72. David Manuel drums and sings at the Government Center, Minneapolis where those who had been arrested at the Four Oaks Spiritual Encampment during the December 11 raid had gathered with supporters for their arraignment - December 16, 1999. The Government Center, located in downtown Minneapolis, is a tall, cavernous structure where sound reverbrates upwards and throughout the building. David's spirited drumming and singing drew a crowd of curious onlookers whom he addressed upon completion of his song. He powerfully declared that he had drummed not in order to pray for the government officials and apathetic public, but to "wake them up". He reminded those present that five days ago the Department of Transportation and law enforcement officers had desecrated his church, and asked of the onlookers: "Where were you when they destroyed my church; when they cut down those four bur oak trees sacred to my people? While you were watching the Vikings [football team] play and twiddling your thumbs, they were desecrating my church."

73-74. Mike (image 73), one of many who opposed the reroute, gathered at Camp Coldwater Spring on Friday. December 17, 1999, for a group photograph by local photographer Dick Bancroft.

75. Karla Rose contemplates the destruction of the land wrought by the reroute - February 2000. "As I sat on the bridge over the trickling Minnehaha Falls, I can only think that what has been done to the land is an abomination. It is a crime against the Native Americans, the people of Minnesota, and the Earth itself. How does one continue in spite of such ugliness? How does one not let the evil in these destructive actions seep into one's soul and take one into the pits of despair? Or take one into the destructiveness of those who perpetrated this crime? I turn and honor all those who continue to stand and speak the truth that this is unacceptable. The day the state troopers and tree cutters came onto the land and desecrated those trees was the day I picked up my drum and said I will not carry the responsibility for their actions. I played my drum and transformed my rage into creative action. I prayed that they would feel the ripping of the spirit of the land and become responsible for their part in its destruction. I continue to pray for guidance for my part in this process. I feel the relentless rejuvenation of the land. I hear the call to join in community. I hear the call to spend time with the land. I listen to the Crow's call for justice. I pray. I speak my rage and grief. I listen and know that the power of the Earth is ever present and will overcome the powers of destruction. Creation calls and I listen."

76. The marker constructed by Karla Rose and her friends honoring the place where the four sacred oaks had stood. Recalls Karla: "The first time I returned to the home of the Sacred Oaks a weary numbness overcame me. It is so unbelievable that humans are capable of such hard-hearted actions. What caliber of people tear down life-giving Sacredness and give the dead pieces of the Sacred Trees to the Native people and think of it as a peace offering? I began to walk the same circle I walked the night of the raid. I gathered up the roots ripped up from the earth and made the circle to honor my own process. Fires of the divine spark moved within me. I knew all the work people had done, all the prayers, all the gatherings had a meaning and purpose that is ever unfolding before us.

"My friends Gina and Robert who have also been in this struggle, built a support to hold up a stick. We tied cloth found from the war infested area onto the stick. The Spirit of rejuvenation was honored and we left feeling connected to the land and to one another. Over the weeks that followed I discovered new supports holding up the flag. I felt connected to others who will also honor and treasure that Sacred space forever. As a community we must learn to grieve and rage and nourish one another in our emotional process, for that is one of the many gifts those four Sacred Grandmothers gave us for the past year-and-a-half. We carry the spirit of those trees in our hearts. As my friend Gina said, 'We are the trees now!'"

77. Sue Ann Martinson was one of 33 people arrested during the December 11 raid on the Four Oaks Spiritual Encampment. She spent two days in jail when, after being pronounced guilty with five others of obstructing a highway on January 27, 2000, she asked Judge Richard Hopper how he could sleep with the destruction of the Four Sacred Oaks on his conscience. "I am a criminal in the eyes of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), which the legal system supports," declares Sue Anne. "[Yet] who are the real criminals? What comprises the true criminal activity is the misinformation, lies, and manipulation used by MnDOT and the current DFL establishment to push the reroute of Highway 55 and the light rail proposal despite the concerns of citizens who live in the area."

78. The second group of six people arrested on December 11, 1999, went to trial on February 10, 2000. As with the previous court case, this was a bench trial presided over by Judge Hopper. Again, all defendents were found guilty of obstruction of a highway.

Betsy Barnum (pictured) was one of those found guilty. Along with the others on trial, Betsy made a powerful and eloquent closing argument, parts of which read: "Destroying [a grove of sacred oak trees] to build a highway is nothing short of desecration; a crime against the Dakota; against the spirits of the trees; against the land itself; and against the people of Minneapolis - now and in future generations. This crime is so grievous that my defying of state authority pales in comparison. There are many reasons why the Highway 55 reroute through Minnehaha Park should never be built . . . The Medota Dakota people have treaty rights to use this area as their ancestors had always used it. They view that land as sacred, the center of creation, and the four oaks as a place of worship - in wester terms, a church. Such a place should be inviolable. This alone is reason enough for people to stand between the trees and the chainsaws . . . But perhaps the greatest crime is the assult on nature and on the creatures that cannot escape or defend themselves. When trees are viewed not as living beings with an inherent right to exist, but as things that are in the way of the great projects envisioned by highway engineers, then there has been a failure to see truly; a failure of compassion; and a failure of values . . . Non-human beings do not have legal standing in any court in America. This is surely a travesty of justice. As long as the U.S. economy, government agencies, and the legal system continue to deny that any beings other than humans have a right to live, there will be people standing up like me to speak for them and to resist, even to the point of lawbreaking, the greater crime of failure to recognize the beauty, liveliness and inherent value of the natural world - a failure of love, which is a sad and dangerous crime . . ."

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80-81 John Kolstad (right) sought--unsuccessfully--the DFL endorsement for state Senate at the District 62 caucas in March, 2000. Kolstad, a longtime folk and blues musician and community and environmental activist, represented the Environmental Progressive Caucus (left), a group dedicated to preserving the historic character of the Hiawatha Corridor, where the light rail will run on its way to the Mall of America from downtown Minneapolis.

Of the area around Camp Coldwater, Kolstad notes: "Not only has our natural heritage been damaged, but police brutality has been visited upon peaceful protesters repeatedly while our elected public officials have looked the other way. I want to seek the necessary changes and stand up for public interest."

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84. Billie Two Feathers - April 2000. "I never thought of myself as a protester," notes Billie. "I was taught not only to question authority, but to challenge it. I do that daily by being honest with myself, with others, and with the Creator. As a Winkteon on a spiritual path I have to try and do things in a "Good Way"--as we all should. It's not easy being who I am in this crazy, mixed up world. I was at the encampment for spiritual reasons and to give moral support. Yet a strage thing happened to me. I gained the knowledge that I could be of help and also extend my family. I came away a far better person knowing that my time there helped not only me, but those who got to know me. I became not only a 'protester,' but also an advisor to those in the camp. It wasn't a role I sought out, rather one that was just recognized. I became 'Auntie Billie' to many of the younger ones."

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89. In September 2000, Cher Fields gathered water from Coldwater Spring to give to Barry Riesch of Veterans for Peace, who in turn, took the water as a sign of friendship and peace to Iraq as part of Veterans for Peace Iraq Water Project.

The Iraq Water Project sends teams of Veterans for Peace members to Iraq where they work alongside the Iraqi laborers repairing water treatment plants - many of which had been deliberately targeted by the US military during the First Gulf War. Thus the primary goal of the project has been to save lives by providing clean drinking water. Yet a second, but equally important goal, notes Barry, is to educate the American people about the devastating effects a decade of war and sanctions have had on the average citizens of Iraq and to force an end to these sanctions against Iraq.

Upon his return, Barry participated in an Armistice Day commemoration at Coldwater Spring - an event that Cher wrote about for the Veterans for Peace Winter 2000/2001 newsletter.

"This year's water ceremony served as a powerful metaphor," wrote Cher, "as Barry Riesch released water he had gathered near the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers into Coldwater Spring, the outflow of which flows close to the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Following the joining of the waters, Grandfather Eagle appeared as if on cue, landing on a low branch just feet away."

Cher also noted that this particular Armistice Day was "the first time in decades that the Native American community was permitted by the government to gather at their sacred site on a weekend, a small miracle in itself, and one that Veterans for Peace helped facilitate."

Said Barry: "For the past two years we've done our remembrance ceremony with members of the Mdewakanton and Dakota communities at the Highway 55 site, and didn't know if we'd actually be able to get into Camp Coldwater this year. But as fate would have it we were allowed in. The whole experience was quite profound. There are a number of parallels which become apparent if you know the history of Iraq (Mesopotamia, the Garden of Eden, two rivers coming together) and Minnesota's Camp Coldwater (birth place of Minnesota, two rivers coming together.) Interesting, isn't it?"

Off-site Link: The Iraq Water Project

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