Standing Rock Witnesses to Speak at Forum

Three local residents will speak as witnesses to the faith-based, nonviolent moral resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline at a Community Forum in Newbury Park on Friday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m.

Tim Nafziger, Willie Lubka and Jannelle Guillet will share their recent experiences and insights from visiting the Oceti Sakowin camp in North Dakota, where members of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and their supporters are opposing an underground oil pipeline that tribe members say will threaten their water supply and sacred grounds. The 1,134-mile pipeline project to connect the Bakken oil fields in northwest North Dakota to an oil tank farm in Illinois is routed underneath the Missouri River a half mile from the Standing Rock reservation.

Nafziger just returned after a week with the Christian Peacemaker Team at the camp. He stated, "I witnessed hours of police assault on water protectors with flash bangs, rubber bullets, bean bag rounds, tear gas and water hoses at freezing temperatures. And yet, in the face of all that, I have never been part of a mass movement so deeply grounded in prayer and ceremony as the Oceti Sakowin camp at Standing Rock." Nafziger is a leader of the Ventura County chapter of Showing up for Racial Justice, which is co-sponsoring the program.

Lubka, a Unitarian Universalist faith leader, will talk about what he witnessed at Standing Rock. He said, "In solidarity with all people of faith and conscience who are committed to respecting the interdependent web of all existence of which we are a part, I'm responding to the call to an Interfaith Day of Prayer at Standing Rock on Sunday, December 4. I am proud to join with faith groups and native tribes who are gathering for this historic event to support the Standing Rock Sioux, to be a public witness to the injustice in North Dakota and oppose the Dakota Access Pipeline."

Lubka is a previous president of the Conejo Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship (CVUUF), which is hosting the Community Forum in their sanctuary at 3327 Old Conejo Road, near the Wendy Drive exit of U.S 101.

Guillet, a Newbury Park psychotherapist, was part of a team that erected a large white dome tent at the camp for meetings. She attended sessions and training that she described as "definitely an eye-opening experience with increased sensitivity to white/indigenous relations."

The speakers will show photos from their visits and join in a discussion with the audience about the issues involved.

The event is free and open to the public but donations will be gratefully accepted. Child care will be available by reservation only. Call (805) 498-9401 for information or child care.