Monday, December 5th 2016

What news from Standing Rock!!

After more than 2,000 U.S. Veterans “self-deployed“ to Standing Rock to support and “shield” the Water Protectors there, on December 4th President Obama FINALLY ordered the Army Corps of Engineers issue a permanent injunction to STOP the DAPL pipeline from being trenched under Lake Oahe, the primary source of water for everyone in the region plus millions of others Americans as well.  (See Cenk Uygar’s recap here.)

How did this happen?  Do you think the Morton County Sheriff police deciding to NOT blockade the highways, to NOT forcibly evict the Water Protectors from their own land, to NOT keep facing off over the Backwater Bridge and to NOT keep assaulting them with militarized weapons had anything to do with the fact that 2,000 U.S. Veterans arrived to stand up on the side of justice?!  I’m sad our government couldn’t respect the Native Americans, but I’m certainly thankful for the honor and valor of the veterans who garnered attention and respect on their behalf.

So after celebrating the victory on Sunday, they all gathered on Monday and THIS happened:

“We beg for your forgiveness.”  Veterans to Native elders in Standing Rock ceremony [1:51]:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=do441aJdY3g&spfreload=10

I cannot watch this with dry eyes.

There are few things I can think of more beautiful than these images to me:

Gen. Wesley Clark Jr., middle, holds his calvary hat in prayer during an emotional forgiveness ceremony at the Four Prairie Knights Casino & Resort on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on December 5, 2016 in Fort Yates, North Dakota. Native Americans conducted a forgiveness ceremony with U.S. veterans at the Standing Rock casino, giving the veterans an opportunity to atone for military actions conducted against Natives throughout history. The ceremony was held in celebration of Standing Rock protestersÕ victory SundayÊin halting construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Leonard Crow Dog, a Lakota elder and highly-regarded activist, left, places his hand over Gen. Wesley Clark Jr.’s head during a forgiveness ceremony for veterans at the Four Prairie Knights Casino & Resort on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016.

Gen. Wesley Clark Jr. hugs a man participating in a forgiveness ceremony for veterans at the Four Prairie Knights Casino & Resort on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016.

Gen. Wesley Clark Jr., kneels in front of Leonard Crow Dog, right, during a forgiveness ceremony at the Four Prairie Knights Casino & Resort on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation on December 5, 2016 in Fort Yates, North Dakota. Native Americans conducted a forgiveness ceremony with U.S. veterans at the Standing Rock casino, giving the veterans an opportunity to atone for military actions conducted against Natives throughout history. The ceremony was held in celebration of Standing Rock protestersÕ victory SundayÊin halting construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline. Leonard Crow Dog formally forgave Wes Clark Jr., the son of retired U.S. Army general and former supreme commander at NATO, Wesley Clark Sr. Helen H. Richardson, The Denver Post

Gen. Wesley Clark Jr., kneels in front of Leonard Crow Dog, right, during a forgiveness ceremony.

When, on Earth, do you see a military man, taking responsibility for his country’s crimes against humanity, literal hat in hand, humbling himself, literally begging forgiveness?

I have never.

“A Forgiveness Ceremony.”

What untold reaches of wisdom have we forsaken in our centuries of near obliteration of the Natives?

I am fully blown away.

And by the way who is that guy?

(Stay tuned.)