Page 203 - Dark Matter Issue5 Part II

Mississippi Rivers, and burrows beneath a part of Lake Oahe near the Reservation. As of this

writing, oil has begun to flow through the pipeline, which is a threat to clean water for many

along these two major rivers and for those who depend on Lake Oahe for water. In addition,

the pipeline desecrates the Indians’ sacred ancient burial ground.

The water is in a “dump truck”, and is undrinkable and unusable. Disposing of the putrefied

water by releasing it into the earth has consequences. . The community knows this. They

require this woman to carry the dirty water to a place where it can be purified. The dream

instructs us that we must carry what we are given to carry – in this case, water in need of

purification – on behalf of healing for the community. The water protectors and allies of

Standing Rock understand this.

I arrive at the Coliseum, a place where believers of certain faiths were persecuted for sport and

enjoyment. The Roman Coliseum, the same culture that stripped away the sacred, peaceful

matriarchies that existed for 5,000 years previous, fed on the violation, oppression, and

domination of others. These victimized religious “outcasts” were a threat to the power structure

of the day; they were captured, tortured, and defiled at the pleasure of those in power.

Animals, too, were defiled— torn away from their homes, starved, and abused in confinement

until, mad from mistreatment, they were released into the Coliseum’s arena to feed on the

victimized and starving humans.

Those in power in the Coliseum believed it was their right to dominate by fear, intimidation, and

torture. Dishonor, desecration, and humiliation were the strategies the Romans used to violate

the bodies, spirits, and families of the Christians who were just practicing their faith. We see a

contemporary version of this in the plight of the Standing Rock Sioux.

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