This is a story of becoming and un-becoming. When the living waters that crisscrossed the Standing Rock reservation came under threat, minister of the nearby Unitarian Universalist congregation Karen Van Fossan asked herself what it means, as a descendent of colonialism, to resist her own colonial culture. When another pipeline, Line 3, came to threaten Anishinaabe ways of life, the question became even more resounding.

In A Fire at the Center: Solidarity, Whiteness, and Becoming a Water Protector, Van Fossan takes readers behind the scenes of the Dakota Access Pipeline conflict, to penitentiaries where prisoners of war have carried the movement onward, to the jail cell where she was held for protesting Line 3, to a reimagining of decolonized family constellations, and to moments of collective hope and strength.

With penetrating insight, she blends memoir, history, and cultural critique. Guided by the generous teachings of Oceti Sakowin Camp near Standing Rock, she investigates layers of colonialism—extractive industries, mass incarceration, broken treaties, disappearances of Indigenous people—and the boundaries of imperial whiteness.

For all those striving for liberation and meaningful allyship, Van Fossan’s learnings and practices of genuine, mutual solidarity and her thoughtful critique of whiteness will be transformational.

I am 20 years old, Two-Spirit, street medic organizer for an Indigenous street medic collective. I was among the arrested during ceremony at the Red Lake Treaty camp.

On Friday July 23rd I was in sacred ceremony and peaceful prayer with many others on treaty land as protected by our Article 6 and 1st amendment rights. Ceremony started at dawn, and by noon riot police had surrounded those in prayer on all sides. I saw no riot, I saw no disturbance of peace, what I saw was water protectors from all walks of life and from all over coming together to pray for our Mother Earth, for the water, for the future of all of the Creators creatures. Despite this, I watched as law enforcement violently grabbed and detained those dear to my heart and then eventually myself as well. We sat in jail for 4 days, many of us denied medical treatment, medication, changes of clothes, and menstrual products. During and after my arrest I was suffering from heat exhaustion, as well as complications from being denied my medication for nearly two days. For two days I was violently ill, unable to keep even water in my stomach without vomiting. I attempted to explain that with my pre-existing health conditions as well as heat exhaustion that I needed to be taken to a hospital or be seen by medical professionals. I had my basic vitals taken, was given some tums, which I was later made to pay for, and told to lay down and drink water. Police showed a blatant disregard for constitutional law, human life, and Mother Earth, a disregard that will not stop with reform, not with new laws or optional standards. The police are in Enbridge’s pocket too. It will not stop until police are abolished and Enbridge stops violating the land, water, and people. Today it is us, tomorrow it will be you. Will you stand by and watch?

Quick PSA to all my stylish sparkling water drinkers: we gotta stop. No really, look up Polyfluoroalkyls (PFAs) and Sparkling Water concentrations. In fact, I’ll do you one better: read about it here. LaCroix and Topo Chico have some of the highest concentrations of these petroleum processing byproducts (poison water courtesy of ExxonMobil). PFAs can cause thyroid disease, hormone fluctuations, some cancers, and these chemicals never leave the body. I’ve been an avid drinker of these sodas for years and I’m stopping forever. And before the snotty fact crackers come in, these reports are from scientific journals and sources like CNN. The alarm is also being raised by environmental activists and water protectors. The future wars for water will be fought for least cancerous, not clean. 

The EPA’s Article on Polyfluoroalkyls

NIH Report on PFAs and Their Effects

CNN Article on PFAs and How They’re Being Addressed

Insider Breakdown On How ExxonMobil Avoids Environmental Consequences For Knowingly and Willingly Producing PFAs

A Complete Backlog of Newsletters from Northwestern University’s Department of Social Sciences and Environmental Science on the ways PFAs Have Evolved 

PFA Resource Guide 

This fight for clean water that isn’t literally filled with cancerous chemicals is also intrinsically tied to the Indigenous fight for water rights and the attempts to stop pipelines like DAPL and the new attempt of connecting Line 3. 

To support the efforts of the Indigenous to stop Line 3 click HERE. 

At Standing Rock 7

roughly 10″ by 13″

soft pastels

Honestly, after the camps were forcibly shut down, I wasn’t sure if I should continue to produce these given that I was donating the money from prints sold to the camps and there no longer were any camps to donate to.

All of that being said, I’ve decided to continue my Standing Rock work for posterity. If nothing else, I hope these images provide the viewer with an idea of the humanity that I saw in North Dakota.