BY SANDY SPIELERÂ
We arrived at the Oceti Sakowin Camp at Standing Rock, ND at midnight on the main road that overlooks the Camp, and even in the dark, the sight took my breath away. I recognized this as an ancient sight, yet eternally vibrant and essential. My heart was so full. The encampment is huge, expansive, and beautiful, the deep outline of the rising hills cradling the many Teepees and tents and fires with smoke rising in tendrils above the Plains toward the stars.
This is a Prayer Village, the people of Standing Rock are welcoming relatives from all over the world to stand in protection of the Water, and in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline; I was honored to join.
Across the dark fields, on the other side of the River, I could also see the line of intensely bright lights, and heard the hum of the pipeline machinery that continued throughout the night, so alien to the quiet majesty of the Oceti Sakowin Standing Rock camps. Why? Why? Why?
