Sacred Rites at Standing Rock Pipe-Dreams or Pipe-Line?

 

I just had this issue turn up for me. I don’t have television so I am learning about it. I heard that chemicals were used on the native American people and felt drawn to look at what is happening.

I found a YouTube citizen news cast which opened up some very interesting questions. It gave me insights into the rebalancing of power to the people.  The footage was extraordinary and clearly repressive. Gandhi was mentioned as a citizen protester compared it to the march at the Salt mines where Gandhi’s satyagrahi’s were allowing themselves to be bashed to the ground by Corporate backed police without hitting back. They demonstrated nonviolence which made the unprovoked violence of the police visible. What it made clear was the police being used as an extension of corporate interests and not respecting the rights of the native Americans given it is their land and sacred sites being destroyed for oil interests.  Respect and democracy came into my mind.  I then felt to investigate the deeper spiritual meaning of Standing Rock, my immediate feeling was to stand firm in the face of bullying and oppression (dictatorship).

I can imagine the thoughts of those believing in progress and energy regarding the indigenous as idealists and weaker, their traditions as pipe dreams holding no value in their eyes. They would see it as mumbo jumbo and this reflects the divide between business interests devoid of spiritual meaning and those who have an ancestry of deep meaning that gives life to their sense of identity.  I feel this as an issue of an unresolved conflict that originated with the Buffalo being killed on Indigenous lands and becoming refugees in their own country as they were controlled and moved to reservations. The Australian Aborigine has had a similar fate. Their advanced awareness of nature spirits and symbolic knowledge is not recognised with respect as European caucasions do not understand the reality of traditional people.  Perhaps it is time to sit with a peace pipe and work out the differences to find this is an opportunity for reconciliation.  The choice will be between democracy and dictatorship, respect or control,  it is indeed a front line being tested. We have seen in so-called democracies the image of armoured vehicles and heavily armed police that appear militaristic. This for me reflects a form of dictatorship and bullying. It appears unwilling to genuinely sit down and dialogue to work out issues and maintain a sense of respect for the other. I see it increasingly reflecting corporations which are dictatorial structures, they are not democratic, so eventually this projects out through government given their influence over government.  The issue of the chemicals is a criminal matter and should be regarded so under national law. Another form of chem trails it seems.

I was intrigued to learn of the veterans coming into the dispute opening a third front.  They were responding to the bullying of what they saw as weaker people in my view. They saw the bully clearly and their instincts to defend moved them.  They felt obligated to defend the rights of the indigenous people. I see a rebalancing of honour for them in the love they showed by standing as a rock with the indigenous people.  I feel dignity being healed in both these groups. It is very interesting.  I’ve just read an article about the indigenous people and yes the tribes are returning, it is about rebalancing karma and past pain. Things are never as they directly seem. This couldn’t happen without the corporation acting aggressively, so I can see the dance of both in building solidarity for peace and dignity. This is the wisdom beyond the apparent drama.  Spotted Eagle makes a point that traditionally when little girls are born they have a beaded turtle tucked away and sewn into their belly buttons. Symbolically it means belonging. When people don’t know where their belly buttons are they do not feel they belong, they keep digging. This is a wise insight, that is why profits are pursued, the people do not know their purpose, they are detached from their roots, their land and easily controlled.  During this time a little girl was born she is Mni Wiconi — her name symbolically means Water is Life.  She symbolises hope.  I see that you cannot drink oil.  It is the same as you can’t eat money. There are teachings happening throughout this dispute which is again, interesting.  A poem to feel the contour of this dreaming. Then a video highlighting a perspective on what happened.

At Standing Rock,
The indigenous are standing firm,
For the winding snake has returned,
Dream catchers are awakening new dreams,
The tribes are re-uniting,
For they are called as wrongs are righting,
As karma re-balances the sacred imbalance,
As pipe-dreams shape-change pipe-lines,
Mainlining is an addiction to energy and false profits,
For when the last tree falls … you cannot eat money,
Water is the elixer of life force energy as future needs,
Militarism is the fixer of forcing life as energy greed,
Feeding lines of control,

Chemical weapons can not kill off vermin,
The snake is the wisdom keeper extracting the poison,
The tourniquet tightens the squeeze to block the poison pill,
Veterans recognise the oppression of innocent people,
As they awaken to governmental terror-ism,
Atrocities in the name of freedom,
Oppression in the name of corporations,
The penny is dropping for many thoughts across the world,
As the real circuit breaker
is the power within all people,
As they come back to the future,
To change the past.

This was the circuit breaker ushering in a change from the past.

ABC news reports the support of US military veterans standing firm against oppression.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-03/us-military-veterans-back-north-dakota-pipeline-protests/8089562

Standing Rock: US military veterans back North Dakota pipeline protests

Updated 3 Dec 2016, 11:02am

US military veterans plan to build a barracks at a protest camp in North Dakota to support thousands of activists in frigid conditions opposing a multi-billion-dollar pipeline project near the Standing Rock Native American reservation.

Key points:

  • Veterans have started arriving at Oceti Sakowin camp, aim to form a wall in front of police to protect the protesters
  • Native Americans and protesters say pipeline threatens water resources and sacred sites
  • Number of protesters in recent weeks has topped 1,000

 

Veterans volunteering to be human shields have been arriving at the Oceti Sakowin camp near the small town of Cannon Ball, where they will work with protesters who have spent months demonstrating against plans to route the Dakota Access Pipeline beneath a lake near the Sioux reservation, organisers said.

The Native Americans and protesters said the $US3.8 billion pipeline threatened water resources and sacred sites.

Some of the more than 2,100 veterans who signed up on the Veterans Stand for Standing Rock group’s Facebook page are at the camp, with hundreds more expected during the weekend.

Tribal leaders asked the veterans, who aim to form a wall in front of police to protect the protesters, to avoid confrontation with authorities and not get arrested.

The plan was for veterans to gather in Eagle Butte, a few hours away, and then travel by bus to the main protest camp, organisers said, adding that a big procession was planned for Monday.

Protesters began setting up tents, tepees and other structures in April and the numbers swelled in August at the main camp.

Joshua Tree, 42, from Los Angeles, who has been visiting the camp for weeks at a time since September, said he felt pulled to the protest.

“Destiny called me here,” he said at the main camp.

“We’re committed. This cause has created momentum.”

 

Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Pussy Riot petition Obama

Adding to the momentum of the protests, more than 150 musicians including members of Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Moby and Tegan & Sara have signed an open letter calling on President Barack Obama to “revoke the permits” for the pipeline construction.

British recording artist Kate Nash organised the petition in order to take a stand against what she describes as the “extremely aggressive tactics” used by police against the activists.

The letter, addressed to “President Obama, Army Corps of Engineers, and Department of Justice”, compared the treatment of activists by police to “inhumane methods used during WWII”.

“We call on the White House to deny the easement now, revoke the permits, remove the DAPL construction workers, and order a full environmental impact statement,” the letter said.

“Know that the world’s eyes and the eyes of the music community are on you now as you continue to disregard the treaties you have with the Native American people and act barbarically towards them.”

Nash told Vice News’ Noisey wesbite that now more than ever it is important for musicians to be using their influence for political ends.

“Donald Trump is to become president, people connected to Trump are heiling in meetings, there’s a normalisation of white supremacists. It’s a very important time for us to be holding America to account,” she said.

‘It’s time for them to go home’

The activists’ voices have been heard by companies linked to the pipeline as well, including banks that have been targeted by protesters for their financing of the pipeline.

 

Wells Fargo & Co said in a Thursday letter it would meet with Standing Rock elders before January 1 “to discuss their concerns related to Wells Fargo’s investment” in the project.

There have been violent confrontations near the route of the pipeline with state and local law enforcement, who used tear gas, rubber bullets and water hoses on the protesters, even in freezing weather.

On Monday state officials ordered them to leave the snowy camp, which is on US Army Corps of Engineers land, citing harsh weather, but on Wednesday they said they would not enforce the order.

“There is an element there of people protesting who are frightening. It’s time for them to go home,” North Dakota Attorney General Wayne Stenehjem said on Thursday.

The number of protesters in recent weeks has topped 1,000.

 

US President-elect Donald Trump said on Thursday he supported the completion of the pipeline and his transition team also said he supported peaceful protests.

Members of the North Dakota Veterans Coordinating Council denounced the involvement of veterans in a protest that has damaged property and asked them not to take part.

North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple said on Wednesday it was “probably not feasible” to reroute the pipeline but he would try to rebuild a relationship with Standing Rock Sioux leaders.

On Friday, Morton County Commission Chairman Cody Schulz said his office had been working in conjunction with the governor’s office to meet with tribal leaders soon.

Morton County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Maxine Herr said 564 people had been arrested since the start of demonstrations.

State officials never contemplated forcibly removing protesters, and Mr Dalrymple said his evacuation order stemmed mainly from concerns about dangerously cold temperatures.

 

Reuters

Topics: world-politicsenvironmental-policyunited-states

Mohandas Gandhi

“If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.”

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