For Strength and Grace:
Sacred Conversation on Race
Prayer for Indigenous Peoples

God, the Holy Spirit, we come to you.
Strengthen us as we journey through this life.
We of the Mandan and Hidatsa tribes have, through time,
acknowledged the sacredness of the earth.
We acknowledge the earth in prayer
in all the directions of the earth:
To the north.
To the south.
To the east.
To the west.
We acknowledge the sacredness of all the plants
and we treat those we harvest as living beings.
Our grandfather river is sacred to us
we benefit from and respect our river.
Our ancestors taught us to respect the earth
and use its gifts with care.
We are saddened by those who exploit the resources of the earth
only for profit.
Our river was destroyed, our land was stolen
and we know that the promise of our government
to leave us on the land we love
“as long as the grass shall grow” was a lie
as were the government’s promises to all native peoples.
Although we seem helpless as this exploitation continues
we continue to use our influence to protect
the small portion of the earth
which has been our home for centuries.
We ask the Spirit to give us the strength and grace
to continue to protect our land and our life.