Image Gallery: 500 interfaith clergy and laity answered the call to stand with Standing Rock

By Lynette Wilson
Posted Nov 3, 2016

[Episcopal News Service – Cannon Ball, North Dakota] In a historic show of interfaith support and solidarity, more than 500 interfaith clergy and laity answered a call to come to North Dakota to stand in peaceful, prayerful and lawful solidarity Nov. 3; and to bear witness with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation as they continue to protect the tribe’s sacred land and water supply.

The interfaith group spent more than five hours on site, marching, singing hymns, sharing testimony and calling others to join them in standing with the more than 200 tribes who have committed their support to the Sioux Nation as they protest the route of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Here are some images of the group’s visit.

The sun rises over Oceti Sakowin Camp just north of the Cannonball River where 2,000 opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline have been living. Opponents began arriving in small numbers in April. Larger numbers came in July and August and more continue to arrive every day. Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

The sun rises over Oceti Sakowin Camp just north of the Cannonball River where 2,000 opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline have been living. Opponents began arriving in small numbers in April. Larger numbers came in July and August, and more continue to arrive every day. Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

The Rev. John Floberg, supervising priest of the Episcopal churches on the North Dakota side of Standing Rock, gives instructions to more than 500 people from 20 faith backgrounds gathered in the Oceti Sakowin Camp just after dawn. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

The Rev. John Floberg, supervising priest of the Episcopal churches on the North Dakota side of Standing Rock, gives instructions to more than 500 people from 20 faith backgrounds gathered in the Oceti Sakowin Camp just after dawn. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

South Dakota Bishop John Tarrant reads an abbreviated version of the Episcopal Church’s repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. The 2009 General Convention passed a resolution repudiating the doctrine and urged the U.S. government to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

South Dakota Bishop John Tarrant reads an abbreviated version of the Episcopal Church’s repudiation of the Doctrine of Discovery. The 2009 General Convention passed a resolution repudiating the doctrine and urged the U.S. government to endorse the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Religious leaders representing Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists and others read their faith's repudiations of the Doctrine of Discovery. Then they gave a copy of the 15th century document that gave Christian explorers the right to claim the lands they discovered to elders in Oceti Sakowin Camp and asked them to burn it. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Religious leaders representing Episcopalians, Lutherans, Presbyterians and other denominations and faiths read their faith’s repudiations of the Doctrine of Discovery. Then they gave a copy of the 15th-century document that gave Christian explorers the right to claim the lands they discovered to elders in Oceti Sakowin Camp and asked them to burn it. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Eliza Marth, an Episcopal Service Corps fellow in Massachusetts, is smudged as she leaves the Oceti Sakowin Camp to march north along Highway 1806 to the front line where opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline’s route have been in a standoff with law enforcement officials since last week. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Eliza Marth, an Episcopal Service Corps fellow in Massachusetts, is smudged as she leaves the Oceti Sakowin Camp to march north along Highway 1806 to the front line where opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline’s route have been in a standoff with law enforcement officials since last week. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

More than 500 interfaith witnesses marched north along Highway 1806 to the backwater bridge where they formed a Niobrara Circle of Life. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

More than 500 interfaith witnesses marched north along Highway 1806 to the backwater bridge where they formed a Niobrara Circle of Life. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

The Rev. Stephanie Spellers, canon to the presiding bishop for evangelism and reconciliation lead the 500 interfaith witnesses in singing “Wade in the Water.” Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

The Rev. Stephanie Spellers, canon to the presiding bishop for evangelism and reconciliation lead the 500 interfaith witnesses in singing “Wade in the Water.” Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Woody Star, the father of the Rev. Terry Star who died on March 4, 2014, represented his son during the Nov. 3 day of interfaith solidarity and witness. Star, who served on the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council and whose home church was St. James’ Episcopal Church in Cannon Ball, was loved by many. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Woody Star, the father of the Rev. Terry Star who died on March 4, 2014, represented his son during the Nov. 3 day of interfaith solidarity and witness. Star, who served on the Episcopal Church’s Executive Council and whose home church was St. James’ Episcopal Church in Cannon Ball, was loved by many. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

The interfaith witness formed a huge Niobrara Circle of Life just south of the backwater bridge where on the other side law enforcement officers kept watch. Opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline have held the bridge since law enforcement on Oct. 24 cleared a newly set up protest camp. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

The interfaith witnesses formed a huge Niobrara Circle of Life just south of the backwater bridge where on the other side law enforcement officers kept watch. Opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline have held the bridge since law enforcement on Oct. 24 cleared a newly set up protest camp on private land; land that some say belongs to the Sioux Nation. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

A man stands on a burnt-out SUV as interfaith witnesses share testimony and commit to carrying with them home the message from Standing Rock. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

A man stands on a burnt-out SUV as interfaith witnesses share testimony and commit to carrying with them home the message from Standing Rock. Photo: Lynette Wilson/Episcopal News Service

Tags

Comments (33)

  1. Martha Richards says:
    November 3, 2016 at 6:47 pm

    My prayers are with the people standing up for their rights to protect their land and water.

  2. den mark wichar, vancouver wa says:
    November 3, 2016 at 6:48 pm

    THIS is where we should be & what we should be doing, wherever injustice is found.

    1. The Rev Lyle Grosjean, Diocese of El Camino Real says:
      November 4, 2016 at 3:45 pm

      Good for all who are gathered, good for the churches. I cannot come now but will before the struggle is over. I pray with you, I weep with you and I give thanks for every member of the first nations of this land. May we soon be willing to leave the oil in the soil, the tar in the sand.

  3. Katherine Thomson says:
    November 3, 2016 at 8:46 pm

    God bless those standing up with the people to protect what God has provided.

  4. Louise Bower says:
    November 3, 2016 at 10:14 pm

    Keep standing, Standing Rock!! We’ll keep praying!

  5. christine grem says:
    November 3, 2016 at 11:06 pm

    I was there .We were one inthe spirit. the way it is supposed to be.
    I urge any who can to go show support
    You will be welcomed,thanked.

    1. Diane Carnevale says:
      November 4, 2016 at 1:37 pm

      May God bless and hold the grand Sioux Nation and all those who love, support and stand with them!

  6. Paula La Rose says:
    November 4, 2016 at 1:17 am

    You are all in our minds and hearts. We are standing with you in prayer and solidarity. What happens to one of us affects us all.

  7. Adrienne Greenwood says:
    November 4, 2016 at 1:28 am

    It’s everyone’s wate and land. They are protecting everyone’s water ! we have to stop the concept that “they” are separate or protesting for their own rights… it’s everyone’s rights. We are not separate and the plane and water and air are everyone’s responsibility to protect ! Join the cause if you agree that our planet needs to be protected from big business interests and that it’s time to change energy policy and that clean energy is past due!!

  8. Valerie Wolf says:
    November 4, 2016 at 1:28 am

    May all peoples keep coming to support you…..

  9. Anita Welych says:
    November 4, 2016 at 1:39 am

    We are with you, bearing witness. We are humbled by your courage!

  10. Juanita Sullivan says:
    November 4, 2016 at 2:03 am

    How I wish I could be there!!! Keep standing!

  11. Yvonne Magee says:
    November 4, 2016 at 3:58 am

    I am auctioning a painting to help suppprt the protectors at Standing Rock. See Yvonne Magee (artist Arizona State University) on Facebook.

  12. Marilyn Atcitty says:
    November 4, 2016 at 5:21 am

    Thank you all people of many faiths for your support! May the creator be with you and krep you safe. As Native People, it is praying and our spirituality that has kept us strong. Respect our faith as you want yours respected.

  13. Jock William Doubleday says:
    November 4, 2016 at 8:23 am

    Not a peep from churches during decades of ruthless war. But hey, have fun over there. Get some press.

    1. Susan B. says:
      November 6, 2016 at 8:15 am

      Many of our churches and congregants not only peeped, but protested. We had vigils in front of our Unitarian-Universalist church against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many ministers and rabbis, like many of us, also opposed the Vietnam War. Sometimes the media chooses to cover what they want. So, yes, it would be good to “get some press,” as Standing Rock has been largely ignored for a while in the media.
      Nobody is there to “have fun,” just to bear witness and solidarity. Yes, war is terrible. Peace.

    2. Brandon Mauai says:
      November 7, 2016 at 1:32 pm

      Try Centuries of Genocide and Oppression, which the church is now speaking against. I’d say it goes beyond the press, and toward reconciliation efforts with many Tribes and Nations.

  14. Gloria Kersh says:
    November 4, 2016 at 9:12 am

    Thank you to each and everyone of you who made this trip and are supporting the Water Protectors. It is a blessing to see all the different people come together in support!!

  15. Irene OBrien says:
    November 4, 2016 at 9:45 am

    May your movement be much blessed. You stand for all of us and we are forever in your debt.

  16. Cn. Shirley M. Watts says:
    November 4, 2016 at 10:14 am

    Thanks to all who answered the call to stand in prayer for Standing Rock. So grateful for Woody Star, representing his late son Rev. Terry Star. I am sure my Friend in Mission, Terry Star, was present in spirit and in the hearts of many. My prayers continue for the Standing Rock Sioux, and all protectors of our life giving water and sacred land. ~~~ Peace and Blessings.

  17. Rev. Peggy Blanchard Hunt says:
    November 4, 2016 at 11:05 am

    As a nation, the USA has a grave responsibility to recognize our past injustice, abuse and deprivation of indigenous peoples, and to do what we can to correct the many, lasting effects of that behavior on the lives of generations of Native American peoples. Liberty and justice are for ALL, not just for -some- privileged people. I would be there if I could be–my heart and my prayers are with you all.

  18. Shayla Wright says:
    November 4, 2016 at 11:33 am

    We are praying for you twice a day, with all of our heart, our clarity, courage and devotion.

    May these events ripple out into the world and gather more and more support for our capacity to care for what is sacred.

    Thank you for your courage and your power to endure.

  19. Deborah Sproule says:
    November 4, 2016 at 11:48 am

    This is what reconciliation looks like! Repenting sins of the past. Taking steps to heal the harm caused by those sins. Forgiving the offenders. Sharing healing practices together. Unified effort to resist harmful effects of repeated sins.

  20. Janice Wood says:
    November 4, 2016 at 12:01 pm

    This is very moving and makes me proud of my fellow Christians for giving witness. Ritual and song give people strength to carry on. Thank you for sharing these photos. I am with you in prayer.

  21. Edward Thompson says:
    November 4, 2016 at 12:47 pm

    I’m in!

  22. Paula Norris says:
    November 4, 2016 at 1:18 pm

    My prayers are with you, dear brothers and sister. As a Christian, I stand with you.

  23. Kate DeVries says:
    November 4, 2016 at 1:55 pm

    Thank you for denouncing the Doctrine of Discovery. Thank you for helping to teach how the Papal Bulls from the 1400’s destroyed Indigenous People in what are now US Territories, where Catholic Popes Nicholas V (1/8/1455 in Romanus Pontifex) and Pope Alexander VI ( 5/4/1493 in Inter Caetera) operated on the theory that the Pope was the arbitrator between Nations, and set in motion a genocide against the oldest humans (according to Y-Chromosome studies) on the earth, because the Creator spoke to Native Americans in a different way, or language, or story, than the Creator used to speak to humans on other continents.

  24. Marilyn Keyes Roper says:
    November 4, 2016 at 2:26 pm

    Thank you for these excellent photos. Although we could not
    pray the prayer sent around by Fr. Floberg at 10:00 EST on
    Nov. 3, our small Pax Christi group did so at our meeting
    at 6:30 pm in Houlton, Maine. Pax Christi Maine submitted an appeal
    to Pope Francis to denounce the Doctrine of Discovery several
    years ago, and we are encouraged to note that denunciation
    of the DOD was a large part of the ceremonies yesterday.
    Thanks to those of the Standing Rock community for their
    faithful witness for the care of our Mother Earth, to all the
    indigenous supporter,s and to the allies who showed up.

  25. Dale Sundberg says:
    November 4, 2016 at 4:30 pm

    My prayers are with you.

Comments are closed.