The sacred symbol of the feather at Standing Rock -
All the American Indian tribes people are children of the feather
What do you know about DAPL, Standing Rock, the Lakota people?
A BBC1 program takes you there, but here's a primer to give you a head start...
Sioux nation
The Sioux nation, of which the Lakota people are one tribe, live near to a place called Standing Rock in North Dakota. This is where the DAPL North Dakota oil pipeline is being installed.
I have learned much about the Lakota culture and it is truly fascinating. The Lakota like many other tribes lived a simple life, but they enjoyed things we today with all our trappings of wealth and consumerism have lost.
A Pine Ridge man surveys the Buffalo
the heritage between Lakota and Buffalo goes back countless years
They had little if any crime, no laws, no taxes, young and old were cared for and safe in their society, we might call this a utopia, until the 1600's for people like the Lakota, this was 'normal.'
The Eagle that arrived at Standing Rock -
a message of support from the Lakota ancestors?
The Buffalo nation - 'Tatanka oyate'
The Lakota Indians refer to themselves as 'Tatanka oyate' the Buffalo people or Buffalo nation, their lifestyle was on the lines of 'the planet owns man, man does not own the planet' - they were the 'new age' long before aspects of their lifestyle was 'borrowed' in the 1960's.
The White Buffalo - part of Lakota heritage -
a human woman was said to have shape shifted from a white buffalo calf
and given the Lakota people guidance and told them their purpose.
The Lakota people were corralled into reservations, Pine Ridge being one, Porcupine Ridge another, in the shadow of the sacred Black Hills. The US Government that long ago took the Indian lands, often gave reservations back to the Indians, which contained valuable resources.
For the Lakota people, the Black hills contain valuable resources, but the Lakota out of principal, refuse to sell the hills for mineral wealth exploitation.
All the American Indian people have affinity and regard for the animals in our world that fit in with their beliefs.
The late Russell Means - a great advocate for progress for humanity,
regardless of people's origin - a legend and hero
Famous Lakota people
Famous Lakota people from the Sioux nation have become well known, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse from the past and modern day people such as Russell Means have by their own efforts shown great presence, knowledge and earned a place in human history.
The idyllic looking Pine Ridge, where the Black Snake is headed
The Black snake
The North Dakota Pipeline is an oil transfer pipeline which will send oil across the top of the US to refineries. This pipeline is said to be routed across sacred Sioux burial grounds and the concern is that leakage of oil into watercourses such as the Mississippi river would be catastrophic.
Unarmed people from the Sioux nation and other tribes as well as people
from other countries, came to Standing Rock to peacefully represent their views
The confrontation
The name 'Lakota' means 'peaceful people' and the people who gathered at Standing Rock were certainly that. Yet, they were met by a militarized police presence that sprayed them with tear gas and attacked the unarmed and peaceful people with batons and worse.
People from all nations came to support the Sioux people, tribes that had been hostile to each other for some time also came together to support the Sioux, a situation of reconciliation that was worthwhile, perhaps meant to happen.
Still the stand against the pipeline goes on.
So what is life like at Pine Ridge reservation?
Life at Pine Ridge is grim - but the people are resilient
and trying to make a better life
Many people think that Indian reservations are rich from Casino Dollars, far from it. At Pine Ridge, a situation exists that should shame America, if not the rest of the world.
The Lakota people are living in a situation that if it was Africa, would have fund-raising pop concerts raising money for it and massive relief efforts pouring in by the truckload. However, the Lakota don't benefit from the 'debt to slavery' card being played.
Africa has had trillions of Dollars given to it, by rights it should be a first world country all over, yet we still get media reports of poverty and third world conditions - so where has the money gone?
If only places like Pine Ridge could get investments of money and materials....
Sadly for Pine Ridge this is not happening and the Lakota people like many of the other tribes are facing great hardship.
I have been working for free with some of the people there to help with advice on building economic growth through responsible commerce going, in line with their respect for resources beliefs and I am hopeful that the Lakota people can help themselves back to a situation that is good for them
The town of White Clay abuts Pine Ridge and has a number of
liquor stores that feed alcoholism - an incoherent man here on the ground is one
victim of this very economically poor area of America
Alcoholism and addiction must be defeated
Sadly, with the despair of the grinding poverty at Pine Ridge, some of the Lakota are turning to Alcohol and narcotics to try and block out the reality of their lot. This situation must be defeated and turned around for the Lakota people to be able to enjoy life and not be poisoned by these vile alternatives.
The Sacred Fireplace project
One man has a vision to turn this sort of problem around, a Lakota man named Pete Catches. He is the grandson of the legendary Lakota Chief Crazy Horse.
Pete V. Catches at home at Pine Ridge
Pete Catches dedicating offerings a the Oceti Wakan site
Oceti Wakan is a Lakota phrase meaning 'Sacred fireplace' - the purpose of this project is to provide a cultural centre to preserve the Lakota heritage and culture, also to provide education to the young Lakota people to learn the Lakota language and to provide preventative information on addiction.
You can visit the website here and donate if you wish at http://www.ocetiwakan.org/
There is hope
A new home being built at Pine Ridge from sustainable materials
There is no doubt that the Lakota people at Pine Ridge need help to survive. Their problems include a need to live an authentic life but in a modern world. My advice to them is 'The future is the past, is the future.'
My message is that building on an American Indian piece of wisdom 'you already have everything within you to succeed' that the Lakota look at their heritage which provides them with a wealth of knowledge and free resources that they can direct to ways of creating some wealth, whilst doing the least damage.
To the non-Indian people, we have a lot to learn from people like the Lakota. The ways of consumerism are putting us on a course of running out of planet. We need to modify what we do and redefine our modus operandi.
A number of far-sighted American Indian people have made prophecies that would come to be true - World Wars, telecommunications, railways, to name but a few. They also predicted a time when humans would all have to come together to survive, that time may be with us soon.
The Medicine Wheel - Coincidentally the colours signify the colours of people -
White, Yellow, Red and Black
From the Clay
A Sioux man told the story of how the great creator which the Lakota call 'Wakan Tanka' fashioned a human 'out of clay' - the same is true of the bible in which it is said Adam was made from the Clay.
The Sioux story is that the human from the Clay was baked and three attempts were made to get the colour right, on the fourth attempt, the great creator succeeded in making the Red man.
Adam or 'Adamu' means from the Earth, from the rib is a mistranslation.
The wisdom of the American Indians is amazing -
I would have loved to have met Floyd Red Crow Westerman
Wisdom
One of my great friends was half Commanche Indian and although I knew him for only 12 years, he was one of my great friends. He was a WW2 veteran and was about 40 years older than me at the time.
I came across the American Indian wisdom whilst doing some research for a book on robotics of all things and this coincided about three or so years ago with my own transition of my life.
Suddenly the base of my life shifted and when I started to look into the wisdom, I found much I was already thinking along similar lines too. This wasn't just me, it was others who were starting to re-think what they were doing. Looking into this I found it was happening across the planet.
The conclusion I came to was that we as a species need to change and the people who could help us with that are the American Indian people.
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