DAPL Dispatch: Taos concerts raise funds for downsized camps

Taos Mesa Brewing on U.S. 64 west was packed the night of Dec. 11 for a benefit concert for the water protectors resisting an oil pipeline in North Dakota.

Some of those in the crowd had spent time at the frontline, but many hadn’t. Still, organizers said the event was a powerful gathering of energy. And even though it was largely entertainment, they say it’s an example of how communities are forging a path forward in the fight against the “black snake.”

“Without exception, every single person I asked [to participate] said ‘yes.’ Everybody wanted to be involved,” said event organizer Susan Dilger.

Musicians from Northern New Mexico took to the stage throughout the night, such as Gary Farmer and the Troublemakers, Bone Orchard, Hail Creek and Black Hill. And according to Dilger, the desire to participate was so wide- spread, she had to turn musicians away.

That energy from artists was matched by energy from folks who just wanted to attend.

Dilger got dozens messages from friends of friends and total strangers wanting to learn about DAPL and the resistance camps, in addition to lending their support to the people gathered at Standing Rock.

“From the first day the event details were out there, the response was unbelievable. I’ve never seen that kind of reaction to anything,” she said.

Taoseños have sent many shipments of material goods up to Standing Rock, including everything from hay for horses, food, wood and wood-burning stoves. But Dilger said at this point in the fight (only about 1,000 people have remained as serious winter weather has moved in), those supplies are harder to process while financial donations go a long way.

“They need money up there,” she said.

All told, the event collected about $6,000. There were a few sizable checks, she said, but the vast majority were smaller donations.

The money will be donated to the Water Protectors Legal Defense Fund. “There are still jailed water protectors and other legal issues to be addressed,” Dilger said.

But those at the event said there is more at work than just financial contributions to a distant struggle.

Carol Morgan-Eagle, a member of Bone Orchard, along with her husband, Daniel Pretends Eagle (Lakota Sioux/ Ho-Chunk), said the event felt like a “passing on of the torch.”

Morgan-Eagle and her husband spent a few days at the resistance camp (Oceti Sakowin Camp) in October while visiting family in the area.

“It felt like the center of the universe,” she said.

“When you’re at the camp, you actually experience the power of a group of people uniting in a way which is peaceful and prayerful, but also very, very determined. And it’s people uniting in a way that only Native American tribes can,” she said.

The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers announced last week that the companies behind the Dakota Access Pipeline would not be granted a crucial easement necessary to legally finish the project, which was scheduled to be completed by the beginning of 2017.

Following that announcement, the chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe asked that all those who could return home to do so.

“We deeply appreciate all the people who supported us with their presence, but when this [winter] storm passes, it is time to dismantle the camp and return to our homes,” said Standing Rock Chairman David Archambault II.

“If the camp stays where it is currently located, people are risking their lives. ... I know this is a victory for this one DAPL battle, but we have not yet won the DAPL war. There will be more battles ahead and we will continue to strategize and win. The camp has brought us this far. Now it is time we pivot to the next phase of this struggle. That will be led on different fronts, like in court, with the new administration, with Congress and with the investors.”

Yet a group of organizers — including the founding members of the Sacred Stone Camp — are staying put in the downsized camps. People are being asked to not travel to the camps in North Dakota unless on personal invitation from someone on the frontlines, while supplies like firewood need just as much careful coordination with the camps.

The ceremonial fire at the Oceti Sakowin Camp was extinguished after founding members said they were told to do so in prayer, while a group of youth have started a new fire and are transitioning the camp into a new iteration.

Morgan-Eagle said that when she was on the ground in North Dakota, she had the opportunity to participate in ceremony around that fire. Since then, she’s been working to bring the prayers, information and organizing of the camps back home to Taos.

“One sacred fire can light a million candles,” she said.