Willie Nelson and Neil Young Rock Against Keystone XL at 'Harvest the Hope'

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Neligh, Nebraska—Moccasins and cowboy boots crowded a Nebraska cornfield to see Willie Nelson and Neil Young on Saturday.

The sold-out “Harvest the Hope” concert raised money and awareness for a coalition of indigenous and environmentalist groups fighting TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.

"As caretakers of our land, family farmers know best what's good for it,” Nelson said onstage. “We stand with these family farmers fighting for their land, livelihood and community.”

Nelson’s 45-minute set sampled musical hits across his lengthy career, from “Whiskey River” (1973) to “Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die" (2012).

Young entered the stage to play one song alongside Nelson. Their rendition of folk classic “This is Your Land” featured modified lyrics that referenced Nebraska’s fragile Sandhills ecosystem and opposition to TransCanada’s pipeline.

“The Keystone XL pipeline is a large step in the wrong direction for the health of Earth,” said Young, who is Canadian but lives in the U.S. “America must lead the world again and stop the Keystone.”

Young sprinkled political commentary throughout his 90-minute set, which included “Heart of Gold,” “Pocahontas,” and a new version of his Keystone XL protest anthem, “Who’s Gonna Stand Up?”

More than 7,000 ticketholders attended the concert on a cornfield north of Neligh, NE.  All proceeds from the concert benefited Bold Nebraska, the Indigenous Environmental Network, and the Cowboy & Indian Alliance.

The farm/concert venue sits on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline route, which snakes from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries in Texas. The owner of the farm, Art Tanderup, is one of roughly 100 Nebraska landowners refusing to sign easements with TransCanada.

Although the pipeline’s southern leg came online in January, the northern Canada-Nebraska portion hangs in limbo. The Nebraska Supreme Court is reviewing legality of the route, and President Barack Obama must approve the international pipeline before it can become a reality.

Nelson and Young, long-time Farm Aid concert collaborators, joined a host of musicians, activists and tribal leaders. Lakota, Nakota, Dakota, and Ponca speakers appeared prominently in the festivities with drum songs, prayers and speeches.

Native rapper Frank Waln (Sicangu Oyate Lakota) warmed up the crowd before Nelson and Young took the stage.

RELATED: Willie, Neil Young, and Me: Frank Waln Takes the Stage With Legends

Casey Camp-Horinek of the Ponca explained how this land is sacred, located on the path of the 1877 Ponca Trail of Tears. Members of the Cowboy & Indian Alliance had helped hand-plant sacred “Ponka” red corn last spring on the Tanderup farm in memorial.

Wizipan Garriott Little Elk (Sicangu Oyate Lakota) of the Cowboy & Indian Alliance introduced the presidents of the Rosebud and Oglala Sioux Tribes. He urged concertgoers to visit shieldthepeople.org to help pressure the government to reject TransCanada’s permit renewal.

“The permit for the Keystone XL pipeline in South Dakota has run out,” said Garriott. “They are trying to renew it, and we are going to fight them every step of the way.”

Cyril Scott, President of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, called on the U.S. government to honor its treaty obligations. Scott said that he and President Bryan Brewer would be in the capital of South Dakota the following week, and that runners will take a letter to the governor saying “hell no with the pipeline.”

“I want to tell you a story,” Scott said. “In 1868, the Great White Grandfather came to our homelands. He signed the 1868 Treaty with our grandfathers and our chiefs. When they were done, we took our pipe and smoked it with them, saying that ‘we will honor this treaty in a good way.’ They came, and brought their book out that they call the bible. They put their hand on that bible and they swore to our chiefs and our people that we will protect your way of life, your religion and your culture. Today, we’re not asking them to honor that treaty. We are demanding that they honor it.”

Bryan Brewer, President of the Oglala Lakota Nation, announced to the crowd, “I am a combat veteran of Vietnam, but today I am a Lakota warrior.”  

“In 1876, the Oglala and other bands went to Montana to destroy a snake up there,” Brewer said referring to Custer’s defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. “This time we’re going north again. We’re going to go up north to the Cheyenne River country and we’re going to stop it there. We’re not going up to protest; we’re going up to stop it.”

Earlier in the day on Saturday, before the concert officially began, Scott and Brewer joined a delegation of tribal leaders presenting Willie Nelson and Neil Young with painted buffalo robes during a ceremony.

In the private ceremony beside a tipi, adjacent to the Tanderup farmhouse, Nelson and Young received the painted hides and other gifts. They shook hands with a crowd of elders and tribal leaders, and then proceeded to a barnyard press conference.

Aldo Seoane (Sicangu Oyate Lakota) of the Cowboy & Indian Alliance explained the symbolism painted on the robes. Lakota artist Steve Tamayo had designed the hide paintings. Tomayo also hails from Rosebud, but now lives in Omaha where he specializes in revitalizing traditional Lakota arts. 

“If we picked up this hide, you see the first thing you see is the border,” said Seoane, displaying one for press to view with the help for rapper Frank Waln.

“This border is the snake; this snake is the pipeline, and you see it broken into three segments: Nebraska, South Dakota, Montana,” Seoane continued.  We’re holding this pipeline back, and we’re doing it through every means that we can. Through our spirituality, through our prayer, through our physical action and through our legal system.”

He pointed to various icons and to the Cowboy & Indian Alliance logo painted on the robe. The logo also appeared on posters and banners around the farm. Richard Vollaire (Tongva Nation) designed the logo, which features silhouettes of a Native American man and cowboy above a line of water.

“We’re honoring [Willie Nelson and Neil Young] because they are helping us to maintain our clean water and clean land. They are helping us to fight the snake,” Seoane said.

“We’re here for the farmers and the ranchers, and the cowboys and the Indians, and we’ve always have been,” Nelson said during the press conference before the concert had actually begun.

“Whatever we’re fighting about here, we’re really just a skirmish on the ground, around a disaster that is waiting to happen,” Young added.

* * * 

As the day’s music and festivities proceeded, the sun sank behind the makeshift stage at the corner of Art Tanderup’s cornfield. The farmer himself took a moment to address the crowd gathered on his land.

“A few feet under us is the Ogallala Aquifer. This giant sand and gravel sponge is the nation’s largest pure water resource,” he said.

Tanderup said he practices no-till farming to preserve the topsoil and prevent erosion, build soil structure and retain moisture. His farming philosophy is one of environmental stewardship.

“Our Native relatives have taught us that we do not really own this land, we borrow it from our children.”