In an unprecedented and "historic" display of interfaith unity and solidarity — which saw Muslim, Jewish and Christian religious leaders come together — over 500 clergy members gathered in prayer on the banks of the Cannon Ball River and "bore witness with the Standing Rock Sioux Nation."

Then in a historic move, the group ceremonially burned a copy of a 600-year-old document, known as the Doctrine of Discovery, which is a document from the 1400's that sanctioned the taking of land from non-Christians worldwide. The document, as recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court, essentially negated recognition of true Native sovereignty — designating the U.S. as having plenary power over what would otherwise be fully sovereign nations — and subjugating Natives to the will of federal authority.

According to a report by the Episcopal News Service:

On the morning of November 3 in the center of Oceti Sakowin Camp, Christian religious leaders from Episcopal, Lutheran, Presbyterian and Baptist churches—all representing denominations that have repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery—testified to their traditions' rejection of the 15th-century document. When they finished, they asked tribal elders to come forward and asked that they burn a replica of the Doctrine of Discovery and the elders did so in pots and a bucket near the sacred fire.