Gathering of Friends: first day at Standing Rock

Last night we gathered in the gym in Canon Ball, North Dakota with almost 500 religious leaders from many denominations and faiths, to eat and learn a little more about the events we are to participate in over the next days.

The Rev. John Floberg, Episcopal Priest on Standing Rock, told us how he had prayed for 100 people to come and is overwhelmed by the outpouring of support.  A local historian told us the history of the sacred lands the proposed Dakota pipeline is to cross, including centuries of the life of villages and life on the land.

We also heard about how today we would first join in a witness to our denouncing of the Doctrine of Discovery, which is the 16th century church doctrine which has been used to colonize the Americas, marginalize native peoples, and has been golden into American cultural perspectives, which has led to this pipeline to being built here.

We will then gather in a sacred circle of prayer on the site of the camp that was violently cleared last week, in an expression of solidarity for the native people of the region, and standing against the pipeline's construction.

Many familiar faces from across the church were there, and many new friends and relationships being born.  It is good for us to be here.