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This letter is to
all those well-meaning bikers who participate in the Sturgis Bike
Rally in South Dakota, in August. We believe that the majority of you
are not aware of the destruction the rally is causing to one of
Indian peoples' most sacred sites, Bear
Butte.
Very few non-Indians know that for many centuries all the Tribes of
the Great Plains worshipped and conducted sacred ceremonies at Bear
Butte. It is a place for quiet prayers of thanksgiving and for
seeking spiritual guidance with ancient ceremonies.
Probably most of
you are unaware that returning Indian veterans of wars since before
World War1 have made their way to the sacred mountain to pray, fast
and give thanks for their safe return. And most veterans wouldn't
know that the Cheyenne Nation has conducted ceremonies on Bear Butte
during WW1, WW2, Korea and Viet Nam to insure the victory for
American forces. Bear Butte is where our young men and women go to
fast and to learn and to test themselves for adulthood. Bear Butte is
where our holy men and women have gone to seek spiritual knowledge
for as long as our tribal memories can see into the past. Even today
in this new millennium Bear Butte continues to be central to the
spiritual and ceremonial lives of over thirty Indian Nations.
In 1940 the
Sturgis Bike Rally began as a small group of people who got together
to ride their bikes and enjoy the Black Hills area. In the decades
since it has grown steadily and now it will attract over 600,000
participants on its way to one
million bikers
in the near future! At first most of the bikers were concentrated in
or close to the town of Sturgis a few rode the approximately 10 miles
northwest of Sturgis past the sacred mountain, but our people could
ignore those ones as they prayed. As the rally grew (and c! ity
ordinances became more restrictive) it became financially attractive
to move out of the city into the surrounding rural areas. Because
Interstate 90 runs along the south and west sides of Sturgis most of
the increased development has been on the north and east sides,
towards our sacred mountain.
In 1982 an almost
unbearable event happened that shocked Indian people across the
nation. An entrepreneur developed a huge campgrounds/concert venue he
called "The Buffalo Chip" at an intersection only four
miles from Bear Butte! As the "Chip" grew into a major
venue of events hosting Evil and Robbie Knieval and concerts with
Lynyrd Skynyrd and ZZ Top, others have quickly sought to capitalize
on its success and build even larger, noisier and bigger venues with
which to reap the immense profits of the "Chip". Imagine
trying to pray or conduct an ancient ceremony upon the mountain when
rock concerts with mega-speakers blaring, are drowning out your
words! to the Creator. Every word from the speakers at the
"Chip" can be heard from the sacred slopes of Bear Butte
and now, to the horror of traditional Indian people, many more such
destructive venues are bulldozing land and bringing in toilets to
open enough biker bars and party venues to satisfy a million bikers.
Indian people have
explored every avenue open to them to defend and protect our sacred
mountain. We have petitioned, lobbied, protested and signed treaties.
We have attended county meetings of every description and we have
talked to Governors, Senators and Congressmen of every party and
political persuasion. For a hundred-and-fifty years and more we have
sought to find a way to protect this important part of our peoples
heritage. At times it seemed as if the American government understood
and would accede to our requests but each time what was promised has
been later denied or taken away. The treaties were broken and
politician's p! romises turned to dust and blew away on the first
wind. Money and the greed for more money have overcome all our
pleadings for justice and respect. The lands surrounding Bear Butte
are once again golden in the eyes of the greedy just as they were
when Custer announced gold for the taking in the sacred Black Hills.
A rush is on to entice bikers to camp, drink their beer and spend
their money in the ever larger and noisier campgrounds edging closer
and closer to the sacred mountain.
Indian people are
becoming desperate to preserve even small portions of our once
peaceful and remote, sacred places across America.
We are not trying
to close or stop the Sturgis Bike Rally or even to interfere with all
the various things that go on there. We are asking that the Federal,
State and Local governments enact and enforce a five-mile buffer zone
around Bear Butte, to restrict the sale of booze within the zone and
make sure concerts and oth! er extraneous noise is kept away from the
Mountain. To us that seems very minimal and reasonable, but our words
have fallen on deaf ears once again and the county and state are
allowing more and more destruction to happen--always closer to Bear
Butte. It must be stopped.
It is now our hope
that we can turn to the customers of the bike rally, the bikers
themselves, to ask that they help us in our efforts. We ask that all
bikers who become aware of our struggle to observe our five-mile
buffer zone. We ask all bikers to help us make all attendees of the
Sturgis Bike Rally aware of our request and to help us encourage all
the booze and concert venues too close to Bear Butte to close down
and move away. We are asking that all bikers boycott the "Broken
Spoke Saloons" until their owner Ray Allen formally withdraws
his obscene proposal to develop a biker bar called "Sacred
Ground" adjacent to Bear Butte.
We are asking that
all "BIKERS
FOR BEAR BUTTE"
come together with Indian people to help us enact a buffer zone
around Bear Butte and to help us inform all your brother and sister
Bikers of the issue.
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