No we hire you you will
[Music]
we are we are you are you are you your
way away hi you’re in your way hi young
[Applause]
it is a good day to die that was said by
a Crazy Horse to shun kvitko
as he led his men into battle and they
would have sung a song similar to that
that song I sang is from Shoshone people
on my father’s side on the day that
Crazy Horse was leading his men it was
there was a village there were seven
council fires of the Great Sioux Nation
had come together this was known as the
Oh Chet Isha Cohen
and on that day Custer and his men were
looking for an easy target they believed
that the village was mostly women and
children and they believed that it was
smaller than it was they didn’t know the
people had come together in Council to
hunts and for ceremony that was the time
near Sundance so this was a place of
Prayer a gathering place that was being
attacked now when the people heard that
charge of the cavalry coming they could
have given in to the fear
but Crazy Horse rallied the Warriors
with that saying it is a good day to die
and when he said that or when he would
just say Hoka hey they knew what he
meant because if you live every day of
your life in a good way then as the
elders say you can go to the Creator
with clean hands and with straight eyes
what he did was he short-circuited that
fight-or-flight response that we all
have you know we have that physical
mental emotional spiritual side of
ourselves and that emotional side it’s
like a muscle when you need to exercise
it you need to make it strong and so
when he saw the Warriors faltering he
helped with that phrase so that they’d
understand
that the real fear that they should have
is not dying it would be giving in to
that fear so that they did not live a
good life because then there would be no
good day to die they would be afraid to
have to go and face the ancestors so I
came to understand this in a place known
as Standing Rock this is a photo from
one of my partners in an art gallery zoe
earnest she took this on December 5th
you see when when Crazy Horse had led
the people before he died he said I see
a time in seven generations when the
people of all colors will come together
and they will dance in a sacred circle
at the base of the sacred tree and from
this they will begin to heal a world
every one of you are part of the seventh
generation it’s been 150 years since the
Battle of the Little Bighorn what you
know as Custer’s last stand was for us
the protection and saving of the village
of the Oh Chet Isha Cohen and it wasn’t
safe for them after that to be together
anymore they had to scout her for safety
until Standing Rock this was the first
time in seven generations 150 years that
all seven council fires came back
together and when they were lit they
were lit by a man our looking horse who
made a prayer so that camp two was a
place of prayer that camp two was all
the council fires coming together and
when they say seven generations they
mean everyone alive today so that
includes you Standing Rock had contrasts
there’s the light in the dark in the
world we try to walk in the balance if
you go too far into the light or too far
into the dark either way you go blind
so we walk in balance we walk in the
Road and Standing Rock had both and we
had to help keep people stay balanced
because when they came out in prayer
they felt at home but on the other side
of the line sacred sites were being
drilled through burial grounds were
being desecrated and people were being
harmed by a mercenary company known as
Tiger Swan they’re an offshoot of a
company you might have known named
Blackwater now operating on US soil
training their weapons on US citizens so
when people were harmed we had to help
them through the process of healing of
overcoming that fight-or-flight response
when you saw something happening to
someone you loved of overcoming the
fight-or-flight response when a weapon
was pointed at you and there’s a
mercenary in all black with a mask
saying this is live ammo and these were
men women children just like all of you
and they did it because they worked out
emotional muscle they made it strong so
that they could stand in peace and in
prayer even in the face of violence and
conflict this is the night November 21st
when most other violence happened these
were taken by my friend Stephanie Ortega
and izc there’s a the hoses
there was the teargas one woman lost her
sight she was hit in the eye by a rubber
bullet fired at close range another
woman almost lost her arm to a
concussion grenade that was fired into
the crowd and this mobilized the
veterans and when they came out that as
well was something that had been
foretold of praying continuing to stay
in that place of prayer and believing in
the prophecies believing that
things can change and if we pray it long
enough if we prayed hard enough true
enough we would reach the other side you
see when the veterans came out we were
15,000 strong at that point and it was a
man West Clark jr. from Custer’s seventh
Cavalry who led them and if I had asked
you two years ago do you think someone
from Custer’s seventh Cavalry would ever
go out to the native people ask their
forgiveness and say we are here to stand
with you and none of you would have
believed me I wouldn’t have believed me
it would have been a hypothetical but
but it happened and we need to
understand that these things happen
because this shows the power of prayer
this shows the power of staining in that
place of balance and centeredness
and so after that night on the bridge
was no longer safe it was no longer safe
to go that direction so we headed to the
edge of the water there were probably
four or five thousand of us at that
point and we lined up facing the
hillside this was a sacred Turtle
Mountain this was Thanksgiving Day so
I’m talking about one year ago that’s my
friend lale on this picture as we geared
up we were ready this time we brought
gas masks for the tear gas
we brought goggles for the pepper spray
we taped magazines to our bodies for the
rubber bullets we had earplugs for the
concussion grenades and the sound
weapons and we were Poncho’s for the
freezing water that they would spray and
when we got to the water’s edge we
brought a floating bridge of our own and
so we avoided the bridge that they had
barricaded with all the weaponry and we
went across you can see the mercenaries
massing at the top of the hillside for
as many people as they had giving
intelligence they
they didn’t know this was coming and
when we crossed my friend timorous was
there you can see the people on the
hillside above her and timorous is a
Nike n7 ambassador
she’s a sportscaster she’s a model and
yet these were the people they were
claiming were dangerous rioters these
were the people that they were not only
pointing weapons at but using weapons on
and so we got to the side of the
hillside on Thanksgiving and the sheriff
got on the bullhorn and he said everyone
remove your gas masks now that was that
was our reaction to and one one man even
the crowd said why on earth would we do
that and someone else in the crowd
replied oh they don’t want to waste
their tear gas they paid good money for
it and then someone said wait we paid
for that and at that point the crowd
became angry started yelling at the
police saying what are you doing we paid
for that we pay your salary you’re
supposed to be protecting us from people
who harm us not protecting this
mercenary company not protecting a drill
site that is illegally drilling without
a permit on lands that are so sensitive
and at that point the police got mad
again so the sheriff of Morton County
got on the bullhorn
and again said anyone who does not
remove your gas masks we will take as a
sign of aggression and we will target
you and at that point you can see all
the mercenaries picked up their shotguns
and picked someone out of the crowd
inside these were the rubber bullet
rounds and at that point my friend
timorous who you saw earlier she stepped
forward
she had a shield
and if she stepped to the front to the
line she lowered it she lowered her
mosque and she said we’re here because
we love our children we want them to
have clean water we’re here because we
love your children and we want the same
for them she pointed up the man who had
the shotgun pointed right at her and she
said I even love you and then she began
to sing and as she’s saying he lowered
his gun tapped his heart put up a peace
sign and he stepped back and the others
lowered their guns as well
you see she overcame that
fight-or-flight response but even more
than that she overcame the temptation to
fall into conflict and see them as the
enemy she was strong enough with her
emotions with that muscle with that core
inside that she was able to lift that
emotional weight for herself for the
people around her and for the entire
area and she turned what would have been
another conflict another point of
violence into a ceremony when that fire
was lit when the seven fires the Oh
Chetty shell coin came together as Crazy
Horse had predicted
I asked arbol I said wait Crazy Horse
said we would dance and we did with
15,000 people in the veterans but he
said it would be at the base of the
sacred tree and our will explains what
do we always say water is life the tree
is the tree of life if water is life
then the tree is the rivers looked at
from above it forms a tree we were at
the base and as we danced and that
prophecy was fulfilled they said that
the sparks from this fire would be
carried by those at Standing Rock would
land in our hearts to be taken to our
homes to be shared with other people who
they would take to their homes and light
new fires to light the world and that is
what we did
my friend Lehigh is in this picture
that’s timorous in the middle and myself
this one is in DC and we’ve been sharing
our spark through art to talks like this
and you being here or even if you’re
watching this online you have that spark
now to you understand what Standing Rock
was really all about and you understand
what really how
been there and how we really won and you
have that spark to share with others
letting them know that with that core
emotional strength you too can overcome
conflict you too can share that spark of
courage and of hope and change it change
the world to a place of peace and a
prayer so thank you