This is Joseph. Remember Joseph? I wrote about his walk carrying the sacred eagle staff from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to Washington DC , here and here.
Joseph is a friend of mine. We met in Lansing to pray for our waters on the grounds of the state capitol. May even be a cousin. In any case, I know Joseph to be a stalwart, seasoned Ogitchida. He’s been around the block a time or two. (More like across the country...but, hey who’s counting mileage here?)
After Friday’s arrests, Joseph went missing. We were worried.
We knew he was on the frontline. And we figured he’d get hauled off.
And he did. Get hauled off to jail: all the way to Fargo, 180 miles from the camp. In his underwear, stripped of all his belongings (including cash, credit cards, ID), held in a dog kennel.
Sacred items stolen and destroyed—among other things, the Eagle Staff shown here. A single sacred feather survived.
Joseph is strong. It’s why he was on the frontline in the first place.
But I don’t think any of us knew it could have been as brutal as it was.
I’ll let him tell the story in his own words….
The first word we heard from Joseph came in this afternoon:
They destroyed my Staff, the stole my Chanupa, the stole my 7 directions whistle gifted to me by Haig Born, I have Chief Barking Dogs Blood Egle Feather for wich I'm grateful...I'm bruised and besidbeside my self...they destroyed everything
We were saddened, not surprised, but glad to hear that he had survived. He was alive. We knew where he was. Soon we would hear the story he had to tell.
Joseph was praying in a sweat lodge when they came for him:
They hauled him off to Fargo…..
180 miles from the camp.
There, they confined him to a dog kennel
Upon his release, he was left with nothing but the skivvies he’d been sweating in when they came after him …
No shoes, no socks, no shirt, no hat, no coat….
Left with nothing but the strength of spirit, the spirit of conviction, and the healing power of the women standing and dancing. In prayer.
Standing Strong ... LaDonna Allard and women gather in ceremony
Thousands of words I don’t have the tongue to tell.
So many song/sounds to step up to.