The Four Worlds International Institute

Interfaith Circles From 96 Nations Support Standing Rock Sioux Tribe

October 27, 2016

Oceti Sakowin Camp, Cannon Ball,

Stand Rock Sioux Tribe 

Presented by URI Global Trustees and Elders, Audrey Scott Williams and Phil Lane Jr.

Very Honorable Chairman Archambault, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Council, Elders, Community Members and All Protectors of Mother Earth.

We are the United Religions Initiative (URI), a global grassroots network of 804 Interfaith Cooperation Circles in 96 Nations around Mother Earth. Our work reaches across religious and cultural divides, and from our inception in 1999 URI  has recognized the fundamental importance of including the diverse voices of Indigenous wisdom keepers and the full participation of the Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth in every dimension of our work, as expressed in the first sentence of our Charter:

We, people of diverse religions, spiritual expressions and Indigenous traditions throughout the world, hereby establish the United Religions Initiative to promote enduring, daily interfaith cooperation, to end religiously motivated violence and to create cultures of peace, justice and healing for the Earth and all living beings.

In July  2014 URI convened it's First Global Indigenous Initiative Gathering to guide our International work with Indigenous Peoples. At this historic Gathering, Indigenous Spiritual and Cultural Leaders, including the 7th Generation, from six continents, met in prayerful consultation and outlined a Global Indigenous Mandate for unprecedented, unified action for Protecting and Restoring the Sacred.

(1) To support the global emergence of the “Seventh Generation”, as promised, by fostering youth participation, leadership and wisdom in all decision-making processes impacting all life on Mother Earth;

(2) To create Sacred Gardens to preserve, protect and perpetuate plant life and healing herbs central to Indigenous communities;

(3) To accurately depict Indigenous arts and cultures through the media as expressions of the Sacred;

(4) To protect and restore Sacred Sites for ceremonial use, and the repatriation of all cultural effects to their Indigenous Peoples’ of origin. 

5) To galvanize connections with various global networks to mutually support the Global Indigenous Initiative and other Indigenous efforts worldwide;

6) To stop the assault on Mother Earth by extractive industries that are destroying our waters and lands, and sacred sites, causing grievous imbalance to the natural laws of Mother Earth; and

7) To facilitate decision making by leaders that are good for seven generations into the future, known by Indigenous People as “seven generations” decision-making.

URI recognizes the honored and fundamental importance of embracing the ancient wisdom and leadership of Indigenous Peoples of Mother Earth in manifesting Global Justice, Peace, Harmony, and Prosperity.  Globally, we are deeply moved by the prayerful and peaceful displays of Sovereignty, Strength and Unprecedented Unity of Indigenous Nations at Standing Rock in Protecting and Restoring our Sacred Mother Earth.

We stand with you in calling for the full implementation of free, prior and informed consent, as outlined in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as a basic standard in all present and future Nation-to Nation-consultative exchanges at Standing Rock. Furthermore, we affirm that these conditions of free, prior and informed consent be at the core of all consultative processes with Indigenous Nations and Peoples everywhere on Mother Earth.

We support the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in its entirety, and we are grateful to you and all those gathered alongside you who are implementing the spirit and intent of the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples through peaceful and prayerful action.

URI fully supports your Inherent Sovereignty and Self-Determination. This position includes the right of all Indigenous Peoples to fully express their spiritual and cultural traditions and determine the life path of their communities. 

We held the People of the Great Sioux Nation in prayer on Sept. 3rd, as the world watched the destruction of sacred burial grounds and ceremonial sites used for countless generations by the Great Sioux Nation, unlawfully ravaged by Dakota Access Pipeline, LLC.  This act of economic and spiritual violence was deliberate and unlawful. The perpetration of this illegal act entirely disregarded prior evidence expressly provided to US Federal Courts by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Historic Preservation representative, Tim Mentz, Sr.  Today, October 27, 2016, our hearts are breaking witnessing another in a long history of violent actions against members of our Indigenous family who seek only to honor and protect our sacred Mother.

We affirm our support of the:

1) The US Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act which mandates for the protection of Native American burial grounds.

2) the American Indian Religious Freedom Act.

3) the United Nations International Treaties which protect Sacred Sites worldwide (such as the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property of which the US is a party.)

We avow, under all conditions, that the US Constitution,  as well as, the Inherent Sovereignty and Natural Laws of Indigenous Nations protect the right of “Free Speech and Assembly. ” Furthermore, that these Sacred Rights be upheld at Standing Rock and in its Territories, and that the Human Rights of those lawfully gathered should remain unimpeded by the threat and use of physical violence conducted by Para-Military, North Dakota State Police.and National Guard.

We stand with our relatives at Standing Rock, a sacred place of prayer, ceremony, and solidarity of the Human Family. Your prayers, faith, and unprecedented, unified, spiritual action have manifested a historical, unification of Indigenous Nations and Members of the Human Family never before witnessed. You are a global inspiration for Peoples of all Nations who wish to maintain a way of life and spiritual traditions which respect the life-giving sacredness of the waters of Mother Earth on which all life depends.

We wish to express our gratitude and thanksgiving for all the First Nations and Tribal Peoples from across Turtle Island and Mother Earth who have rallied to stand behind you physically and for those who stand with you, in prayer and support from afar. 

URI commits its solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the Great Sioux Nation in its efforts to become energy self-sufficient as it moves ahead to implement sustainable and renewable energies. The time has come to free ourselves from energy sources harmful to our Mother Earth and current and future generation.

The Dakota Access Pipeline poses a grave threat to Sacred Sites and culturally important locations throughout the Great Sioux Nation Territories and Beyond. We recognize that if the Dakota Access Pipeline construction proceeds ahead, it will continue to damage and destroy sites of great historical, religious and cultural significance as it crosses the ancestral lands of the Great Sioux Nation and beyond.  All Members of the Human Family hold an inherent right to protect their ancestral lands, and it is with this understanding that we stand united in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in Protecting and Restoring the Sacred.

The United Religions Initiative will pray and stand beside Standing Rock and all Protectors of the Sacred as long as it takes for all Members of our Human Family to fully understand that your struggle is not only for the way of life of the Great Sioux Nation but, for all Life. This spiritual position includes the health, safety, and well-being of all current and future generations of the Human Family and Life everywhere on Mother Earth!

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Comment by Marama Eruera on October 29, 2016 at 3:21am

There's a little known group in New Zealand who are supporting this and many of the protectors initiatives. Kia kaha my friend

Comment by Catherine Rose on October 28, 2016 at 4:59am
Thank you We are all related we need to stand together within love and compassion for us all
Comment by Tom Stiles on October 4, 2016 at 3:28pm

Thank you Chief Phil for presenting this profound and necessary statement in solidarity with the courageous ones at Standing Rock.   May this be the time for a broad comprehension of the need to honor the sacred, not for a few, but for every one's sake.

Comment by Stephen Bamford on October 4, 2016 at 10:50am

All I can say is "All My Relations!" We all stand with those courageous ones peacefully advocating for the well-being of all of us, including those who foolishly adhere to ways that are against the best in humanity and well-being of all our relations! Thank you for sharing Chief Phil. Many blessings to you, yours and all those at Standing Rock and all those world-wide who bear witness to yet another abuse of treaties and injustice in a long history that has gone bad. Perhaps this time human beings can correct the error of their ways. 

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