Is it over? I hope so, but I'm afraid not...

The movement at Standing Rock is powerful on many levels. It is about standing up to climate change, environmental destruction, cultural genocide, corporate greed, inequality, injustice, and so much more. It is about standing up for clean water, the first nations, the planet, and all humanity with prayer.

Many at the encampment speak of two prophecies, dating back to the 1890s. Crazy Horse and Black Elk foretold that in seven generations, the Native American nations will unite to save the Earth; another legend predicted that a zuzeca snake – a black snake – would threaten the world. For many of the protectors, the pipeline is that black snake. They are the seventh generation: their moment of destiny has come.

“Upon suffering beyond suffering; the Red Nation shall rise again and it shall be a blessing for a sick world.  A world filled with broken promises, selfishness and separations. A world longing for light again. I see a time of seven generations when all the colors of mankind will gather under the sacred Tree of Life and the whole Earth will become one circle again. In that day there will be those among the Lakota who will carry knowledge and understanding of unity among all living things, and the young white ones will come to those of my people and ask for this wisdom. I salute the light within your eyes where the whole universe dwells. For when you are at that center within you and I am that place within me, we shall be as one."  -Crazy Horse

This last vision of Crazy Horse’s was spoken in 1877, approximately seven generations ago.  It was retold by Chief Joe Chasing Horse, a relative of Crazy Horse.  He translated it from the words of the grandmother who was present when the words were spoken, while Crazy Horse sat smoking the sacred pipe with Sitting Bull for the very last time, four days later he was slain.

And a prayer from Black Elk:

Yes, may we find the good road...but we must first defeat the black snake. I think the black snake has many heads.

The serpent or snake is a powerful figure in stories and legends from Genesis to the first nations. This story or variations (like the frog and the scorpion) are told world wide:

The little boy was walking down a path and he came across a rattlesnake. The rattlesnake was getting old. He asked, "Please little boy, can you take me to the top of the mountain? I hope to see the sunset one last time before I die." The little boy answered "No Mr. Rattlesnake. If I pick you up, you'll bite me and I'll die." The rattlesnake said, "No, I promise. I won't bite you. Just please take me up to the mountain." The little boy thought about it and finally picked up that rattlesnake and took it close to his chest and carried it up to the top of the mountain.

They sat there and watched the sunset together. It was so beautiful. Then after sunset the rattlesnake turned to the little boy and asked, "Can I go home now? I am tired, and I am old." The little boy picked up the rattlesnake and again took it to his chest and held it tightly and safely. He came all the way down the mountain holding the snake carefully and took it to his home to give him some food and a place to sleep. The next day the rattlesnake turned to the boy and asked, "Please little boy, will you take me back to my home now? It is time for me to leave this world, and I would like to be at my home now." The little boy felt he had been safe all this time and the snake had kept his word, so he would take it home as asked.

He carefully picked up the snake, took it close to his chest, and carried him back to the woods, to his home to die. Just before he laid the rattlesnake down, the rattlesnake turned and bit him in the chest. The little boy cried out and threw the snake upon the ground. "Mr. Snake, why did you do that? Now I will surely die!" The rattlesnake looked up at him and grinned, "You knew what I was when you picked me up."

Many tribes tell the tale of the black snake. Here's an Alabama tribal story http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/se/mtsi/

A long black snake lived in a cave in the rocks. Whenever it scented a man it trailed him and kept on until it had killed him. It killed by wrapping itself around the man's body. One day when the sun was shining a man saw it lying on the ground, and the snake pursued him. The man ran on and came to a river, and there a big yellow frog bit the snake and killed it.

I wonder if the big yellow frog is solar power?

Here's another one from the NE US
http://nbmediacoop.org/2014/11/14/the-energy-east-pipeline-and-the-black...

The prophecy was told to Perley by her aunt Barbara Nicholas. “A snake is going to come from the West to the East, across our land and poison our waters and land,” says Perley, “The only way to kill it, is to cut off the head of the snake.” The prophecy says that the head of the snake must be cut off before it reaches the Wolastoq area. Perley says the Wolastoqiyik people must “face it head on, stand up to it, and face our fears… Once it’s here, there is no way to cut the head off the snake.”

Some suggest it is all prophecy
Ancient Native Prophecy of the Black Snake is happening at this very moment. This is number 8 of 9 Hopi & Lakota Prophecies. The first 7 have all come into fruition. According to prophecy if the black snake crosses the river into the land, the waters will be poisoned, and it will mark off the end of the world. Here's a mediocre retelling - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrKUzHtC3CE (17 min).

The Hopi (desendants of the ancient ones sometimes called Anasazi) have many prophesies.
http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-americas/hopi-prophecy-and-...

For more than 60 years, different Hopis have predicted various Earth changes that signal the conclusion of the current age and the onset of the Fifth World. In 1970, Dan Katchongva, Sun Clan leader from the village of Hotevilla, who died at age 112, spoke about deteriorating conditions of our time:
We have teachings and prophecies informing us that we must be alert for the signs and omens which will come about to give us courage and strength to stand on our beliefs. Blood will flow. Our hair and our clothing will be scattered upon the earth. Nature will speak to us with its mighty breath of wind. There will be earthquakes and floods causing great disasters, changes in the seasons and in the weather, disappearance of wildlife, and famine in different forms. There will be gradual corruption and confusion among the leaders and the people all over the world, and wars will come about like powerful winds. All of this has been planned from the beginning of creation.

Another spiritual elder from the same Third Mesa village, David Monongye, who may have lived even longer than Grandfather Dan, had warned: “When earthquakes, floods, hailstorms, drought, and famine will be the life of every day, the time will have then come for [either] the return to the true path, or going the zig-zag way.”

The Hopi also predicted a number of technological changes that would signal the end of the Fourth World. Long before it happened, the elders said a “gourd of ashes” would fall on the Earth. This refers, of course, to nuclear explosions—first the atomic test blast at Trinity Site in New Mexico, then the dual holocausts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and finally the other hydrogen bomb tests on Pacific atolls and in the American Southwest (with their carcinogenic effects on the “down-winders”). Hopi prophecies include the fact that people would ride in “horseless wagons” on “black ribbons” (vehicles on asphalt). In addition, aerial vehicles would travel “roads in the heavens” (pathways in the sky, either benign contrails or deleterious “chemtrails”). The Hopi also stated that one of the final signs is that People would be “living in the sky” (International Space Station).

Amy had three interviews this morning with different opinions:

Standing Rock Sioux Chairman Dave Archambault thinks it is over for the winter. He believes DAPL will stop constuction. (15 min) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjrfoOFL9Vs

Remy, a Navajo veteran and long time protector, doesn't trust them and plans to remain in camp. (11 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD3VvWKItGU

And Tara Houska, lawyer for Honor the Earth, thinks the battle will start again when T-rump takes office. (9 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1b9pMB1ez7Y

I think the black snake is still a threat, and I hope enough protectors stay in place to alert us all if they continue construction. Will this movement continue and grow? It is my hope. The targeting of investment banks seems a good strategy as we move forward -

Activists in Tokyo, Seattle, San Francisco, and Minneapolis marched, demonstrated, and demanded that banks divest from the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline in simultaneous actions Thursday.
http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/12/01/activists-around-world-take-...

The bank exit is key to divesting from the fossil fuel industry and unifying the movement (3 min)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6SaFS0WQrI

No doubt the Army Corp DAPL decision is a reason to celebrate, but let's not forget there is much work to do.