Standing together

I'm writing this on the shortest day of the year. Happy Solstice!

Yesterday there was celebration in the air. I went up Facebook Hill, so named because that is where phone reception is most likely. Friends sledged down the hill together on broken sleds. A friend and I were given a push and fell about laughing as we hurtled down the slope and rolled over onto the snow. I saw many rosy faces. 

Afterwards, I went to a meeting in the Dome, where elders and tribe headsmen were joined by people from the different camps. Everybody stood around the altar and prayers were said. Some stood on chairs to see and hear better. Prayer songs were sung. Chase Iron Eyes spoke about the need to stick together, how there had been infiltrators seeding fear and confusion. 'That's what is supposed to happen.' He said that it was necessary to form some sort of spokes council and to open up lines of communication in the traditional way. 'This is not a hierarchy.' He spoke about how people all around the world were under the impression that the issue with the pipeline had been resolved. 'It has not. Please let them know, we are still here. We are here to stop the pipeline and to assert our treaties.'

The headsman, Soldier Boy, spoke about how he and other elders would be talking with Spirit about which direction they should be taking. He talked about how Native people receive their ceremonies from the land and from the sky. The elder, Blue Lightening, spoke about how women are the backbone of this camp and how they should all be taken care of. 'When elder women say something, you should listen.' There was much agreement in the room. Several addressed the issue of stealing in the camp. The message was clear. 'No one starves or freezes in this camp. Don't take and don't steal. Everyone can get what they need, although not necessarily what they want. If you are greedy, then leave,' said one elder. 'We are strong. Remember where you came from. One tribe. One heart. One mind. One drumbeat.'  Another elder reminded people that, 'humanity is key to indigenous people. It doesn't matter if you are European. You are indigenous too. They just got to you first!' The gathering erupted into laughter. 

LaDonna Brave Bull Allard from Sacred Stone Camp spoke about the need to remain focused in prayer. 'Walk with respect wherever you go.' When somebody said they couldn't hear her, she shouted 'pray harder!' More laughter. She told how, earlier on in the year, she had gone down to the river to pray for the water and that when she got there, a woman came down in a canoe, singing and praying. When LaDonna looked up, she saw that the river was lined with people praying for the water. 

After the closing prayer, I said hello to LaDonna. She has a noble profile and a graceful way about her. Her hair is turning silver. Her son is buried up on the sacred burial site where the DAPL workers have been digging and disturbing remains. She was among the first women to start the camps of the water protectors. She shook my hand and told me, 'I grew up here, I rode horses along the river all my life.' She smiled and turned to go; someone needed her. 

The atmosphere after the meeting was warm and enthusiastic. I had the sense it had brought people together. 

This morning, I joined the women's prayer circle, held by Blue Lightening and Grandma Patricia. It felt so good to be with them and the other women. We sat on the earth to pray. Both grandmas wore shawls around their shoulders. Grandma Patricia spoke about how women's prayers are much needed in the camp to help with the issues present. She said that women's prayers are very needed everywhere at this time, that grandma energy is rising and the patriarchal waning. Blue Lightening instructed us that when one person prays, the rest of the circle can hold that prayer, focus on it, and amp it up, making it stronger for all. Grandma Patricia was beautiful in black, her dark hair streaked with white, her medicine bag about her neck. 'It's good to sit on Mother Earth. She hears us. She hears our prayers. Many, many spirits hear us.' Blue Lightening reminded us, 'the feminine is a circle. Mother Earth is round. We have circles for eyes, our veins are circular, when we hug our sweetheart, or our children, we make a circle with our arms. We are sacred.'

Last night, during the longest night of the year, I lay in bed in the yurt and the wind picked up again. I heard howling in the distance. It was the coyotes calling and answering each other, reminding me how vast the open spaces are here. I snuggled under the covers as the logs crackled in the stove. 

I reflected upon what is happening at Standing Rock. A diverse community of many tribes and nations has gathered to protect the water, to remember the old ways of thinking about the whole, of finding ways of working together, living and praying together; honouring our place in the natural system. We have tried the way of only looking out for ourselves for long enough to see that it isn't working. It hasn't made us healthy or happy or strong. It's no good if the waters are sick, if the air becomes fouled or the soil spoiled. We cannot eat money. How could we ever separate ourselves from the earth or the sun, from the moon and the stars, from the animals, or from our enemies? It is time to stand together. 

With friends on Facebook Hill