Water

December 5, 2016 Leave a Comment

Celebrating with Standing Rock Victory 2016 – pen drawing, gel crayons, A5 size

I think I must have been 11 or so when I first saw “Pocahontas” (the Disney Animation). I loved the message it conveyed of the earth being a living thing and we all have a responsibility to take care of her.

Whether you are a Disney lover or not, the lyrics of “Colors of the Wind” ring so true:

“You think the only people who are people, are the people who look and think like you, but if you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you’ll learn things you never knew, you never knew.”

My favorite scene was when Pocahontas asks the tree spirit “Grandmother Willow” for advice and her reply is: Listen with your heart… That sounded like such a big mystery to me then, but I am starting to understand more and more that this is the only way forward.

There was a great victory yesterday for the Native American People (for all of us really) when they won the struggle to prohibit an oil pipeline being built underneath a river in the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

Standing Rock has unified many of the native tribes, and brought people together globally. I pray that this victory is the first step towards a greater victory.

I felt this drawing bubbling to the surface before I found out that pipeline was denied. I am inspired by the determination of all the people who stood their ground to protect our water.