“Avoid Bismarck, they make it hard on anyone going into
Standing Rock.” That was the plan on Nov. 28th, 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. 21st 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.
