Tag: standing rock

I end the class by stating that if we are ever to move forward as a country, we must recognize that we (European Americans) committed the largest mass genocide in history, and we must ask for forgiveness. There is a sense of agreement among the students to this statement, as impossible of a reality as it may seem. Enter Standing Rock.

As a Native American scholar of environmental history and religion, I believe that for most individuals who gathered at the site, it was a modern-day pilgrimage. Here’s why.

I recently returned from a short trip to join the water protectors at Standing Rock, North Dakota. Traveling there I was afraid of arrest and battery, of broken bones and black eyes, of not being able to return home safely to my husband and child. I wrote my husband's number on my arm in case I was too rattled or hurt after being arrested to remember it. And while I have returned home with no damage done to my body, my mind is forever changed by what I saw there.

There is a battle going on in North Dakota, but it isn't between two militarized forces. It is between love and hate, hope and fear, hospitality and hostility.

An Interfaith vigil will be held tonight at Veradale United Church of Christ in support of those protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.