In 2014, the Milwaukee Water Commons began what was to become their annual celebration of water, “We Are Water” – an event that takes place in August on the shore of Lake Michigan. On the evening of Sunday, August 14, OLB joined the celebration of water set at the South Shore Park Beach. “Somos Agua,” … Continue reading Water Unites Us
Driving up highway 13 the other night, just north of Washburn, WI, you might have seen a strange sight if you looked through the willow and dogwood and cattails and reeds towards the beach. Weird lighted letters were dancing down the coast, lining up on the sand bar where the Sioux River cuts into the … Continue reading Water People Unite: Reflections on Ice
Editor’s Note: OLB invited writer, veteran and medic Jacob Thomas to reflect on his experience at Standing Rock in early December, 2016. He sent this manuscript en route from Tijuana, MX, where he is working to document deported veterans’ oral histories for the Library of Congress. For more information on this oral history project see the GoFundMe … Continue reading Listen More & Talk Less: A Veteran’s Reflection on Standing Rock
This has been a year of intense activism focused upon water and indigenous rights in general, and we at the Overpass Light Brigade have tried to use our visibility to give focus to these issues. Last January hit hard and cold and the freezing weather was a match for the frozen hearts of our state … Continue reading A Year of Water and Indigenous Struggle
Overpass Light Brigade invited Margaret Noodin, an Anishinaabe poet, to write a piece about the struggle at Standing Rock for this blog. This is what she has to say: This poem was written in the midst of the historic show of support for land, water and indigenous life and culture. We all need to raise our … Continue reading The Long Knives and the Seven Fires
Writing and above photo by Barbara With Today, Chief Arvol Looking Horse held a ceremony around the sacred fire. The purpose was to hear a report from the UN representatives who have been investigating the allegations of human rights abuses and to bless the belongings of the people who had been jailed. The UN representative, … Continue reading News From the Sacred Fire
By Barbara With, October 29, 2016 All photos by Barbara With, except “Boys On Horses,” by Joe Brusky Today I made my first visit to the Sacred Stone Camps, the now-famous water protector settlement in Standing Rock, North Dakota. I arrived at Standing Rock casino well past midnight and arose early the next day to get to … Continue reading Standing Rock Will Prevail
Memory is long in Indian Country and histories get obscured through the haze of stories untold or skewed in the telling. By the late 1800s, the nomadic Sioux had been relegated to 320 acre plots, their children sent to boarding schools for assimilation into Christendom, and the great buffalo herds all but extinguished. Their once … Continue reading Echoes of the Ghost Dance
After weeks of media silence, with only whispers of “DAPL” or “Sacred Stone” or “Standing Rock” in social media and the alternative press, the Dakota Access Pipeline protest has hit the media with a loud bang. “Oil Pipeline Protest Turns Violent in North Dakota.” “Violence Erupts as Native Americans Resist Oil Pipeline.” “Violence Erupts At … Continue reading Report from DAPL Protest: Cannon Ball, North Dakota
“We Are Water” in multiple languages, as expressed in this new video collaboration between Minnesota filmmaker Dusan Harminc and the Overpass Light Brigade. We’ve been shooting this for the last month in various locations throughout Wisconsin, and hope to highlight the power and beauty of the natural environment. Think of it as a “love song to … Continue reading Overpass Light Brigade Releases Newest Movie, “We Are Water”