(1) bisons from videobuzz on Vimeo.
I don’t know where to begin. I am haunted by these images. And this particular video sums it up for me.
I feel this hurt that these guys won’t never understand...this land means everything.
I am not Lakotah, nor Dakotah, nor Nakotah.
Nind anishinaabekwe.
My bloodlines run along other trails, under different waterbeds. My ancestors buried elsewhere.
Still. It hurts. This hurts. Witnessing this hurts.
I am not there at Standing Rock, though I have friends and relatives who are.
Watching their live feeds is excruciating.
It hurts. Watching the whole world watching hurts.
It hurts in a way these guys won’t never understand.
Every day, I stand and I pray ….
Manidog enda waadiwiidi Wa’abinong, Manidog enda waadiwiidi Zhaawinong, Manidog enda waadiwiidi Ningabianong, Manidog enda waadiwiidi Giiwedinong.
...Chi miigwetch to these warriors who are doing the hard work I am unable to do. Please help them to stand strong against the black snake/s.
Chi miigwetch.
Prayers up. Tobacco, cedar, sage, sweetgrass down.
Smoke and prayers.
It hurts.
….this land means everything.
In one of the few pieces of writing I have posted on this forum, I once stated
It would be presumptuous to make any broad brush claims about what that statement means to every Indian everywhere or to any Indian anywhere.
Today, though, there is one assertion I believe I can make with nearly 100% certainty: Every Indian. Every single one. Knows this pain.
It hurts.
This is not about one single pipeline. One single treaty. It is not about borders and boundaries established (and never respected) by this treaty or that. It is not about pay outs in exchange for land, or for the desecration of sacred sites. Money can’t fix this. Money can’t numb the pain.
It’s not even about civil rights violations. Or human rights violations.
It is about this pain.
This pain that hurts in a way these guys won’t never understand.
Thank you to those amongst you who try to understand what that pain is.
Who try to understand how it hurts. And why.
That is all.