The Huffington Post, May 15, 2015, by Georgianne Nienaber

"... Wherever you live in the United States, it is likely that you are within a short drive of sacred ground. You may be standing on it as you read this. But the threats to sacred lands are global. The premiere of Standing On Sacred Ground is a stern warning about what the world stands to lose in the pursuit of infrastructure and profit.

The filmmakers risked their lives to develop this series. While reporting that five million tons of toxic mining wastes are being dumped into the ocean in Papua New Guinea by a Chinese government nickel mine, the film crew was detained and questioned at gunpoint in a shipping container.

All that is sacred is local. None of us are untouched by the possibility of deep loss.

Winona LaDuke lives on the White Earth reservation, just up the highway from the small Minnesota town where I spend my summers. LaDuke, Former Vice-Presidential candidate for the Green Party in 2000 is featured in this film. Having seen first hand what she and Honor the Earth have done to protect sacred lands in Minnesota, Canada, the Dakotas and elsewhere from mining, big oil and reckless development, her statement in the trailer for Standing on Sacred Ground carries a lot of weight for people in the Midwest. It is at once political and deeply spiritual.

We end up with a belief that is doesn't matter what we do here, because salvation is someplace else. So, let 'em mine. Let 'em dam.

This film speaks far beyond the threats facing indigenous people. In some ways, Native cultures are the unheralded guardians of all that is holy on the planet.

Get engaged with this thoughtful series. Organize a screening party or two. What better way to begin the season of outdoor exploration than to gain an appreciation of the spiritual beauty of the planet? ..."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/georgianne-nienaber/standing-on-sacred-ground_b_7293508.html