Black Snake KILLERS!!!

The ‘Indians’ said it best, warning us, centuries ago: “The white man speaks with forked tongue”. In this forked tongue season and time of lies, intentional highly skilled subterfuge, and mollifications we need to be even more vigilant in our sharp vision, clear thinking, and righteous speaking & actions.

Many have been posting the well-known meme “they came for the…. and then they came for me” most likely in an attempt to arouse non-native people into action.

The stark truth is, “they” never stopped coming for certain people: for Black people, for Native people, for brown people, womyn, poor folks. And "they” don’t intend to stop coming until they’ve dominated and consumed every ounce of life they can exploit on the Mother Earth.

Much to my chagrin, I tore myself away from Standing Rock forcing myself to head home for reinforcements the afternoon before the night “they” took aim at human beings with water cannons in 20 degree weather.

Like most people in this country who cling to some vestige of our constitution not to mention our humanity, I am still deeply deeply outraged at this anti-human choice police decided was something they should do.

I long to say I’m shocked but as a teenager, I witnessed the deplorable horror of police turning fire hoses on human beings – although not in sub-freezing weather which somehow adds a further inexplicable degree of inhumanity – and still I am outraged now as then.

The army corps of engineers, under the auspicious of President Obama, has promised they will “clear the camp” on December 5^th.

Really? Clear hundreds if not thousands of people, tipis, yurts, sacred fires, solar and internet systems, kitchens, tents, healing centers, portapotties, winterized structures, lawyers, media, thriving communities? I list these things for those who haven’t seen with your own eyes the extent of the city (rumored to be the third largest in North Dakota) the army corps thinks it can shut down.

REALLY? Really President Obama? Really people of this country???

This threat is NOT a reason to give up, to stop supporting water protectors, to wring our hands in despair. Remember: the despair, the hopelessness, the powerlessness are all feelings stemming from the spell “they” are attempting to cast over us, feelings they want and NEED us to feel. It is a mighty, mighty spell but guess what? We have and are a much more powerful spell!

Furthermore, there are many more than one camp – the one the corps is directly threatening – making up the circle of water protectors’ camps at Standing Rock. The police, several weeks ago, have already removed one camp with mass arrests and mass destruction, and since then, Standing Rock grew stronger and larger.

But mostly remember, the people there are standing with their bodies, their lives, their beings on this front line and will not be deterred from their commitment of protecting the water.

Our counter spell, the spell we have to cast out over police, military, dapl contractors is this: we have life, the Mother Earth, the precious sacredness of existence on our planet. And we are BLACK SNAKE KILLERS!!!

It is time for ALL of us to head to Standing Rock, to Oceti Sakowin, to the Missouri River: for it is only our numbers, our bodies, our lives that will protect the water.