A group from the First Congregational Church of Old Lyme recently filled a van with donated items and drove halfway across the country to North Dakota to show support for those protesting at the Standing Rock reservation.

People protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline — called "water protectors" — have gathered at the reservation since the spring.

Stephanie Kenny, a deacon at the church, had watched over the summer as friends from the Cheyenne River Reservation, which borders the Standing Rock Reservation, posted on social media about the pipeline.

The First Congregational Church has a partnership that dates back more than 30 years with the Green Grass community on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.

Kenny, who chairs the church's Green Grass committee, is the president of Tribal Crafts Inc. a nonprofit housed with the First Congregational Church that sells artwork and jewelry crafted by the Lakota Native Americans of the Cheyenne River Reservation. Since age 10, Kenny has visited the Cheyenne River Reservation, as her mother, Karin Kiem, was one of the founders of the Green Grass partnership and Tribal Crafts.

Kenny saw on social media that a caravan of about 500 people from the Cheyenne River Reservation traveled to Standing Rock, and she felt proud of them.

She raised the topic at a deacon meeting that evening, and the Rev. Dr. Steven Jungkeit, the church's senior minister, asked 'when are we going?" Kenny recalled in a recent interview.

On Sept. 14, Kenny and Mary Tomassetti, the executive director of the Tree of Life Educational Fund, loaded a van with sleeping bags, tents, flashlights, food, water and a generator. Members of the community had donated the items by leaving them in a teepee set up outside the church.

After picking up another member of the church, Mattie Renn, in Chicago, they continued to drive across country and arrived in North Dakota, where they found friends from the Green Grass community.

They helped out Winona Kasto, a member of the Green Grass community, who had set up a cook shack and was cooking for hundreds of people. They handed out donated items and took trips to town to get any needed supplies, before heading back home on Sept. 18.

During their visit, they met up with other friends, including Travis Harden, a Native American activist and an arts and music teacher, who was instructing children at the Oceti Sakowin Camp in North Dakota. Harden protests by singing and chanting.

Harden, who was recently in Old Lyme, said a strong sense of unity permeated the camps.

When he first arrived at the camp in August, Harden, who is of the Hochunk and Lakota tribes, cried when he saw the flags from so many tribes standing in unity.

Kenny said there was an overwhelming feeling in the air that everybody — no matter their color, religion, or background — was equal.

She said she could hear the drumbeat in the distance all night long and people laughing, telling stories and joking. The stars in the sky and the camp fire in front of the tent contributed to the peaceful atmosphere.

"It's a reminder of how much we all have in common," she said.

While at the camp, Harden plays on his drum and sings, as people dance around in a circle, their feet hitting the ground to the beat of the drum.

"In our culture, there's music for everything. It's just the heartbeat of mother earth. It's how we pray," he said.

"We stand together many nations as one, praying for our children. Mni Wiconi. Water is life," he sang, demonstrating a song he sings at the camp.

Harden was scheduled to return to North Dakota this weekend from Old Lyme and bring winter gear which the community had donated for Standing Rock.

Kenny said church members are already discussing another trip to Standing Rock.

During Harden's visit to Connecticut, Harden and Kenny recently told their stories about Standing Rock at events in the region.

Harden spoke at the Oct. 30 "Wheels of Justice" festival at the First Congregational Church, which featured African-American, Palestinian, and Native American speakers, according to a news release. 

Harden said he has shared the message that people are united to stop the pipeline and tried to raise awareness of how bad it could be if their water source became contaminated. He said he asked people to pray.

Their visit took place the week after the Department of Justice, the Department of the Army and the Department of the Interior announced that the Army will not authorize pipeline construction on land of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers until there is a proper environmental impact statement and consultation with the tribe, Kenny said. The government also encouraged the company to stop construction on the pipeline within 20 miles of sacred land, but construction continued.

In October, protesters set up camp on private land where the pipeline would be constructed, citing that it is tribal land under the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty, and officers came to remove the protesters, Reuters reported.

Protesters were arrested, according to Reuters.

The pipeline would cross under the Missouri River, according to news reports.

"I'm thinking of my grandkids. They're probably going to live in the Cheyenne River Reservation and that's the water they're not going to be able to drink because it's contaminated," Harden said. "Are we going to be having to buy water, or be dependent on the government to get water?"

Harden said human rights are at stake.

"There's this fire within that's been building, and I think now it's about water, it's about protecting the environment, but it's also about humanity," Kenny said. "It's about showing the common humanity between all of us and that we are all in this together and we all need to stand up for what's right and for justice."

k.drelich@theday.com