I don’t really know what to say here. Great diary intro, right? Yeah.
Look, this is going to get… some form of ugly, I dunno. I mean uglier than it already is. That can be any minute... any day. What is happening up there needs to be experienced to be understood.
That’s why I went.
My activist neighbor Greg & I were planning to go as part of a CO caravan sometime between the election & Thanksgiving, and finalized Monday-Wednesday. We pooled funds from our friends. We loaded my pickup with donated canvas tents, my uncle’s old table saw, and a huge Costco run. Early Monday, we set out, & arrived at our supporter house in Bismarck at 630, where we met up with our other Colorado road trippers from Greeley, who had stopped by the camp on their way up.
Tuesday was our day in camp. We drove to Oceti Sakowin ("Seven Fires Council") and found our way to 9am orientation, for which several hundred were grouped. We split into several Army tents in addition to the big dome and mostly listened as two non-native young women introduced us to our new surroundings & taught us how to be courteous, helpful, and prayerful guests of the Sioux. They placed a strong emphasis on cultural adaptation, because it is so rare for us Whites to have to do it. Indigenous Centered is the key phrase, and it was necessary to emphasize because walking around the camp, it was too easy to lose sight of the native presence and somehow believe that this was just another version of the liberal white cultural festival, except that this one erected teepees. That was not the true case, but it would be an easy mistake to make on a subtle and subconscious level, so keeping that centering of the indigenous in the forefront of consciousness was helpfully necessary. As a younger Navajo man said, "This is not Burning Man, this is not Coachella. This is prayer and work. Don't be flashy; be humble, respectful, quiet. Help."
Following two hours of orientation, we offloaded our donations and set about finding out what people needed from Bismarck. Winterization is the key project, and woodframed buildings are going up onsite, in addition to not only teepees but "tarpees" made from insulated wrap around tall 2x4s in the teepee style. In addition, there are subcamps inside the main camp sites; Red Warrior Camp, within Oceti Sakowin; and the Indigenous Youth Council camp, within the Rosebud camp--south of and just across the Cannon Ball River from Oceti Sakowin. These two camps were not getting supplied at the same level as Oceti Sakowin's main facilities, the Rosebud facilities, and the Sacred Stone Camp up on the hill and separate from both the other main camps. So we focused on supplying these two.
We hit Lowe's and piled as much construction lumber into my pickup as would fit, in addition to other supplies, and headed back. This round trip from Bismarck to camp is about 2.5 hours, so we were not able to do too much more in the darkness after making the delivery rounds to the camps. We gathered for the 7pm Sacred Fire; standing in silence, listening as a few indigenous spoke, and then left for Bismarck for regrouping and dinner.
Wednesday morning, we loaded the truck with all the 5-gallon water bottles in stock at Dan's Supermarket, delivered it to several kitchens, and then returned to Denver.
It was too short, but it was what we could reasonably do, That seems insufficient, given how many are doing the unreasonable. Yet, so it is.
Yesterday, we did a recap at Caffeinating Liberally; a few of my friends who also went up joined us to talk about the experience, including our fantastic progressive State House Rep, HD31’s Joe Salazar, and veteran Chris Ward.
So, as noted initially, this isn't much of a Colorado Open Thread unless you have been to Standing Rock, plan to go soon, or are actively supporting them with local organizing. If you want to help more, and connect more directly, Greg & I are happy to help connect you. Greg in particular as a veteran is trying to organize Denver and CO veterans for next week. Message me directly and I will connect you, or just
find me on Facebook. However, it is worth noting—and others are certainly writing—that this Tuesday marks the anniversary of the Sand Creek Massacre. For the Standing Rock Sioux, DAPL represents yet more oppression: a massacre not of people directly, but indirectly, by the massacre of land and water. These are hard problems, and creating awareness of this perspective in our white supremacist institutions is very difficult.
This is on my mind; what is on yours?
Colorado Community: Usually on Sundays at 10, but at 1030 today because my tech as always slaughters my clock. Thanks for reading!