Forgiveness Rising

 

 

 

 

 

“Avoid Bismarck, they make it hard on anyone going into Standing Rock.” That was the plan on Nov. 28^th, but the Creator of the first big snowstorm of the year said differently. Bismarck was where I would find myself snowed in and being hosted by an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Nation; a woman I had never met before until that day. This was also the date that Tribal Chairman David Archambault ll and Gracey Claymore would be speaking at the Public Library for the first community forum with the people of Bismarck. Because of this blinding snowstorm that placed me in the right place at the right time, I was able to really see.

Entering the room, it was filled with people; mostly white people. We were in Bismarck. There was an air of tension and also a sense that people were ready to sound-off. In plans to meet and see people at the camp and hear the story, I could not believe that instead, I was going to be listening and meeting the Tribal Chair himself.  At this point, I still had no idea who my host was other than a revered woman of faith, intercessor and prophetess to a group called Warrior’s Circle.

Finding a pair of empty chairs, we were limited to the back rows. The meeting opened in prayer by one of the local priests from Bismarck. As Tribal Chairman David Archambault ll began to speak, I noticed how worn out and tired he looked. The months, weeks and days had been taking a toll on this very real person. His voice was gentle and clear. He was not rushed or angry. He spoke peacefully, fluidly, like the river itself he was giving his all for.

Laying out the ground work for understanding, he said he has set out to keep Standing Rock in a prayerful, peaceful, courageous and polite way. “This is about water, that’s it, water. Distractions have come and it has evolved into so many other things.” His voice maintained a gentleness and a humility. One can only truly know the heart and spirit of one who is humble by being in there presence. This was a leader in a place of unplanned leadership who stepped through the hurts of the historic trauma and marked each case with truth. Much was heard for the first time on the ears of the white citizens present in this room. He explained that in these times of broken Treaties and Laws it broke the people. Alcoholism tried to patch the pain and loss. Abuse and Hopelessness and loss of a future became poverty, drop-outs of education and other untold behaviors. “We are oppressed and we are still dealing with this.”  He explained that this pipeline coming in the way that it is, is a reminder of the historic trauma, a continuation of the same.

As I sat in my chair and silence gripped the room, this is where I saw it in person. It is the lack of understanding for culture. It is the lack of effort to sit down and listen to the host people of this nation and really listen.

Peace begins with listening.

Through grace he shared that the many entities of the Federal Government and the State Government did their parts independent of one another. “The Army Corps of Engineering followed their rules and called it blessed because they had the permits. They never sat down Government to Government with the Standing Rock Nation Government. Meaningful consultation did not ever take place. If they said they did, It’s a lie.”

“Meaningful consultation in our government is showing proposals, scope, planning and calling in the leader decision makers from all parts all together to listen and let the Governments each take a time to listen, then speak, then reflect and say it all back what they had heard and then after that, work together for a conclusion. That never happened,” he said. This is where the strength of the man rose up in his voice; still humble and gentle but strong and representative of his people, he wore his peoples’ dignity.

This was it, I thought to myself, this is the definition of how cultures must come together and work together. It is the order of protocol, it is the order of respect, it is the order of peace. Peace begins by listening.

“They say they contacted us 389 times. They said they tried.” He explained these counts were phone call attempts, emails, public hearings posted in papers they don’t get, individuals, branches and information passing that said this is what we are doing. He said that as he shared with each different entity he let them know that they would come up with resistance. He explained that it would not be resistance in a bad way, but resistance by opposing it.

He shared with the people of Bismarck who had not heard these things. He shared the legalities in which the Army Corps acted, but neglected the entities. “The EA (Environmental Assessment) could check the box. It met their standards. It was at the maximum limit of being 500 feet away. This is the minimum to run by any National Park. They pressed it to the limit and got their permit. They called it blessed”. (referring to the permit) The EPA is the group that looks at how this environmentally could impact the people. The Army Corps of engineering wouldn’t listen. The Historic Preservation entity of the Government told the Army Corps, but they wouldn’t listen. As he shared the greater clarity of the truth, it began to make itself seen. The steps were cleared. He had dates, groups and efforts made as he had escorted individuals through the land to show them the sacred places. What was missing became clear; the coming together for meaningful consultation never took place. The cultural protocol of our host people was never understood, never honored. Never taken to heart.

“What are you up against?” he said he was asked. He paused. “North Dakota has experienced oil.”

The state has always worked well with us in the past, he went on to say. We had not had issues, but now there are State Representatives who are experiencing oil.

The obvious didn’t need to be stated. I heard him. It was money.

“Our people, when given allotments of land chose the land along the river. The river is life. The river had the trees with fruit, it had the game.”

There was still a bit of tension in the air as those who listened grappled with what they were hearing. Then he said, “We have to forgive. We live in misery if we don’t forgive.” The atmosphere changed in that moment. Resistance towards one another fled the room as forgiveness rose up. The transformation was as delicate as a butterfly coming out of its cocoon, but in its gentility and fragility. Feeble, but beautiful as its wings begin to receive the warm sun and its fullness starts to take shape. Forgiveness is rising.

He introduced Gracey Claymore, the youth who was instrumental in beginning to share the news of the fight for their water, their river. She had collected with other youth 160,000 signatures on a petition to stop the pipeline from crossing the river. It had taken off because of their use of social media. The youth also organized a run from Cannonball, North Dakota to Washington D.C. to present to President Obama the petition. They did the run in spite of the racial opposition they encountered along the way. The youth see and know that their lives depend on clean water. They acted in protection with a wisdom beyond their years. It is in their efforts where the Standing Rock camp has come to in this day. It was not their intention to be anything more than water. As Gracey spoke, her voice shook. She shared her fear of when she comes to Bismarck because of the color of her skin, because she wears a shirt because she sees “people doing something beautiful, real, real beautiful.”(Water is Life shirt)  She spoke to Bismarck as her neighbor. She said, “It hurts to hear you call us poor or less. It is heart breaking. We just wanted to protect our water, protect our land. We simply wanted a future. We want to live; white, black, brown, and put that aside.  I don’t want to come to Bismarck and be afraid. I want to come to Bismarck and say to all of you, ‘Merry Christmas’ or ‘Hi’ to all of you.”

The floor opened for conversation. A white woman stood up and shared her fear because people had put her picture up on social media and her license information. I don’t know if she was a police or related to one.  The Tribal Chairman spoke, “I’m sorry,” he said. “I’m sorry for the violence to you. Words are violent. None of us want that. We are prayerful and peaceful.” She received it. She received the apology as everyone else did in there. We witnessed the beauty of understanding of peace and of forgiveness. We witnessed relationship of love and compassion and the room beat with a new heart. A heart wounded, but soft toward another.

He said, “After the constructors leave, and the company leaves, and the protectors leave and after the police leave we will still be here. Standing Rock and its people will be here. Bismarck will be here. Morton County will be here. We have to live together to have unity together. We will all still be here after all of this is gone.”

As my host then stood up and spoke, she shared from her ancestry the real story of real people. She told about a tree that is alone on the top of a hill. It was her grandfather’s favorite tree. He would point it out to her when she was a child and talk of the tree. It was the lonely tree. “People don’t pray there anymore. He said when people pray, we aren’t lonely because we are in relationship with God.” This tree on the hill is now surrounded by razor barbed wire and the hill is scheduled to be torn down to run the pipeline. She wept for the place of her grandfather, for the tree that stands alone, for the prayers that have not been said enough and the loneliness of the people who need their relationship with the LORD. She shared her belief in the Bible and in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Moses. That this God of theirs, YHVH, was who her Grandfather prayed to.

She declared that Standing Rock is blessed. “Blessed, blessed, blessed!” “Our people are blessed, our children are blessed, we will pray, we will stand. Our children, your children are blessed!”

She prays. She has brought in Nigiel Bigpond, Willie Jock and others who have done forgiveness prayers and the breaking of the curses on the host people and lands across America. Oct. 21^st they publically prayed in Washington D.C. lifting up forgiveness of the U.S. Government for the breaking of the Treaties and other atrocities. She prays for the police and says, “We need to pray for them, for their families, we need to pray for the protectors and for their families, we need to pray for our government leaders and their families. We need to pray! What man makes will fall, but what God makes will stand.” She handed out scripture to the Chairman and to the Governor. Psalm 91. She leads groups into Standing Rock no matter who they are and prays and openly shares who she serves, Yeshua, the One who showed the ultimate forgiveness on a cross.

But, she had a vision. She saw a black snake. The black snake was not what we would have thought. She said the black snake was “Lust for the land. From that is the root of bitterness, pride, and unforgiveness. We can’t kill it she said, only Yeshua can.”

 As I know that in that forgiveness of Yeshua there is resurrection life. It was our faith that connected me to be hosted by this most loving and valiant prayer warrior I have ever met. I was hosted by a host nation woman in the heart of all Standing Rock is. Forgiveness is rising. New life is on the horizon. We will see the host people of this Nation rise like never before.

If the eyes for repentance in the United States open up; as we go and ask forgiveness from our hosts, we will see a beautiful thing. We will see the butterflies rise from the eagles.

That morning, the morning of my departure she shared from her devotion book. Here, she said, I think you will like this… with the snow and all.

Psalm 51:7-9 “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow. 8. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.” (NIV)

My three days in Bismarck were coming to a conclusion. My car was snowed in and stuck. My dear friend and protector, a native, was pushing with all his might, but it wasn’t enough to get my car out. I saw a man driving a bobcat and moving snow. I ran over to him and asked if he would come and help push me out. I needed more man power. He came, but begrudgingly. He was a white man. As I sat in my car I saw these two men. A native and a white man along side each other. Their backs bent over, their heads down and together with all their strength and in unison, they pushed me free.