The Sioux pipeline rebellion is touching deep personal native
American roots for I have been told my great great grandfather was a deeply
loved and respected native American chief and the great joy and freedom of
riding my paint horse Scout in the Sonoma hills brought me back to memories of
a previous lifetime on the great plains ~ where the love of nature was the law
of the land and obeying its sacred laws were a way of life. I fully understand
the deep love the native American feels for their sacred land and its native
inhabitants: Allen L Roland, PhD
Honor the sacred.
Honor the Earth, our Mother.
Honor the Elders.
Honor all with whom we
share the Earth:-
Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,
winged ones,
Swimmers, crawlers,
plant and rock people.
Walk in balance and beauty.
Native American Elder
Honor the Earth, our Mother.
Honor the Elders.
Honor all with whom we
share the Earth:-
Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,
winged ones,
Swimmers, crawlers,
plant and rock people.
Walk in balance and beauty.
Native American Elder
Being with my horse Scout was a magical bonding experience for me in the 1980's for we shared experiences from another lifetime when life was as simple and free as the wind and we were an integral part of it.
But
riding him at full gallop in the Sonoma hills and vineyards brought me full
circle to another lifetime where we were once again a joyous one with nature
and celebrating it together.
I
understand at a profound level the love a native American feels for the land
and their role as a protector of this sacred life sustaining bond.
“The
events at Standing Rock also allow Americans to realize who some of the
nation’s most important leaders really are,” writes Bill McKibben. “The fight
for environmental sanity ~ against pipelines and coal ports and other
fossil-fuel infrastructure ~ has increasingly been led by Native Americans,
many of whom are in that Dakota camp today.” (Photo: Twitpic/@350)
Bill
McKibben writes in the New Yorker of
the validity of this modern day Native American uprising which will not go away
and speaks with innate authority ~ "They speak with real
authority ~ no one else has lived on this
continent for the long-term. They see the nation’s history more clearly than
anyone else, and its possible future as well. For once, after all these
centuries, it’s time to look through their eyes. History offers us no chances
to completely erase our mistakes. Occasionally, though, we do get a chance
to show we learned something. "
McKibben
continues ~ One man in the camp last week said it was the most diverse
gathering of Native Americans “since the Battle of Greasy Grass,”
known to the white world as Little Bighorn. In other words, America’s
shameful history with its native inhabitants is echoing across these Dakota
riverbanks this late summer and it's gaining momentum.
"The
U.S. government is wiping out our most important cultural and spiritual areas,”
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, whose great-great
grandmother survived the Whitestone Massacre, wrote this week. “And as it
erases our footprint from the world, it erases us as a people. These sites must
be protected, or our world will end, it is that simple. Our young people have a
right to know who they are. They have a right to language, to culture, to
tradition. The way they learn these things is through connection to our lands
and our history.” See McKibben article ~ https://www.transcend.org/tms/2016/09/a-pipeline-fight-and-americas-dark-past/
The
BIG PICTURE message of this massive Native American uprising is ~ It's Time to Move On from Fossil Fuels ~ and no one speaks more knowingly of this
struggle for "energy justice" than native American activist Winona
LaDuke seen here being interviewed by Amy Goodman at Standing Rock ~ 10
minute video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmbPw8RT59Y
Rebecca Solnit, Guardian UK, who was at Standing
Rock for two days calls it only the beginning of a truly transformative moment
in our history ~ " What’s happening at Standing Rock is
extraordinary and possibly transformative for native rights, Sioux history, and
the intersection of the climate movement with indigenous communities… What’s happening at Standing Rock feels like a new
civil rights movement that takes place at the confluence of environmental and
human rights and grows from the last 60 years of lived experience in popular
power and changing the world. This is already a movement with national
solidarity ~ there were support demonstrations in San Francisco and Tulsa,
Oklahoma, among other places ~ and a national day of action is scheduled for
Tuesday… the larger movement that the uprising at Standing Rock has begun,
and the connections it strengthens. It’s only a beginning but it’s a
spectacular beginning and a reminder that sometimes the future is made by
dreamers and warriors who come together unexpectedly."
And what's in the way of this
movement?
Corporate America and its political and financial
allegiance to Fossil Fuel ~ along with the
obvious support of Hillary Clinton and Donald trump but most certainly not
Green Party Presidential candidate Jill Stein who was also protesting the
pipelines at Standing Rock and has
already been issued an arrest warrant.
It didn’t take long after the National Guard was activated in North Dakota for militarized law enforcement to descend upon the site of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Today, mass arrests began as riot gear-clad police attempted to break up Native American opposition to the construction of the pipeline, which has been halted at one location ~ but continues elsewhere. Read update ~ http://indigenous-network.com/breaking-riot-police-begin-mass-arrests-at-dakota-access-pipeline-fb-censors-video/
Follow the money ~ After the Obama
administration temporarily halted the Dakota Access Pipeline, Real News
replays a story examining the substantial financial and political interests
backing it ~ 4 minute video ~ https://youtu.be/_4a-1rlueV0
But this rebellion has now apparently gone global and the Obama administration is once again "going through the motions" of a meaningful response. People across the world stand in solidarity with activists in North Dakota as they continue to block construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline and risk arrest in the process. See Real News video 6 minute update ~ https://youtu.be/1zHgzPDaJ5c
Wake
up, America
~ there is an extremely strong anti-establishment chord being found in America
this election year but the Oligarchy still rules the Democratic Party, which
includes both the Clintons, and unfortunately as John Atcheson writes in Common
Dreams ~ "The Democratic Party still lives in Davos-land, a place
where it’s still possible to believe ~ or at
least pretend ~ that serving the ultra-rich
and corporations while purporting to represent the people at the same time is
anything but a conflict of interest "
~ but the people, including myself, aren’t buying it this
election year and the establishment beware !
See
Transcend article ~
https://www.transcend.org/tms/2016/09/empire-in-decline-when-the-oligarchy-inherits-the-wind/
I
stand with Amy Goodman and Jill Stein in protecting the Sacred Native American
land from the political and corporate interests that control America and
fervently hope that Jill Stein will carry this message to the American people
in the Presidential debates later this month ~ even
if she has to occupy them.
This column strikes a deep ancestral chord and I know my
great great grandfather would be proud that
I am making this public stand.
Allen L Roland, PhD
Heart centered spiritual consultant and advisor Allen L
Roland can be contacted at allen@allenroland.com Allen is also a
lecturer and writer who shares a weekly political and social commentary
on his web log and
website allenroland.com. He is
also featured columnist on Veterans Today and is a
featured guest on many radio and Television programs
