Private Project

Down in the River to Pray

We went down to the river to pray, every day.

We prayed for a way to protect water, and all beings who drink water, from harm by the Canadian pipeline company Enbridge.

Enbridge sucked rivers (and fire hydrants) dry during historic drought, poisoned rivers with drilling fluid, broke ancient aquifers – losing millions of gallons of artesian water.

We pray the oil pipelines will be safely turned off, before they spill again.

Enbridge, Inc. paid over $7 million for over 1,000 arrests of those opposed to their Line 3 tar sands pipeline.

Hundreds of peaceful water protectors now face thousands of criminal charges – including "felony theft" and "conspiracy" – for protecting Minnesota's water. Those who defended water must now defend themselves. Some may be crushed with fines over $3 million or jail time over a decade. The earliest known version of this song, "The Good Old Way," was published in the landmark "Slave Songs of the United States," an 1867 collection of African-American spirituals gathered by Northern abolitionists and now the song has a new music video.

  • Keri Pickett
    Director
    First Daughter and the Black Snake
  • Winona LaDuke
    Producer
    No More Pipeline Blues (On The Land To Which We Belong) Music Video
  • Barbara With
    Key Cast
    "self"
  • Mary Jane Alm
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Prudence Johnson
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Jearlyn Steele
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Marian Moore
    Key Cast
    "Self"
  • Project Type:
    Music Video
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 10 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 22, 2022
  • Production Budget:
    1,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    4K
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Keri Pickett

Director Keri Pickett Keri Pickett is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer, author and artist interested in family and community in her documentation of life’s commonalities in disparate communities. As a producer, director and cinematographer, her feature documentary films have included “The Fabulous Ice Age”, which was a Netflix Original in 10 languages, and “First Daughter and the Black Snake” which both won numerous awards. Her films have also been shown at the Napa Valley Film Festival, Dance on Camera at Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow and the Arizona International Film Festival, the Marfa Film Festival. She is Co-Director of the upcoming film "Finding Her Beat."

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

This short film follows the Indigenous women fighting the Line 3 pipeline which is an issue I have been following since the start of my feature film "First Daughter and the Black Snake" which I began in 2013.