Tag Archives: DAPL

Standing Rock Victory and Trial Updates

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Progressive Christian Action Blog

Standing Rock Victory and Trial Updates

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People who have supported the Standing Rock Sioux in their struggle against the Dakota Access Pipeline are celebrating a victory, as we hear the news that a federal judge ruled on June 14 that the Army Corps of Engineers must review the permits that allowed the pipeline to go through.  President Donald Trump had signed executive orders speeding up the approval process of both the DAPL and the Keystone XL pipelines, but this ruling is yet another example of Trump Administration policies that do not stand up under scrutiny by the courts.  Fortunately, there are still judges who rule based on laws to protect people’s rights and the commons, laws that were often put in place through the democratic process fueled by people power.

Trials against water protectors and allies who stood with them are proceeding.  Many have been dismissed.  Standing Rock Chairman David Archambault II and Council member Dana Yellow Fat were acquitted by a jury.  The trials of those of us who travelled to Standing Rock from Nevada County have been postponed until November or December.  My trial is now scheduled for December 8.  Our lawyers are still working with the  Water Protectors Legal Collective, the organization that bailed me out after spending four days in Burleigh County Jail.

I join my prayers with the Standing Rock Tribe and with people around the world in joy at this partial victory and in hope that justice will prevail.  In words from my new book, Love in a Time of Climate Change,:  “Regardless of the outcome of this struggle, Standing Rock has become a symbol of Indigenous resistance to the degradation of creation for the sake of profit. It is also a model that will be replicated as people seek to protect the rights of Native peoples and the gifts of creation in this critical time. Standing Rock represents the much larger struggle of bringing peace, justice, and healing to the earth. It demonstrates that when people come together in peace and in prayer, there is hope that creation may be protected and justice may prevail against the principalities and powers of this and any age.”

See more of Sharon’s blog posts related to Standing Rock, including posts about her arrest and upcoming trial. 

Read the full excerpt, Indigenous Resistance and Standing Rock here, from Love in a Time of Climate Change.

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On Our Way to Standing Rock

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Here we are having lunch at a park in Rawlins, Wyoming, on our way to Standing Rock.  Tonight my good friends and I are staying in Spearfish, South Dakota, planning to get up early so we can check in at the camp in time for the nonviolence training at 2 p.m. tomorrow.  We are ready to do what we can.

I recently read This is an Uprising, How Nonviolent Revolt is Shaping the Twenty-First Century, by Paul and Mark Engler.  They write about the “whirlwind,” those times in history when things come together in a new way that makes possible what seemed impossible before.  Standing Rock is such a time.  Many people around the world are recognizing that respecting the rights of Indigenous people and learning from them about honoring the creation are at the center of what needs to happen if we are to get through this historic time in a way that leaves hope for a habitable planet.

I’m here for the sake of the children and for future generations.   Ready to enter the whirlwind.