Lakota song leads to arrest in Senate

WASHINGTON – Greg Grey Cloud came to Washington for meetings Sunday with South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson and other lawmakers. He never planned on being arrested in the U.S. Capitol two days later.

But Grey Cloud, a South Dakota resident and a member of the Crow Creek Tribe located 2-1/2 hours northwest of Sioux Falls, was taken into custody Tuesday night after he started singing a song he said was meant to honor those lawmakers who voted against the Keystone XL pipeline. The Senate narrowly defeated legislation that would have approved construction of the pipeline – part of which would cross South Dakota. Grey Cloud was one of five people arrested, but the only one from a Native American tribe.

"I wasn't chanting. It wasn't an outburst. It was a song of honor, honoring the senators, the hard work and courage for standing up and saying no to Big Oil," Grey Cloud, 28, said in an interview. "I did it for a good cause."

A U.S. Capitol Police spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

The idea to sing, regardless of the outcome of the Keystone decision, came on Tuesday a few hours before the vote. Tribal elders and others signed off on the idea. Grey Cloud then scrambled to find a song that would be appropriate, and after talking with a native song keeper, settled on one composed during the 1980's in opposition to coal mining.

The words, sung in the Lakota language in the Senate chamber, went as follows: "Tunkasila wamayanka yo, le miye ca tehiya nawazin yelo. unci maka nawacincina wowahwala wa yuha waun welo" The English translation: "Grandfather look at me, I am standing here struggling, I am defending grandmother Earth and I am chasing peace."

Grey Cloud, wearing his Indian feathers, began singing shortly after the vote totals were announced. He said he was carried outside chambers by Capitol police, thrown against the wall and arrested, while singing the song throughout the incident. He was detained in the D.C. jail for five hours for interrupting the Senate, and given a Dec. 10 court date.

"We have time, time to keep fighting time," he said. "As a singer I know only one way to honor someone and that's to sing. I didn't mean to disrupt (the) Senate, only to honor the conviction shown by the senators."

He has not decided yet how he will plead to the misdemeanor charge, which will most likely carry a fine.

Last week, Rosebud Sioux Tribal President Cyril Scott called House approval of the Keystone pipeline an "act of war" and said it would not allow construction on its land.

The pipeline, under consideration for six years, would transport more than 800,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries. TransCanada Corp., which has proposed building the 1,200-mile pipeline from Alberta to Cushing, Okla., has estimated the costs for the delayed pipeline have soared to about $8 billion, up from an estimated $5.4 billion.

The Senate, where Democrats now hold a majority, is widely expected to vote on Keystone again next year when Republicans take over the chamber. Grey Cloud said he may do some type of action if the Congress votes again, although he declined to say what it would be.

"We will sing the loudest when President Obama rejects the pipeline!" Grey Cloud said.