With our beautiful, courageous and dedicated Indigenous relatives of Sarayaku Nation. As the Oceti Sakowin, there are Seven Tribes. For the past twenty-five years, they fought successfully to keep petroleum development out of their area of the Amazon.
My beloved wife loaded me up with many small gifts for the children. To receive a new pencil and pad of paper to draw pictures and to use in their Community School is something they cherish. I also brought calculators, Wakpala Water Protector T-Shirts, that were given me after the Wakpala Wopida last August and other small gifts.
Two of the Sarayaku Nation leaders came to Standing Rock. The Sarayaku is young and really liked that youth of Wakpala, guided by their community Elders started the MNI WICONI -NODAPL movement. They were very impressed by Bobbi Jean Three Legs. They said one of the Sacred Meanings of her name Three Legs is that she was destined to be an excellent runner for her community of Wakpala and her Nation. They said that Bobbi Jean ran for them, too!
They want their children to receive an education, so they can have their own Educators, Mds, Scientists, etc., but on their own cultural and spiritual terms. All their children are fluent in their own language before learning Spanish and English! They may not have much physical wealth, but their cultural and spiritual wealth is immeasurable. The first day we danced from about 10 AM to 6 PM, including side meetings.