Take a beautiful water journey with Nikki Tulley, back home to Blue Gap, on the Navajo Nation. Nikki, a PhD student in hydrology, shares her thoughts on sacred water, believing in one's self, and the power of the land, water, home and family.
Nikki with her father, Earl Tulley, cofounder of Dine' Citizens Against Ruining our Environment, and longtime human rights champion. Nikki visits with nieces and nephews as she reflects on her journey from her home in Blue Gap to the University of Arizona.
Owe Aku has published the linked report, "Environmental Justice: Oglala Lakota People and Uranium Mining" about our battle with Canadian-based Cameco, Inc. multinational uranium mine in Crawford Nebraska, 30 minutes from our southern border. Check out the link below to view or print the 40 page Journal posted at Censored News. Wopila to Censored News and Brenda Norrel for helping us to get the word out on this monster knocking at our back door. Please repost and share as you see fit. Onward!!!
Owe Aku works to bring back our way of life which includes humanity's role in nature: we are a part of it, not outside of it, not having dominion over it. To achieve this Owe Aku works to stop mining that contaminates our water and land. Owe Aku has reestablished programs that utilize the wisdom of our ancestors in combatting the effects of inter-generational trauma caused by colonization and the intentional attempts for hundreds of years to destroy our culture.
In the Lakota Language Owe Aku means Bring Back the Way. In bringing back the way, we strive to offer alternatives, based on traditional knowledge, that respect the changing environmental conditions of Mother Earth, and which will ultimately benefit the peoples and ecosystems of the planet. The environment, upon which we are all dependent, is no longer just an issue for Indigenous peoples. On every continent, Indigenous cultures offer viable alternatives because we recognize the Earth, not as a commodity to be exploited, but as a relative that protects and preserves our very existence and the existence of future human generations.
Decisions are always made collectively first with the grassroots leaders of our tiyospaye (extended family or clan) and our direct allies. The people of our tiyospaye founded Owe Aku Bring Back the Way and have continued to direct its activities and make decisions based on the traditional Lakota principle of consensus.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR WORK, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE AT WWW.OWEAKUINTERNATIONAL.ORG AND CLICK ON THE DONATE BUTTON ON THE HOME PAGE. WOPILA!
Owe Aku's work is centered on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in present-day South Dakota, the home of the Oglala Lakota people. For information on any of our program work please contact:
Owe Aku Bring Back the Way, PO BOX 325, Manderson, SD 57756; lakotaone@gmail.com
For administrative and development please contact:
Owe Aku, International Justice Project, PO BOX 630212, Littleton, CO 80163; 720-469-1178; oweakuinternational@me.com
Our approach is local, from within the tiyospaye and, as a result, our reach is international.
Recorded by Govinda, Standing Rock Resistance Radio
Article by Brenda Norrell Censored News
CANNON BALL, N.D. -- In Standing Rock camp, Mekasi Camp Horinek, Ponca, speaks to the water protectors about how the water defense of the Missouri River began, when Dakota Access Pipeline construction began.
The people decided to sacrifice for the water.
"We decided some of us would sacrifice, and be arrested that day." "We are not going to allow them to oppress us anymore. We have children."
"Prayer and sacrifice."
Mekasi said, "Elders would tell me, 'I want to get arrested today.' He said he has never seen elected leaders want to get arrested with the people, like Standing Rock Chairman Dave Archambault and Councilman Dana Yellow Fat did.
He said there were no pipe bombs or weapons like police have claimed. The elders kept them centered in prayer and ceremony.
"This isn't just a Native issue, it is a human rights issue."
"This is no longer a camp. It is a village."
"We don't need weapons, we don't need pipe bombs."
The American Indian Movement had a lot to do with the spiritual awakening of the people, he said.
His uncle, Carter Camp, Ponca, was a cofounder of the American Indian Movement.
The Seven Council Fires are back together.
The Sacred Lodge is back up.
The traditional governing system is back in place.
"I don't want anyone to get hurt, but we have to stand our ground."
"Strong hearts to the front."
The Dakota Access Pipeline Project is on hold as of August 17, 2016. Water defenders have responded to a call for warriors to come to the Northern border of the Oceti Sakowin Confederacy to stop the pipeline. That is our purpose here. The Red Warrior Camp has established a home for all who are willing to facilitate Non-Violent Direct Action in peace and prayer to achieve no other goal than to stop the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. This is a continuation of the actions initiated in early April 2016 by the Sacred Stone Camp.
The Red Warrior Camp condemns the falsehoods and fear mongering that the Morton County Sheriff is exhibiting. There are no guns, or pipe bombs, or weapons of any sort in the entire camp. The Morton County Sheriff is lying so that the foundation can be laid, fraudulently, for law enforcement to escalate the tensions and initiate violence against citizens exercising their basic human and constitutional rights to protect safe drinking water for all in the Missouri River basin. The Morton County Sheriff is deliberately or negligently defaming the peaceful character of the camp in order justify a reason to call in the National Guard. Calling in the National Guard would relieve Morton County's staffing and financial burden of providing safety for the protestors and the DAPL employees.
Thus far, the activities by the Sacred Stone Camp protestors have included attempts at preventing access to the construction site leading to arrests. There has thus far been one time when the construction was halted, when women, without planning, initiated a direct non-violent action. This is only fitting, as women of all Nations have a sacred connection to water. There are many Tribal Nations and non-Native allies represented in the entire camp. The sole reason 500 people responded to the call for warriors is to come in peace and prayer to stop the pipeline. The Red Warrior Camp stands in solidarity with the Sacred Stone Camp and will continue to stay in 1851 Treaty Territory until the pipeline has been stopped.
Owe Aku is a grassroots organization of Lakota people and our allies founded to promote the protection of sacred water and preservation of our territorial lands. Our actions for environmental justice rely upon cultural revitalization as our major tool in achieving our goals. The principle location from which are operations are based are on Lakota territory along Wounded Knee Creek on what is called the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation . More information on our work can be found at www.oweakuinternational.org
You are receiving this email because you are an ally in our struggle to preserve sacredwater
Our mailing address is:
Owe Aku International Justice Project
PO Box 325
Manderson, SD 57756
You are receiving this email because you are an ally in our struggle to preserve sacredwater
The face of Apartheid in Palestine, heavy machinery by John Deere, on Dakota Lakota land at the blockade of the Dakota Access pipeline in Cannon Ball, North Dakota, where 12 were arrested yesterday.
Photo by Jon Eagle, Sr.
Dakota and Lakota women and youths on the frontline as 11 were arrested Thursday defending sacred land and water from Dakota Access pipeline in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.
"The place where pipeline will cross on the Cannonball is the place where the Mandan came into the world after the great flood, it is also a place where the Mandan had their Okipa, or Sundance. Later this is where Wisespirit and Tatanka Ohitika held sundances. There are numerous old Mandan, Cheyenne, and Arikara villages located in this area and burial sites. This is also where the sacred medicine rock [is located], which tells the future.”
Avis Little Eagle, Standing Rock Hunkpapa Lakota woman, Avis Little Eagle, former Vice Chairwoman of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and current Publisher of The Teton Times Newspaper
I read one of the news stories in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader and the reporter kept saying that the water protectors were outside reservation boundaries. Like"go back to the reservation" Indians. That is one of the reasons Native America must write their own stories .. The water protectors are standing their ground in 1868 Treaty Territory, which if the reporter knew their U. S. Constitution, is supreme law, above and before the Congress and the U. S. Courts. And as for the Army Corps, they are also ignoring treaty and Winters Doctrine Rights of the Lakota/Dakota Oyate who are protecting the Missouri River from a $3 billion dollar pipeline that will run 470,000 gallons of crude Bakken oil a day across the Mni Sose. It's not if it will leak but when, and there are 12 million people downriver that also rely on that river for drinking water, not to mention the wildlife that rely on the river. So I'm proud of and praying for our people, humble and pitiful as they are for taking on Big oil when every card in the deck is stacked against them. History will show they made the right choice. But sadly it will be after the river is contaminated and drinking water is fouled and wildlife and fish and the winged nation start dying from the contamination. Then the oil company will pack it's bags and move on and the U.S. EPA will cry that it doesn't have the money to clean up the river. So yes, stand strong Oyate.
Tipiziwin Tolman, Standing Rock
Standing Rock is my home. I grew up where the Missouri meets the Porcupine Creek. We are Hunkpapha Lakota and Wiciyena Dakota - We are Sitting Bull's people among many others. We are the people who have always lived along the Missouri river, on both banks. Our history is tied to this water, our identity is tied to this water. We come from this water - We were never displaced, this is where Creator put us. This water and this land recognizes our language and our prayers. This water, like all water gives us life and we all need water to live. This pipeline and all the oil fracking is pure POISON. Please come to Standing Rock's northern border and stand to protect this pipeline from being built underneath our water, directly above our water intake where our drinking water comes from. When you turn on a faucet today, think of our people and what we are standing for. Calling for all Oceti Sakowin, all nations, to come stand together - come to the northern border of Standing Rock and stand for the future, be a witness for the water, and for the world. (Please share if you can, please pray if you can, please come if you can.)
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Words of Jon Eagle, Sr.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe by resolution claim all stone features, stone cairns and stone effigies within the aboriginal homelands of the Oceti Sakowin. Wherever the buffalo roamed our ancestors left evidence of their existence and connection to everything in the universe. There is a prophesy among our people that told us one day man was going to go to far and when that time came the animal nations were going to show their sacred color. The birth of the white buffalo in Jamestown, ND was a sign that we were in that time of prophesy. The Dakota Access Pipeline is crossing the aboriginal homelands of the Oceti Sakonwin and is destroying sites of religious and cultural significance to the tribes. DAPL will have an adverse effect on the land, the air and the water. Now is the time to go back to our sacred places and pray.
The Dakota Access pipeline will go through South Dakota and Iowa enroute to the Gulf Coast. Boycott all these corporations:
The pipeline, currently under construction, will connect western North Dakota to the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline Project (ETCOP) in Patoka, Illinois. From there, it will connect to the Nederland and Port Arthur, Texas, area, where refiners including Valero Energy, Total and Motiva Enterprises operate some of the largest U.S. refining facilities. source .
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The army of police sent to arrest Dakota and Lakota women
As Native youths protest at White House and in New York City's Union Square, a new dirty pipeline route is exposed from North Dakota to the Gulf Coast Photos by Urban Native Era Article by Brenda Norrell Censored News The Native youth runners from Standing Rock in North Dakota protested in front of the White House on Saturday, and then protested at Union Square in New York City, as they battled the Dakota Access Pipeline now threatening the Missouri River. The Native runners ran 1,500 miles to Washington with the messages, "Protect sacred water," and "You can't drink oil." They captured news headlines across across the country, including Democracy Now and People magazine.
In New York City, the Native youth runners were joined by Josh Fox (Gasland, Gasland II, How to Let Go of The World And Love All The Things Climate Change Can’t Change), Shailene Woodley (The Descendants, Divergent), and Rosario Dawson. The Youth of Standing Rock Indian Nation ran 1,500 miles from North Dakota to Washington, D.C. to protect their water from the Dakota Access Pipeline, a crude oil pipeline being built on their river. They arrived in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, August 6, the runners said in a statement from New York City. "The Standing Rock Reservation Youth finished the run from North Dakota to Washington D.C in protection for the waters. The proposed Dakota Access Pipeline has just been recently approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who are already starting construction in the Dakotas. The runners peacefully demonstrated their opposition, their message is not that it’s not a matter of if the pipeline breaks, but WHEN the pipeline breaks. They hand delivered a petition with 140,000 signatures saying no to the Dakota Access Pipeline." "According to UP to US who coordinated the Youth Rally in Union Square today: “What’s very different about this specific pipeline is that it runs directly through the third largest reservation in this country. And when that crude oil transport pipeline breaks it will absolutely destroy many if not all of PEOPLE’s resources that they need to live. Standing Rock natives have a saying “Mni Wiconi,” which means: water is life, and they couldn’t be more on point.”
Back home in Cannonball, North Dakota, Dakota, Lakota and other Native Americans at the Sacred Stone camp are prepared.
Joye Braun, Cheyenne River Lakota, said, "Dakota Access has issued a 48 hour work order that was received by Standing Rock." "The Camp of the Sacred Stones is a peaceful camp in prayer to stop the pipeline from destroying sacred water, eagle nesting sites, buffalo grazing, medicinal plants, and to protect the water intake for Standing Rock and the people along the Missouri river. "We absolutely do not believe in violence," Braun told Censored News. Braun was among those protesting at the North Dakota Capitol last week to bring awareness that oil is bankrupting our future. "The North Dakota legislature was trying to fix a budget shortfall that was caused by giving tax breaks and a blank check to the oil industry." "Projects like Dakota Access pipeline and continued fracking are not helping the state but harming it." A new pipeline deal is now taking over where the Keystone XL pipeline failed. This new corporate scheme is to transport large amounts of dirty crude oil from North Dakota to the Gulf Coast.
The Standing Rock Sioux Nation has taken legal action to halt the pipeline:
July 26, 2016 - the Army Corps issued the permit to cross Lake Oahe.
July 27, 2016 - the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed its complaint, opposing the permit.
August 4, 2016 - the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe filed its Motion for a Preliminary Injunction.
August 8, 2016 - the Army Corps. provides 48 hour Pre-Construction Notification for PCN 4, the Lake Oahe Crossing.
August 8, 2016 - the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe participates in scheduling conference with presiding Judge.
August 18, 2016 - brief deadline for parties opposing Motion for Preliminary Injunction.
August 22, 2016 - reply brief deadline for parties supporting Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Motion for Preliminary Injunction.
August 24, 2016 - oral argument on motion in Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. The Financial Post reports: CALGARY – Despite U.S. President Barack Obama’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline, new barrels of Canadian crude oil will soon make their way to the U.S. Gulf Coast following a US$2.6-billion deal led by Enbridge Inc. to buy a U.S. pipeline system.
Enbridge, the largest pipeline company in Canada, is teaming up with U.S. refiner Marathon Petroleum Corp. to buy a 49 per cent stake in two pipelines, the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline, to provide a new route from North Dakota to refineries in Louisiana and Texas.
Canadian oil producers have been pushing for more access to Gulf Coast refineries for years, but had their biggest hopes dashed in 2015 when Obama rejected TransCanada Corp.’s application to build the 890,000-barrel-per-day Keystone XL pipeline.
This week’s deal by Enbridge, however, will allow more Canadian crude and oilsands barrels to flow to those Gulf Coast refineries. Read full article at Financial Post Visit for more information and to sign the ongoing petition. And Follow them @rezpectourwater and @uptouscaravan on Instagram rezpectourwater.com
