Native Organizers Alliance - Protect this Oceti Sakowin sacred place from toxic mining

 

Patricia, An Oceti Sakowin sacred place in the Black Hills National Forest is threatened by a proposed mining operation and we need to act fast. The National Forest Service is running a public comment period right now on a proposed open-pit mine at Pe'sla -- a place of ceremony and prayer for thousands of years. This violates the treaty rights and religious freedom of the Oceti Sakowin, the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota peoples. We can’t let corporations or the U.S. government destroy Indigenous culture, ceremony, and ancestral relations. Click here to add your name to our official comment now and we will submit all signers before Friday night's comment period deadline. SIGN ON Back in 2014, four Oceti Sakowin Tribes raised $9 million to buy back the land for Pe’sla. To recognize the cultural significance of the area and therefore protect it from harmful mining activity, they worked with the federal government to put the central prayer site, and a two-mile buffer zone around it, into federal trust. Even though Pe’sla is a sacred place with federal Indian trust status, mining companies and government leaders want to undo sacred place protections there and across Turtle Island. Any sort of mining operation in the area could contaminate drinking water, damage the ecosystem, and degrade the land. Our allies at NDN Collective said: “Pe’sla shares a watershed with the Pactola reservoir -- 20,000 acres of land and water that in 2024, then-U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland signed legislation protecting from all mining efforts for 20 years. Haaland’s decision was the result of years of NDN Collective’s advocacy and community organizing; work with tribes, local officials and the U.S. Forest Service; and a successful effort alongside partner organizations to gather nearly 2,000 public comments supporting the mineral withdrawal.” We must protect our waters, lands, and all living beings from toxic mining. Click here to add your name to our urgent public comment. Hawwih (thank you) for taking action today. Together we will continue defending Tribal sovereignty, sacred places, and Mother Earth. Judith LeBlanc (Caddo) Executive Director BUILD NATIVE POLITICAL POWER

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