San Carlos Apache Tribe council member Wendsler Nosie Sr. embraces Standing Rock Sioux Tribe David Archambault II at the Camp of the Sacred Stones near the Standing Rock reservation, where Nosie came to offer support and prayers to those taking a stand against the Dakota Access oil pipeline. The Apache Stronghold has been fighting for more than a decade to stop the takeover of sacred Oak Flat for copper mining by Rio Tinto. Apache Stronghold is one of nearly 90 tribes that have expressed support.
Riders on horseback exit the campsite and keep a watchful eye to ensure that folks stay safe and protected. Some paint their hoses in traditional designs. Thosh Collins.
Each morning at the Cannon Ball prayer camps, participants walk and ride horse from the campsite to the construction site, about a half-mile away. Songs are sung and prayers are offered by all. (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Veterans from tribal nations, including several bands of Lakota and Ojibwe people, carry staffs to lead the crowd toward the pipe ceremony just outside the gate of the construction site. (Photo: Thosh Collins)
On Friday, August 20, rain poured on campsite participants as they headed toward a prayer ceremony near the construction site. Camp leader Jon Eagle mentioned that the horse nation brought the rain as good medicine. (Photo: Thosh Collins)
The Lakota people refer to warriors as “akicita” and still use this term while referring to veterans. The akicita lead the way toward the prayer site in the rain. (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Many camp participants adorned their trucks with tribal flags and messages of hope, such as the popular phrase “No DAPL” meaning “No Dakota Access Pipeline.” (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Onlookers from many tribal nations stand over the Cannonball River bridge, where dozens of canoes entered the water as to show their gratitude to the water. “Mni Wiconi” is the Lakota phrase for “water is life.” (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Wyatt Bailey (left) and Kent St. John (right), locals from Cannon Ball, join their friends and family while riding horse through the camp, enjoying the familial and cultural spirit of activities while checking out the scene. (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Children and teens from Standing Rock and surrounding Lakota/Dakota communities rode and led bareback horses around the camp to demonstrate their traditional horse culture. (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Toward the back of the Cannon Ball prayer camp north of Cannon Ball, ND, a teen boy guides a younger relative by leading him on a horse. (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Supporters wave tribal flags to show solidarity with Standing Rock as canoes enter the water near the Cannon Ball prayer camp. (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Hundreds of people lined the shores of the Cannonball River – a tributary of the Missouri river, comprising the northern border of the Standing Rock Reservation – where canoes entered the water on Saturday 8/20. (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Onlookers raise their fists in solidarity with Standing Rock and hold signs stating “NoDAPL” and “Mni Wiconi.” (Photo: Thosh Collins)
Billy Mills (Oglala Lakota), 1964 Olympic Gold Medalist, expressed his support for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in an interview on August 20, 2016 at the Cannon Ball Prayer Camp near the site of the proposed Bakken Oil Pipeline. Thosh Collins.
NEW ARTICLES: Native Nations Rally in Support of Standing Rock Sioux. Dakota Access: Peace, Prayer and Horses at Camp of the Sacred Stones [Photos]. Dakota Access: Billy Mills Supports Water Protectors at Standing Rock Sioux Reservation [Video]. Essence of Political Organizing Is Found at Standing Rock. (Mark Trahant).
Support Sacred Stone Camp. Legal Fund Help. Rezpect Our Water. Sign the Petition. Sign urgent petition. And please, please, signal boost as much as you can, spread the word – mainstream media is still acting like nothing is going on, and I saw one new MSM article today, and it was covering the 3rd day in August! This has been going on since April, and even now, media can’t manage to be remotely current. Help them out by doing their job for them, since they can’t seem to handle it. Thank you!
Via ICTMN. I don’t know why, but non-Indians seem to be very scared of reading Indian publications. Don’t be, we aren’t unfair, and we aren’t plotting to kill you all in your sleep or anything. Please, read, support, become knowledgeable, learn, pass it on. We all need to be educated, and you can be part of that process. Pilamayaye.
I just want to say thank you for the reporting from the front lines you’ve been doing here. I’ve been involved in some anti-pipeline protests here on the east coast, but the organization and passion coming from your compatriots are an inspiration to everyone who cares about the earth and our future as a species on this planet.
My wife heard the Lakota pipeline demonstrations mentioned on NPR news this morning. Eventually the rest of the MSM will have to take notice. Don’t get discouraged, and keep up the good fight!
Brucegee1962:
Pilamayaye! We are all in this together.
ICTMN has become one of my regular reads now. It’s serious high quality journalism with a good mix of news and opinion pieces. Nothing at all to be afraid of.
Kengi:
You have no idea how welcome and encouraging that is to hear. Thank you so very much.
Pretty much what Kengi said about ICTMN. While I only have one regular (local) news outlet that I actively look for in the mornings, I’m a huge fan of ICTMN material in general, and several articles in specific; they always present a point-of-view rarely seen anywhere, and I’m pretty sure their complement of writers is one of the best around. At least, their humour articles always make me laugh, even when I only get half the joke.
In addition, thank you to YOU (Caine) for keeping up with the news. It’s the photos especially that get me, all generations, all people involved and even if the children aren’t actively fighting (i.e. making up slogans, etc.), they will certainly be raised with (at minimum) the awareness of what is important and how to stand up against authority, and I love it.
I just wish the world could see this, and that it didn’t take a pipeline crisis to demonstrate how amazing Indian culture can be (outside of Indian communities, that is).
Seaking of ICTMN, they’ve published a wonderful letter of support from Wales. The cockles of my heart are warmed.
rq, thank you, thank you! Oooh, I’ll have to go read, just woke up, haven’t read anything yet.
They did something up on the Navajos, too, which I found extremely interesting and informative.
Oh, about the extraction issues? Yeah. There’s also a suit against a gold mine going, too. So much, and it was so very poignant, Wendsler Nosie coming to the camps, because the Apache fight to keep Oak Flat has been going on for bloody ages. That’s gotten a lot of coverage at ICTMN and other Native publications, too.
Almost every tribe here in the SW (AZ in particular, it seems) is fighting the feds to protect their lands.
I really hope we manage to oust McCain this election cycle, he is one of the worst when it comes to supporting the big mining, logging, and other companies that pillage the land without regard.
CC:
I know, I’ve been reading. Natives everywhere are under seige, seems everyone is after every last bit of indigenous land. I’d love to see Dalrymple, Cramer, and the rest ousted from ND, but I doubt that’s going to happen, especially with Cramer doing everything he can to change the rules to prevent Indians from voting.