What Can We Learn from Standing Rock? Part 2: A New Legacy

From the Elders at Standing Rock, the Second Principle: "We are building a new legacy here. It's a legacy based upon the wisdom of the elders whose lives are steeped in prayer and ceremony."

From Merriam Webster, the definition of legacy: something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past. 

This feels to me like a pulling forward of an old way of being, and applying it into today's world by sharing openly.

This new legacy involves showing us how to walk from a place of deep connection with all of life. It’s a form of action through prayer which is foreign to most Westerners. Not a recite-the-words prayer. Not a from-the-outside-in prayer. This type of prayer comes from our own inner wisdom, and the wisdom of our ancestors, who are available to us at all times. Even THAT concept is foreign to most of us. This type of prayer involves listening inside. It involves being open and vulnerable as we touch our hearts and build a dream for balance and all that is life-affirming. It involves coming together with others to share our intentions and strengthen the prayer.

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When we do this, we create a field of energy—like pillars of light, or a bank of energy that surrounds us, filled with our positive intention and holding our dream. This bank of energy was, for me and many I have spoken with, palpable around the camps at Standing Rock. Around the movement of Standing Rock. You are surrounded by it, can feel it, and are influenced by it.

When we create prayer in this way, we engage in an inner conversation with life, and the ancient energies become available to us for guidance. And here's the kicker for those of us domesticated into the Western mind: when we ask for guidance, we must set aside any sense of knowing, any attachment we have to how the outcome will happen. 

When we ask the ancestors, we must step out of our linear, often cynical, frame of mind and become empty, open, and curious…listening for the whispers of guidance that come.  We must become comfortable with uncertainty as to outcome, and hold only the certainty of the dream.

This is not a one-time action. The action at Standing Rock is based in prayer and ceremony. Through ceremony we maintain this relationship with our prayer, with the ancestors and the spirits that guide us. Each act we make from a ceremonial mindset establishes a link with our prayer, opens the gateways for guidance, opens our hearts and minds to listen. 

Ceremony can feel like it has to be something big, or formal, or woo-woo. Actually, it can be as simple as closing your eyes and listening, or lighting some sage or incense, or sitting by a fire and contemplating. Even thinking about your prayer and the ancestors as you go about your day, washing dishes, or shoveling snow. Each time a thought goes through your mind related to your prayer, acknowledge it, acknowledge the ancestors, thank them for their guidance, and LISTEN.

Ceremony is a crucial aspect of maintaining the energy field you build with your prayers. This is the legacy being shared with us by the elders at Standing Rock. They are showing the way for resistance not only by saying NO, but by holding the energy field, the YES, so powerfully that the no cannot overtake it.

They invited non-indigenous people to become a part of this movement—in itself, this is an unprecedented act. A new legacy. The ancestors and the elders sent out a call, and those who heard the call showed up, either in person or in prayer. White folks, from all over the world, showed up in support of those same tribes whom our ancestors nearly obliterated. They welcomed us with generosity and openness. Many of us came with a message, whether spoken or silent, in our hearts: I'm sorry. I'm here now to support you. 

And then the veterans heard the call. What started as a group of 500 to 1000 in initial planning turned into thousands of US Veterans came to Standing Rock. A powerful military presence, only this time they didn’t circle the tribe with guns pointed inward, wreaking havoc and death on the natives. 

This time they circled the tribe and turned around, hearts forward, to protect them. In a powerful forgiveness ceremony, the words were spoken: I’m sorry. I'm here now to support you. And the words were received and acknowledged by the elders. Powerful healing on so many levels. A new legacy.

So a new legacy…what does that mean for us going forward? We’ve been shown the power of creating a field of prayer around our intentions. We’ve been shown the power of taking a stand for all that is life-affirming, all that protects our children’s future and our planet and those who are marginalized in this world. We’ve been shown the power of opening our hearts and hands to those who once were our oppressors. 

And we’ve been shown the power of I’m sorry. Of choosing a new way forward, with intention and grace. Of taking a stand and holding it. No matter what, holding it. Of asking for guidance and of listening before acting.

These are practices we can apply in our daily lives in many ways, big and small. This is a legacy we can carry forward ourselves and share with others. How many ways can you build prayer and ceremony into your daily life in order to dream forward the future?

With respect,

Zardoya