Dakota Land Reclamation

Starting on the second day of the RNC (Sept. 2nd) members of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) of the Dakota Oyate reoccupied sacred land around coldwater spring in Minneapolis. The land is abandoned property of the Department Of The Interior - Bureau of Mines and has been sitting unused for around 10 years. Large ugly and rotted buildings are nestled amid sacred and beautiful Dakota Land. The area is extremely important to Dakota religion and spirituality. After moving into the area folks began to erect several tipi's and a sweat lodge, a small building that houses ceremonies. They also lit a sacred fire, which one of the Warriors instructed me to "defend with your life". The police responded quickly but the Dakota received a permit to conduct ceremonies for the 4 days, so some breathing space was won. I spent lots of time at Coldwater, including sleeping one night there in a tent. The atmosphere was incredible there. I am not a spiritual person at all but the vibes there were incredibly good. The days before and during the RNC had been incredibly emotional, and physically trying and violent; at Coldwater I was refreshed and calmed. A friend who had been extremely badly injured by national guardsmen even received some traditional medicine and healing which worked wonders on their body and mind. Folks had been aware that there was a possibility that the Dakota would want help in defending the space through blockades and other tactics, but in the end they ended up having an extremely positive press conference to highlight the issues, after which elders retired to the sweat lodge to passively await arrest. They wanted to send the message that in reality the land was theirs and they would refuse to leave; there is a history of extreme violence in the Twin Cities against indigenous people involved in confrontations with the police and the hope was to avoid an ass-kicking. The Dakota ended up leaving the day after their permit expired, with the promise that "they would be back". The hope is that the absurdity of having unused, illegally stolen land in the hands of the government and not in the hands of its rightful caretakers can be resolved without too much of a fight. I feel strongly about issues of de-colonization and anti-occupation, and make no mistake, this is occupied territory stolen from the Dakota and other indigenous peoples. Camp Coldwater was an empowering and healing experience amid the chaos, violence, and anger of the RNC and I'm grateful i had the opportunity to be a part of it.