doubts we feed, and he confusion we insist on sharing keep us locked in this mess. Each of us has the right, the ability and the duty to find peace and to speak from clarity.

I will depart Oceti Sakowin Camp, but what I have accepted as my understanding of humanity will not leave me. I urge you, my friends, to end the cycle of violence and ignorance within your own being. Make peace. As it is often said here, “You have the right to speak, but you also have the right to be silent and listen.” In that silence, all can come round right. Listen to your heart and follow.

There are many trying to have the last word on this place. Trying to guess the outcome of this epic battle and trying to be clever. Being clever is not wisdom. Being clever is a childish whim. Wisdom is what we need and wisdom is available to each one of us.

We have no more time to waste. If you do not seize upon this moment and give your heart to it, what are you doing? If you go to your churches and mosques and synagogues but continue to lead lives forged on the destruction of the earth and of harming your fellow human beings and Nature itself – what ugly lie are you willing to weave to comfort or cover your crying soul?

Yes. I am serious. There is no more wiggle room. Daily we see the results of our greed and our lust for comfort and all that it has caused. And to those of you who refuse to acknowledge something greater than yourself and mock those who pray: Get over yourself. Do you give yourself breath? Do you not hope? You are confusing the menu as the food and you are starving because of it.

We don’t have time people for petty illusions of separation. We don’t have time to hold ourselves separate from Nature and from all living. We don’t have time to run away from the very thing of which we are made: dirt. And we certainly do not have time to leak oil into the water that is essential for all living to survive.

This is not a movie. This is not an episode of the Apprentice. This is the real deal and we better pull our heads out of the sand or wherever else they may be hiding.

It is up to us, as it has always been.

May the power that is Oceti Sakowin Camp continue to flourish in whatever form it takes. May the power of people united in love, in purpose and in clarity, reclaiming their humanity and their sovereign right to live in harmony with the Earth become the norm in a world that has lost its way.

This is what I can hope for and this is what I will work towards, in the best ways that I can for as long as I can – and I ask you, my friends, to do the same.

The invitation to be part of a community forged in peace and sustainable living is open to those who are ready. It is happening many places throughout the world. One of them is Echo Valley Farm, Wisconsin. It is my home and you are welcome.

It is our time; let’s turn this ship around. Best wishes to all.

 

 

“We try to live two cultures…”  The documentary of five generations of the Dull Knives, an American family. Inspired by the book the “Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge” by Joe Starita.

No Spiritual Surrender –  photo compliments of Andrew Robert McComb

Last night, as I lay in my bed, camp stove blazing, I could hear the joyful sounds of drumming and singing from the dome, a space age geodesic donated to Oceti Sakowin Camp. A round dance was happening there.

I flashed back to a few weeks ago, when I watched a group of people sitting in circle where the dome would soon be erected. They were praying. From my distance I felt them calling for help, for guidance, to allow this to become a useful gathering space. It has.

In the darkness of the night, in strange harmony with the joyful song, came the sound of a bugle playing Taps. Not just playing Taps, singing Taps, crying Taps. The juxtaposition at first startled me and then I realized the exquisite beauty of this moment.

Today the “Long Robes” have come to pray with the Lakota people, invited by Chief Looking Horse months ago. The intention of this interfaith gathering is to pray and to invite those of our brothers and sisters, standing in full military gear in opposition to consider a change in heart.

Many of us have met the police and invited their support while on the front lines. I will never forget my moment, talking to each person I met, face mask to face, human to human. This moment when so many will converge for peace will surely be a powerful one.

And now come the Veterans. Thousands of Veterans are arriving to stand in protection of the peaceful. No weapons, no drugs, no alcohol, are the rules of the day. This is a camp of prayer and ceremony.

This morning as I woke before the sun, the sound of Revelry playing in the distance made me smile. So very many of the Lakota are Veterans. For generations all Native people have stood on the front lines of battle by request of their government, the US.Now, the Veterans have come to protect them from the very government they served with pride.

If I didn’t have work to do, I would sit here and weep all day for the reconciliation that is taking place.

I heard, briefly, a sheriff from Morton County in press conference yesterday spinning tales about this camp and about the motivation to invite the Veterans. There is heartlessness to these tales. They are the untruths that the American public is now accustomed to but should never accept. Stories told by those who are being paid and have colluded in compromise to tell them. No one is paying the Long Robes. No one is paying the Veterans. No one is paying me. I am free to tell all who will listen, “This is a good day. This will be a good day. Let us make this a good day. A day of reconciliation and a day when the heart triumphs.”

I have waited my whole life for this moment and all the moments that will follow. My heart is full, regardless of outcome, for the intentions of this day are some of the finest of our collective spirit. Peace will prevail.

 

 

photo by Redhawk, who spoke to these men before taking this picture. His account:

I spoke to you today at Turtle Hill. I could see you felt uncomfortable standing up there. I could feel you did not want to be on that hill. I spoke to you about Selma, and the civil and human right violation that have stretched from that era to the day upon us now. I spoke to you about my hometown, of Atlanta, GA. I spoke about how those men do not care about you, and about how you were the only minority on that hill. I spoke to you about how Chief Turner in Atlanta is always looking for good officers, and how I assume he would be very proud to have you in the birthplace of civil rights. I told you I would personally fly with you to Atlanta if you contacted the camp and stepped away from Morton County Sheriffs. I watched you sit down, and think. I could see you felt the words I was speaking, and before you stood up and stepped back from the line, I saw you look me directly in the eyes. I saw you, and not a badge.
I keep my promises. Feel free to contact our camp. We love you for who you are. Thank you for listening.
-Redhawk

Oceti Sakowin Camp

Standing Rock Rising