Meanwhile, Morton County and National Guard are back stuffing Native Americans in Dog Crates and taking selfies in pride about doing so.
Here is a sample of a first person account:
“When our bus pulled in to the Morton County facility, we saw that the bus before us had already unloaded the other Water Protectors into the dog kennels and they had been stripped down to their base layer of clothing and it was freezing co
ld in the garage.
There were police officers and National Guards standing around casually eating pizza and joking with each other. From my window I had a view of the cage where they were holding the men. I could hear them singing and chanting #mniwiconi to keep their sp
irits up. It felt good to hear that, I felt connected to them even though they were outside of the bus we were on because we are all one heart, one mind and one prayer.
As we were looking out the window, someone pointed out that 2 National Guard officers were taking selfies with their personal phones with a view of the men in the cage behind them. Sure enough, there they were smiling and laughing as they posed and snapped pictures of our Water Protector brothers in cages behind them who were doing their best to hold each other’s spirits up. It was disgusting to see them take such pleasure in it.
We sat on the bus for hours and most of us had to pee so bad but our requests to use the bathroo
m were denied. At one point the female guard said “ok, stand up if you have to go bathroom and can’t hold it” so we all stood up. She lau
ghed and walked off the bus. I was in the very back of the bus and a young woman who was in the seat across the aisle couldn’t hold it anymore and pee’d in her pants then jumped out of the back of the bus with zip ties still on. I assume they took her to get cleaned up but I never saw her again after that. When they had our bags labeled there was a Jane Doe bag that none of us recognized so it may have been hers.
My zip ties were hurting so bad and my hands were swollen. My right eye was hurting and I couldnt see out of it but I just tried to meditate through all of that because I knew it wouldn’t do any good to ask for help. My nose and mouth still had dried mud on it and my friend Tiffany kept offering to let me wipe it on her scarf but I felt bad doing that so I just let it be. Eventually they started taking us off the bus to do mug shots and bag our clothes before we went into the kennels. When it was my turn I lilililiiii ‘d towards the men’s cage so my brothers would feel my love and they responded with Akiša’s, war cries and shouts of “I love you!”
I hadn’t slept for so long and tried to lay on the concrete inside the cage to sleep but all it did was chill me to the bone so I just sat up and waited for what felt like hours more until they took us up to our jail cells. A reporter was in there with us and she asked the jailer for her phone call but he flipped out on her and basically said we shouldn’t push his kindness, like it was a gift to us.
They told us that they were going to be shipping our brothers and sisters off to several different locations and my heart sank for them. I had no idea in that moment the torture they would endure during their transfer but I already hurt for them.
There’s so much running through my mind constantly.. memories of what happened and images of people I love being hurt. Some things I may never share with anyone aside from those who already know because they lived it with me. I’m trying not to let these things break my heart. It’s my burden to carry and I pray for strength to do it gracefully and not let it harden my heart.
2/6/17 First Person account by Holy Elk Lafferty – FB Sacred Stone Camp”
There is a movie “The War of North Dakota” that had a first, director’s cut screening that I saw last night while most were watching football. Once it is uploaded to Youtube I will share a link here for you all. It is edited footage taken in Standing Rock, with interviews of those seen in the direct actions there. There will be a screening at MassArt next Friday, 2/10/17 .I will post the details in comments though once I have them.
n/t
In the film, you can hear security saying they do not care about “you people” who are “the scum of the earth” as they menacingly approach with baseball bats.