AT THE EDGE OF MNI SOSE: HOPE PRAYER & REVOLUTION - Teresa Pasquale Mateus

“At 6 a.m. the call goes out, as it does every morning, “Relatives, wake up! It’s time to pray! This is what you’re here for!”

The sun isn’t yet ready to peak over the prairie but the cold and the sacred call to ceremony gets bodies moving, even though drumming, singing, and whooping went late into the night. 

I begin to move around in my sleeping bag, slowly unzipping as I reach for my second, third, fourth, and fifth layer of clothing, much of which made up my makeshift pillow from the night before. I wipe the condensation off the top of my bag—the only place my breath touched in the night, leaving dew where my internal oxygen hit freezing air. 

I wrap myself in my scarf and the warm wool covers where sleeping bag once warmed that delicate part of the neck. I make my way to morning prayer at Oceti Sakowin Camp, Standing Rock. It’s the day before Thanksgiving.” – Our friend Teresa Pasquale Mateus reflects on her journey to one of the vital transformative spaces of our time, in The Porch Issue #2. If your’e a subscriber read it here; and if you’ve not already subscribed, just click here to learn more.