CANNONBALL, N.D. – It was announced Sunday that the Army Corps of Engineers have denied the easement allowing the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe. The corps will be researching an alternative route. In response to the welcomed news, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II said, “We wholeheartedly support the decision of the administration and commend with the utmost gratitude the courage it took on the part of President Obama, the Army Corps, the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior to take steps to correct the course of history and to do the right thing.”
Chairman Archambault also thanked “everyone who played a role in advocating for this cause” from the youth who initiated the movement, to volunteers who visited the camps, other tribes, and supporters around the globe.
With the help of Pagan activist Casey McCarthy, who has been back and forth to Standing Rock over the past few months, we gathered several reactions to the news. In a Facebook post activist Payu Harris said, “This is a short term delay … nothing…the corps only said they would not grant the easement for the remainder of this administration that means the Trump administration can (and will I’m sure) fast-track the easement as promised.”
Longer responses are in the following links, including reactions from Solar Cross Temple, Union Labor Camp leader Cliff Wilmeng, Lakota Tribe member Tiffany, and Pagan activist Jenn Wedgle. In her response, Tiffany writes, “I view the Vets who arrived at home on Standing Rock as our living armor, our living weapons. Not weapons of destruction but weapons of peace and safety.” She then begs them to stay,”I ask that out of fear of history once again repeating itself because ETP responded that today’s decision means nothing to them.”
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GATLINBURG, Tenn. — As we reported Thursday, the city of Gatlinburg was engulfed in flames after a mountaintop fire spread through the mountain resort community. The area is home to many Pagans and other like-minded people, including the popular band Tuatha Dea, and the well-known festival spaces of Dragonshire and Cerren Ered.
As has been reported since, Tuatha Dea is back in business. Band leader Danny Mulliken reported that he was able to return to his home Sunday, saying, ” [We are] back to writing and prepping to pay back with the new CD! Full speed ahead.” He added that the band has already written a song inspired by what happened. It is aptly named, “Appalachia Burning.” Band member Tesea Dawson has raised nearly $2,500 to help the city’s children.
Similarly, the Valley of the Dragons community was reportedly untouched by the fires. However, as priestess Jewels Wyldwomyn reported, a visiting crew of Alaskan firefighters has been patrolling the area, and that helicopters were flying regularly overhead. With gratitude, the owners of Cerren Ered wrote, “The Valley of Dragons remains safe and healthy. Thanks and gratitude to family. This entire experience as shown a great outpouring of love and care for each other. Folks in the VotD have gone out of their way to offer aid to each other, the emergency and forestry service workers, and to others in the local community.”
Currently Gatlinburg is still closed, but they expect to open soon. According to the latest reports, there are 150 people still in shelters; the death toll is now at 14 and the injured stand at 130. The fire burned a reported 1,700 structures and 17,000 acres.
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BARNEVELD, Wis. — Circle Sanctuary is once again running its annual Operation Circle Care (OCC). This is the 10th anniversary of this Yuletide program, and Circle is looking for assistance. In 2006, the program began as a way to send gifts “to military Pagans stationed in areas where ritual supplies and access to Pagan community were limited.”
This year, in lieu of packages, the organization will be sending out commemorative patches to those on active duty. “This is our way of giving thanks for our Pagan service persons,” said Rev. Fox. To offset the costs of this program, the patches will also be available for purchase.
To assist in the program, OOC coordinators Jeanet and David Ewing as asking that the Pagan community send in the names of those on active duty and, if possible, donate to the program directly or purchase a patch. David Ewing said, “I hope that our community can come together this year and help us send this beautiful token of appreciation to every Pagan currently serving. I know it will mean a great deal to them.” For more information, they direct interested people to the program’s website.
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OAKLAND, Calif. — The city of Oakland was shaken after learning that a fire had broken out in a warehouse during a crowded Friday night party. Investigators are still uncertain what caused this fire, now being called one of the deadliest in U.S.history. The death toll stands at 36, and there are still people missing.
Several members of Come As You Are Coven (CAYA) attended vigils and memorials at the local site. One of its members was interviewed on local news. We will have more on this story in the coming days.
In Other News
- Hellenion, a US-based religious organization “dedicated to the revival and practice of Hellenic polytheism,” has relaunched its ritual group, or “Proto-Demos,” in Delaware. On its new website, the Delmarva Nikephoros Proto-Demos states, “emphasizes our respect for the Hellenic Deities and Mysteries, our ancestors and our past, the principle of inclusiveness, and an ethical code inspired by the Delphic Maxims.”
- In associate with his new documentary Call of the Forest – The Forgotten Wisdom of Trees, filmmaker Jeff McKay has launched an associated crowdfunding campaign to raise money and awareness toward the protection of the world’s forests. McKay is the husband of Wild Hunt writer and filmmaker Dodie Graham McKay. His film “features scientist and acclaimed author Diana Beresford-Kroeger as she investigates our profound biological and spiritual connection to forests.” At this point, the film can only be seen in limited showings throughout Canada, but is available in DVD format through the IndieGoGo campaign. The money raised will fund an educational program in Canada and the U.S. starting in March, 2017.
- Along similar lines, the newly formed Pagan Environmental Alliance and the Florida-based Palm Beach Pagans group, along with the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Palm Beaches, are organizing an environmental conference to be held Jan. 28. The event’s focus will be on spiritual activism in the region. The group is currently looking for keynote speakers and panelists.
- In late 2015, Lynn and Will Rowan produced a Yuletide music CD with Pagan themes.The CD, titled Sing the Sun’s Return: Wassails and Carols for Yuletide, is back out making the rounds for a second season. “This CD offers an alternative to mainstream holiday music, informed by folk customs, animist spirituality, and the revived worship of ancient deities.”
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The Standing Rock development is a positive sign that mass protests can make a difference, but I fear it may be the undoing of the movement. The temptation will be great to demobilize for the winter, perhaps leaving a skeleton crew of activists in place. If that happens, they will lose momentum and almost certainly lose their cause.
When Trump greenlights the pipeline, as he certainly will, he will probably also order a massive federal presence into the area and cordon the area off to prevent the present force from ever re-assembling. A runt force of a few dozen or hundred water protectors and protesters would then be very easily broken by police power, and the whole thing will have become a footnote in the news cycle rather than the daily center of national attention it is now. In the worst case scenario, Trump could turn even a large scale protest into a Tiananmen Square, but I think there is a certain safety in numbers.
The heavy presence of veterans is particularly important to maintain. If the encamped protesters are mostly Indians and young hippies and guys in Che T-shirts and the situation turns into a massacre, Trump won’t lose anything politically. His support base would probably throw him a parade. Veterans on the other hand are some of the only people who still command bi-partisan and cross cultural respect in this country. A pro-military posture is also a key part of Trump’s ultra nationalism. He could ill afford to have viral footage of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans being shot or beaten down by their own government.
Sadly, I fear you’re right.