Thank you for protecting the water, LaDonna, and for being our guiding light here for so many years. My life would not be the same without you <3 . Our central crew is continuing to do all we can. You know you can call on us at any time to help deal with the frauds and fakes.
So many pretendians are trying to divert funds, or infiltrate camp for photo ops, or even do forced-teaming and lie that they are working with you or other leaders in camp when they've never met any of you, and when they have worked for years to harm the very people they now claim to be helping. We've seen people lie that they were there doing ceremony, or lie that they were invited to ceremony. We've also seen appropriators headed out there for the sole purpose of trying to sneak into ceremony to try to witness enough that they can imitate things later for pay, ego, or advancement of their fabricated pretendian identities and careers. It's seemingly endless, and particularly evil that they are exploiting this dire situation.
Friends, with the cops now shooting protectors with freezing water cannons, concussion grenades, tear gas, plastic bullets, barricading people from coming or going from camp and DAPL drilling in defiance of the stop-work orders, everyone, please - pray, send money, and if you are able-bodied and able to warrior up, please stand. See the links up-thread, and here are the ally guidelines for those who've never been part of an in-person, indigenous led community or action camp. Please read them. We need everyone who can help, and we need all helpers to be effective. Not everyone belongs in camp. Some are best suited to other tasks, and can make more of an impact in those roles.
For donations, the medics and healers were hit particularly hard by the recent cop assaults on North camp, so their stores have been very badly depleted. They are regularly updating the list here:
Donate directly to the Indigenous-led Medics, Healers & EMTs on site:
https://medichealercouncil.com/donate/Cultural Guidelines:
https://medichealercouncil.com/preparation-faq/cultural-respect-faq/ http://www.standingrocksolidaritynetwork.org/resource-packet.htmlQuoting here from one of the resource packet pdfs:
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Raise Awareness for Standing Rock Responsibly. Those of us who are not from Standing Rock cannot actually speak for those in the struggle or represent the struggle. As we push for visibility of Indigenous-led struggles, which are too often invisibilized in the movements for human rights, environmental justice and climate justice struggle, it is crucial that we are responsible in how we help in making it visible. Our goal as non-Native supporters should be to amplify the Indigenous voices from camp--not to speak for Indigenous people or replace their voice.
• If you are asked to do an interview about your experience at Standing Rock, try and direct the interviewer to an Indigenous journalist or spokesperson instead.
• If you are hosting an event to raise awareness or resources that is by and for white allies, be clear in your presentation of and outreach for the event that it is NOT a reflection or part of current Indigenous and POC conversations about decolonization.
• If you are hosting an event to raise awareness or resources, always prioritize bringing out Indigenous people from Standing Rock to speak about the struggle.
• If you absolutely cannot bring a person from Standing Rock out to speak about camp, please pair your talk
with a screening of a video about Standing Rock made by Indigenous camp leadership, provide lots of literature at the event that includes Indigenous voices from camp, and make it clear in your advertising of the event that
you, not someone from Standing Rock will be speaking.
• If you do speak at a “Standing Rock event,” avoid giving a presentation about the struggle; speak clearly from your perspective about your experience as a supporter. Avoid romanticizing Indigenous cultures or struggles and focus on concrete and material ways that others can provide support. For example, make sure you have a current list of needs from the camp so people can provide needed resources, or have a way for people to donate to the camps at the event.
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from
http://www.standingrocksolidaritynetwork.org/uploads/4/2/9/2/4292077/whenyoureturnhome_final.pdfP.S. - Learn to listen to known elders and leaders about who is actually Indigenous. As LaDonna says, every fraud on the planet seems to be coming out of the woodwork now. It is guaranteed that you will encounter non-Natives claiming to be Indigenous leaders now, whether online or at camp. You will have to take the time and effort to vet people's claims. Now is when you have to trust the networks that were established before this all started, the real friendships and alliances established over the years, not people showing up out of nowhere with grandiose claims.
Stay strong, everyone. It's on.
