7 Mongolian Yurts at Standing Rock

Synopsis: Our campaign will bring 7 previously owned Mongolian yurts to the Standing Rock water protectors. Three yurts will be going to a group of families called "Earth Camp" and four will be dispersed upon arrival. The families from 'Earth Camp' help the main camp known as the Oceti Sakowin- Seven Council Fires, in various ways including front line action, cooking and cleaning in the main kitchen and the Ogala kitchen, hauling and cutting fire wood, holding ceremony, and more. They are all 100% committed to stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline and are in it for the long haul. They fly the Earth Flag to symbolize the unity of all people and to show their respect and love for Mother Earth. The 3 families have been camped on site since August. One of the families are Hunkpapa Lakota from the Standing Rock Reservation, another family is Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge Reservation. The other family is Miniconjou Lakota, from Cheyanne River Reservation. Two of these families have 3 generations of family members with them, the other who live local have the support of relatives coming and going to camp.  Any other additional funds beyond the 7 yurts will go to supplying the yurts with wood, water, food, stoves and clothing. All exchanges will be documented by film, pictures, or posts and shared via updates from this campaign and on my FB page.

(picture of some of the Earth camp members)

My Short Story: I own a small business in Leavenworth, WA. importing traditional Mongolian yurts. After a 7 month journey to Mongolia I fell in love with the nomadic culture and the rounded shelters they called home, the Mongolian ger. My travels around this Earth have taken me far and wide and in every location I am drawn to the indigenous cultures of that area. Its been the Maasai, Maori, Sudanese, Inuit, Maya, Aborigine, Pacific Islanders, Mongols, Bedouin and the local tribes of the Pacific NW. Spending nearly a decade of my youth traveling the world I began to realize that as much as the spirit of the adventure was shaping me it was more so that I was seeking something I envied in the indigenous culture. It was a connection they shared with a physical and spiritual place on this Earth. They were a part of their environment as much as any other tree, bush, predator or bird. Near the end of my travels in Mongolia I knew I needed to bring back a reminder of that spirit to my place in the world, the suburbs of America.


Five years later and some 50 yurts brought in, I am still inspired by the work I do, trying to improve and blend the two worlds together. Most importantly I have found my connection with a place in this world, the Pacific NW. From the Salish Sea down the western coast, over the cascade range and into the dry shrub steppe, this is now the place I call home. When travelers abroad come to visit, I show them the fish I eat, the berries I harvest, the plants that make medicine and the friends and family I share it with. It’s a connection to place that I now can feel, taste, smell and find security in. And when that security feels compromised I too begin to react. When coal terminals were proposed on the waters I find refuge in during the summer  months I grew uneasy, when oil trains rattle near my yurt I wonder when or where a spill might happen along our river corridors. A Shell oil rig destined for the Arctic parked in our Seattle harbor, so I paddled out with a thousand others with the memory of the polar bear I saw floating on an iceberg when I was up there.



It is time to stand up, stand for and stand with the Indigenous people and our shared struggle for a healthier, and safer energy future. Why I’ve chosen to get involved is for the many memories of feelings I’ve had around the globe where I’ve witnessed the aftermath of similar situations in which no one stood up. And I have immense gratittude in the situations where small bands of people did protect some of the natural wonders we still enjoy today. I truly believe this movement will have a greater chance of being successful the longer it endures. The two sides are motivated by very different ideals, and there is no motivation more susceptible to failure due to the duration of time then the motivation of money. The longer the protectors persevere, the more likely investors become anxious and the money is spent. The longer they stand up the more chance we have of rallying behind them. With these yurts we can help insure that the people on the frontlines can sustain this momentous demonstration.