North Dakota officials seek dismissal of road closure suit

From North Dakota-

“The plaintiffs’ peaceful protests were disrupted by a violent criminal faction that required responsible public officials to take necessary and appropriate steps to quell a criminal riot, protect private property from criminal activity and to ensure public safety,” Nicolai said.

TigerSwan asked to be dismissed as a defendant, arguing that it had nothing to do with the decision to close the road. Attorney Lynn Boughey also asked U.S. District Judge Dan Hovland to force the plaintiffs to pay the company’s attorney fees.

The three plaintiffs are reservation businesswoman Cissy Thunderhawk, pipeline opponent Waste’Win Young and the Rev. John Floberg of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Cannon Ball. They’re suing the county, its sheriff, Burgum and Dalrymple, and the heads of the state Transportation Department and Highway Patrol.

In addition to the monetary damages, the lawsuit seeks stricter rules for road closures in such instances and class-action status, meaning it would apply to all affected people, if granted.

More here-

https://www.kfyrtv.com/content/news/North-Dakota-officials-seek-dismissal-of-road-closure-suit-504383701.html

The trendy way faith leaders are saving the homeless

From Salt Lake City-

The Rev. Connie Pearson-Campbell calls it a "God moment." She says divine influence put Ralph Johnson in her path last summer.

She'd been at the city offices to learn whether building codes in Bozeman, Montana, allowed for tiny homes, residences generally smaller than 400 square feet. She thought the trendy spaces could fill a gap in the city's anti-homelessness efforts.

Johnson, an architecture professor at Montana State University, was in meetings about potential student projects. A city engineer sent one of his aides to catch the Rev. Pearson-Campbell before she left the building, telling her and Johnson they might be able to help one another.

"Right then and there, the collaboration was born," said the Rev. Pearson-Campbell, a deacon at St. James Episcopal Church.

More here-

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865678796/The-trendy-way-faith-leaders-are-saving-the-homeless.html

St. Stephen's Episcopal dedicates new window to LGBTQ community

From North Dakota (with video)-

St. Stephen's Episcopal church dedicated a new window in their sanctuary to the LGBTQ community on Sunday.

While many Christians disagree with supporting and embracing people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, basically anything but heterosexual, Father Jamie Parsley said he sees their acceptance as following in the way Jesus taught.

"Churches reaching out and including GLBTQ people in the congregation and doing ministry along side them is still fairly new in a lot of churches," Parsley said. "Loving God, loving your neighbor as yourself, that's really the basis for all Christian ministry as I see it and I think that's the basis for how we see GLBTQ inclusion."

They named the new window Integrity Window.

More here-

http://www.valleynewslive.com/content/news/St-Stephens-Episcopal-dedicates-new-window-to-LGBTQ-community-417919303.html

Highway near pipeline remains closed; judge denies emergency injunction

From North Dakota-

Local community leaders have been pushing for the highway to reopen, citing the closure’s impact to the economy and access to medical services.

In a letter to Gov. Doug Burgum, the Rev. John Floberg of St. James Episcopal Church in Cannon Ball wrote that the closure is harming Prairie Knights Casino, an “economic engine” for the reservation that funds programs for children.

“This is economic retaliation against some of the state’s poorest residents,” Floberg wrote to Burgum, calling on him to open the highway immediately.

A contractor has completed cleaning the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camps on land managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Morton County spokeswoman Maxine Herr said crews were continuing Tuesday to scrape snow and mud off Highway 1806 and collecting debris from ditches, with most of the work occurring south of the bridge near the former protest camps.

More here-

http://www.prairiebusinessmagazine.com/energy/4234930-highway-near-pipeline-remains-closed-judge-denies-emergency-injunction

Judge denies emergency injunction before oil is expected to flow through Dakota Access Pipeline next week

From North Dakota-

In a letter to Gov. Doug Burgum, the Rev. John Floberg of St. James Episcopal Church in Cannon Ball wrote that the closure is harming Prairie Knights Casino, an “economic engine” for the reservation that funds programs for children.

“This is economic retaliation against some of the state’s poorest residents,” Floberg wrote to Burgum, calling on him to open the highway immediately.

A contractor has completed cleaning the Dakota Access Pipeline protest camps on land managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Morton County spokeswoman Maxine Herr said crews were continuing Tuesday to scrape snow and mud off Highway 1806 and collecting debris from ditches, with most of the work occurring south of the bridge near the former protest camps.

More here-

http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/news/4230373-highway-1806-remains-closed-oil-projected-flow-through-dakota-access-pipeline-next-week

Police arrest protesters at Dakota Access camp

From North Dakota (via Utah)-

The group sang songs and prayed as they walked along a highway and over a bridge atop the Cannonball River. On two occasions they had to clear the road to make room for ambulances.

A bus from the United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, along with four vans and a truck towing a trailer from the Standing Rock Episcopal Church, were waiting to transport the protesters. The state arranged for the bus to bring campers to a transition center in Bismarck.

Raymond King Fisher, a protester from Seattle, was one of the leaders of the march. He called it a difficult and emotional day. He ended the parade by saying, "We go in peace but this fight is not over."

More here-

http://kutv.com/news/nation-world/police-arrest-protesters-at-dakota-access-camp

Standing Rock clergy took different approaches to protest

From North Dakota-

The Rev. John Floberg was on his way home from a national meeting of the Episcopal Church when he saw live video of protesters squaring off with police at a northern "front line" camp on N.D. Highway 1806.
The conflict was escalating — fast. Disappointed by the violence he saw on both sides, Floberg wanted to slow things down and return to the more traditional civil disobedience seen months earlier. When the Standing Rock-based priest returned to North Dakota, he drafted a callout to clergy around the country.

The gathering drew more than 500 clergy members of different faiths to the Oceti Sakowin Camp. The group walked to the barricade on the Backwater Bridge before turning back, creating a moment many said evoked the march in Selma. No one was arrested, though a few, whose bravado Floberg critiqued, traveled to Bismarck and protested at the Capitol, where they were detained.


More here-

http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/standing-rock-clergy-took-different-approaches-to-protest/article_c259e095-5cae-569a-ba67-7c2249a193e4.html

In the bleak midwinter, Standing Rock Episcopal ministry is changing

From ENS-

Episcopalians in and around the Standing Rock Sioux Nation Reservation are seeing their ministry change as the camps formed by water protectors along the Missouri River protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline are slowly closing.

The temperature in the area may have climbed to 40 degrees on Jan. 30 but it is still the bleak midwinter in North Dakota and March can be the state’s snowiest month, according to the National Weather Service. Tribal officials have said that the harshness of the winter is making the camps unsafe and they are worried about the protectors’ safety when spring melts the snow and the Missouri runs high.

The effort to close the camps began before Jan. 24 when Donald Trump called for the rapid approval of the pipeline’s final phase. The Cannon Ball tribal district Jan. 19 asked the protectors to leave and the entire tribal council supported that move the next day. However, tribal leaders also point to the president’s efforts in urging their supporters to redirect their advocacy.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2017/01/31/in-the-bleak-midwinter-standing-rock-episcopal-ministry-is-changing/

Winchester pastor describes scene at pipeline protest

From Massachusetts-

The plan was to meet up with fellow clergy and sleep on the floor of the St. James Episcopal Church in Cannon Ball, North Dakota. The Reverends William Burhans and Judy Arnold, pastors of Winchester's First Congregational Church, were responding to a call from a minister in that part of the country, asking for clergy to join for a day the protest against a major oil company's plan to run a pipeline across the Missouri River near tribal land.

It was early November and they had flown from Boston to Bismarck. They set out on what was supposed to be an hour-long drive.

"After about 45 minutes of driving, we came upon a roadblock with a couple of police cars and a military presence," Burhans said. "They asked us where we were going and politely told us the bridge to Cannon Ball is closed, and to go back around and come into town from the other way. It was a one-hour detour, when we had gotten within 10 minutes of Cannon Ball."

More here-

http://winchester.wickedlocal.com/news/20161213/winchester-pastor-describes-scene-at-pipeline-protest

Water protectors, supporters rejoice over victory for Native Americans

From ENS-

Episcopal and interfaith chaplains were about to raise a tent in the Oceti Sakowin Camp on Dec. 4 when a message runner approached and called them to join the crowd already gathering around the sacred fire in the camp’s center. They left the tent, poles inserted, on the ground, and they went.

As they joined the hundreds of people around the fire, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II took to the microphone to announce that that federal government said it would not allow the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, the drinking water source for some 8,000 people living on the Standing Rock Reservation, which covers 2.3 million acres in North and South Dakota.

“It’s significant for all of the people that supported us, standing with us,” said Archambault. “It’s huge. It’s big.”

He called on those present to take the lessons learned from the “Water is Life” movement home with them to heal their families and communities, and to create a better future.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/12/05/water-protectors-supporters-rejoice-over-victory-for-native-americans/

Army halts Dakota Access oil pipeline and says new routes will be explored

From The LA Times-

The Army Corps of Engineers on Sunday denied permission for the Dakota Access pipeline to cross under a section of the Missouri River, handing at least a temporary victory to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and its supporters.

The decision came after months of protests by thousands of self-proclaimed “water protectors” — bolstered by the arrival of more than 2,000 U.S. military veterans — who have opposed the pipeline out of concern that it could rupture and contaminate the river, which they say provides drinking water to the tribe and 17 million other Americans.

The pipeline is being built by Energy Transfer Partners, whose chief executive, Kelcy Warren, has said the company would not be willing to explore alternative routes.

More here-

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dakota-access-deadline-20161204-story.html

Standing Rock ministry stands resolutely with Sioux Nation’s cause

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation remains resolute after a week of emotional events in the ongoing effort to protect the tribe’s land and water supply.

The week began Nov. 20 when some of the hundreds of people who tried to remove burned-out vehicles blocking the Backwater Bridge on Highway 1806 on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation were hit with rubber bullets and doused with fire hoses in sub-freezing temperatures. The bridge had been blockaded since an Oct. 27 confrontation.

Seven students from the Seminary of the Southwest who were on a pilgrimage to Standing Rock Reservation witnessed to the confrontation and wrote about it on social media.

“Here is what we witnessed tonight,” wrote Matt Stone on his Facebook page. “3 water cannons, tear gas, a concussion grenade and rubber bullets fired at nonviolent protectors. This is the most grave injustice I have ever witnessed.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/11/28/standing-rock-ministry-stands-resolutely-with-sioux-nations-cause/

Standing Rock is a new turn in Christian ties with native Americans

From The Economist-

WHATEVER the final result of the huge, long-running protests by native Americans against the Dakota Access Pipeline, the demonstrations will surely be remembered as a landmark in relations between organised religion, Christianity in particular, and indigenous people. Along with representatives of over 200 indigenous groups from across the New World, camped out at the Standing Rock Reservation since April, Christian clergy have been adding their voice to the protests in multiple ways.

Given that Pope Francis called for a rapid switch away from fossil fuels in his environmental encyclical, you might expect the radical end of the Catholic church to be the religious community most intensely engaged in this cause. But it is liberal or "mainline" Protestant churches who have made the running. If there is one individual who personifies Christian support for the indigenous protests, it is the Reverend John Floberg, who is responsible for Episcopal (Anglican) parishes on the North Dakota side of Standing Rock.

More here-

http://www.economist.com/blogs/erasmus/2016/11/church-and-dakota-pipeline-protests

Hundreds of clergy gather in North Dakota to back indigenous people blocking pipeline

From Christian Century-

When John Floberg, an Episcopal priest on Standing Rock Reservation, called for clergy to join him less than a week later in Cannonball, North Dakota, he thought 100 might come.

Instead, more than 500 clergy from around the world came to show their support for the Standing Rock Sioux Nation’s efforts to protect land and resources they say are at risk from construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. They gathered November 2 and 3 at the Oceti Sakowin camp on the shores of the Cannonball River, which bears the proper name of the Sioux people, one of several camps the Standing Rock Sioux and supporters have set up.

“The invitation of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe—the people here, the people who have been here for weeks and months—that’s how it came to be that God called us together,” Floberg said at the introductory gathering.

Emphasizing the interfaith and ecumenical nature of the show of support, Floberg encouraged everyone to authentically represent their faith traditions even as he acknowledged the “overwhelming” presence of Christian clergy. The next day the group processed to Backwater Bridge, where 141 people were arrested while blocking construction in late October.

More here-

http://www.christiancentury.org/article/2016-11/hundreds-clergy-gather-north-dakota-back-indigenous-people-blocking-pipeline

Bearing witness at Standing Rock

From Indiana-

The Revs. Paul Nesta and Tanya Scheff don't consider themselves protestors or activists.

Their trip to North Dakota last week wasn't exactly in protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline. "It was a stand of solidarity for us," Scheff explained.

Scheff of Trinity Episcopal Church in Michigan City and Nesta from St. Paul's Episcopal Church in La Porte, were among 577 priests from across the country who answered a call from Rev. John Floberg of North Dakota to help the native people of Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

The priests were met with cries of relief from the native people who feel the pipeline not only threatens their reservation with potential environmental concerns, but also disturbs what is considered sacred land.

While much of the pipeline opposition stems from concerns about local water sources, Scheff explained that the land earmarked for the pipeline also includes burial land of the native tribes.

More here-

http://www.heraldargus.com/news/bearing-witness-at-standing-rock/article_d3f68f2e-30a7-5709-980f-ba5a0883b062.html

Dakota Access Pipeline: Native American religion matters!

From The Ecologist-

The intimate connection between landscape and religion is at the center of Native American societies, writes Rosalyn R. LaPier, and a key reason why thousands of Native Americans and Indigenous peoples from around the world have traveled to the windswept prairies of North Dakota. There is no excuse for the ignorance and disrespect of corporations, and government.

In recent weeks, protests against the building of the Dakota Access Pipeline across North Dakota have escalated. Native American elders, families and children have set up tipis and tents on a campsite near the pipeline's path in the hope of stopping the pipeline's construction.

Dave Archambault Jr., the leader of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe that is leading the efforts to stop the pipeline, summed up what is at the heart of the issue.

More here-

http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2988310/dakota_access_pipeline_native_american_religion_matters.html

Larger faith community comes to Standing Rock in solidarity

From The National Catholic Reporter-

In silence they processed. In a circle they prayed. With Standing Rock they stood.
More than 500 clergy and people of faith across religious denominations joined the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and its supporters in their stand against the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The gathering Nov. 3, described as "a day of protective witness in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation and with the water protectors," brought the interfaith group to the main Oceti Sakowin camp on tribal land in south-central North Dakota that has served as the base for the pipeline resistance.                                                                                                                     

Among them were Mercy Srs. Kathleen Erickson and Aine O'Connor, and Mike Poulin, a member of the Sisters of Mercy justice team in Omaha. The three spoke to NCR following the conclusion of the prayerful witness.

The role of the faith community at Standing Rock, O'Connor said, was "to decry the injustice that is happening to the Native American peoples here."

More here-

https://www.ncronline.org/blogs/eco-catholic/larger-faith-community-comes-standing-rock-solidarity

500 clergy join pipeline protest, some arrested

From North Dakota-

Hundreds of clergy of many faiths joined protests Thursday against the Dakota Access oil pipeline in southern North Dakota, singing hymns, marching and ceremonially burning a copy of a 600-year-old document.

The interfaith event was organized to draw attention to the concerns of the Standing Rock Sioux and push elected officials to call for a halt to construction of the $3.8 billion pipeline that's to carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. The tribe believes the pipeline that will skirt its reservation threatens its drinking water and cultural sites.

Designed to transport about 490,000 barrels of crude oil per day, the pipeline would be able to move about half of North Dakota's current crude oil production out of the state into Illinois.

More here-

http://www.capjournal.com/news/clergy-join-pipeline-protest/article_11d5aacc-a1fe-11e6-b471-9f52867af161.html

Standing Rock asks for federal probe of law-enforcement tactics

From ENS-

The U.S. Justice Department is monitoring the handling of the Dakota Access Pipeline project to “facilitate communication, defuse tensions, support peaceful protests, and maintain public safety.”
That Oct. 25 statement was emailed to Bismarck, North Dakota, television station KFYR hours after Standing Rocking Sioux Nation Tribal Chair Dave Archambault II asked U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch to investigate “potential civil rights violations” involving law enforcement’s response to the continuing opposition to the pipeline’s construction.

When contacted by KFYR, Justice Department spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle also told the television station that the department “will not authorize constructing the Dakota Access Pipeline on Corps land bordering or under Lake Oahe” while the Army Corps of Engineers reviews issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux and other tribal nations. He added that in the interim the departments of the Army, Interior and Justice “have reiterated our request that the pipeline company voluntarily pause all construction activity within 20 miles east or west of Lake Oahe.”

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/10/26/standing-rock-asks-for-federal-probe-of-law-enforcement-tactics/

Episcopal Church Executive Council stands with Standing Rock

From ENS-

The Episcopal Church’s Executive Council asked Oct. 22 that law-enforcement officials “de-escalate military and police provocation in and near the campsites of peaceful protest and witness of the Dakota Access Pipeline project.”

The request came in a resolution council passed as it wrapped up its three-day meeting here. A summary of resolutions council passed is here.

Council’s resolution on the Dakota pipeline protest follows support by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry both in words and his presence with the protestors.

The Rev. John Floberg, council member and supervising priest of the Episcopal churches on the North Dakota side of Standing Rock, told the council’s Joint Standing Committee on Advocacy and Networking for Mission Oct. 21 that the way the protest has been conducted has been “the most powerful experience I have had in my 25 years on Standing Rock.” And, yet, he said, he has been shaken by the racist responses that the protest has generated elsewhere in the state.

More here-

http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/10/22/episcopal-church-executive-council-stands-with-standing-rock/