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They
Don't Want Indians Praying at Bear Butte
April
4, 2006
By
Debra White Plume, Bring Back the Way, writing from the banks of
Wounded Knee Creek |
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This letter is
regarding the Meade County Commissioners decision to approve the
alcohol application of Mr. Jay Allen who proposes to build a 22,500
sq foot bar, 155,000 sq foot htmlhalt parking lot, and an amphitheater
to seat 30,000 near Bear Butte. Bear Butte is a Sacred Mountain to
our Lakota People and many other Native Nations. We pray there, learn
there, and receive healing there. Bear Butte is our church, school,
and hospital.
While some people
may believe that since there is no development actually ON THE
MOUNTAIN, it is ok to build nearby. However, elected officials such
as the Commissioners have a responsibility not only to the people who
vote candidates into office, but to people everywhere who depend on
the judgment of officials to take care of social responsibility.
There are laws in place all over the United States which protect the
integrity of churches, schools and hospitals. |
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The Meade County
Commissioners have the power to demand by example that all people,
businesses, organizations, and governments show their respect for a
Sacred Mountain by their ability to enact a vote of No to Mr. Allen's
application. This is a great responsibility that the Meade County
Commissioners have. The eyes and ears of the whole country and many
other nations watch their action regarding this issue.
Through my work
with Treaty Councils in Lakota Country and at the United Nations
regarding the Rights of Indigenous Peoples', I know that the Lakota
People and many other Native Nations have the inalienable Human Right
to pray at sacred places. This Human Right becomes denied when the
decision-makers approve of action, which in essence, sanctions the
desecration of sacred places. Many people urged the Commissioners to
consider the future when making decisions, to think of the coming
generations of not only Lakota People and other Native Nations, but
of Meade County residents' grandchildren and great-grandchildren, as
well. A good leader is visionary for his people, and for all people,
who will be effected by his decision making. Bear Butte is a sacred
place, it is a National Historic Site, it is a State Park, and the
nearby Bear Butte Lake is a National Wildlife Refuge. With such
highly esteemed designations, the Meade County Commissioners had all
these reasons, these good reasons, to vote in such a manner as to
protect and preserve Bear Butte for the people of today and
generations to come.
Many of us
attending the April 4, 2006 hearing urged the Commissioners to take
courage and vote for the environment, the natural balance of
Creation, the coming generations. We urged them to stand together as
a Commission against the powerful raging money machine that often
drives small towns into making disastrous, regrettable decisions,
that in the end benefit no one except the one capitalist owner and
the recipients of the pitifully-few dollars he/she may spread around
town while taking home the millions, violating the rights of others,
contaminating the environment and the society impacted by the driving
force of wanting to make the dollar, in disregard for the destruction
he leaves behind for others to clean up and suffer from. Indeed, as
elected officials, the Commissioners must be aware that the decision
to allow Mr. Allen the one tool he needs to make a profit from his
endeavor, will in fact, result in great suffering for the Lakota
people and other Native Nations who need and cherish Bear Butte, as
well as environmentalists who respect Bear Butte for the special
place that it is. Isn't 60 bars enough_ |
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Indigenous People
all over the world, and environmentalists all over the world, could
have celebrated the Commission's decision to protect and preserve the
Sacred Mountain, Bear Butte, if the vote was to tell Mr. Allen,
"No, the location of your establishment is inappropriate for an
alcohol license. Such a location would be damaging to too many
people, too many generations, too many species of the environment.
Your application is denied." However, the decision was to
approve Mr. Allen's alcohol-license application. The power was there
for the Commission to enact an honorable decision, yet without any
discussion, the vote was unanimous to approve. Many people, including
residents of Meade County, feel the Commission's action was not only
dishonorable, but premeditated. The decision did not surprise many,
for not many expected to receive justice in the Meade County
Courthouse. Yet, the construction of Mr. Allen's bar has been halted,
for the moment, by the many days and nights of falling rain, hail,
sleet, and snow; by a power greater than the Commission.
On the mind of
many people at the rally and the hearing was the remembrance that
April 4 was the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther
King, Jr., who said "The ultimate measure of a man is not where
he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands in times of
challenges and controversy." The world watching that day
certainly saw where the Meade County Commissioners stood, and now
understand the ultimate measure of these men as individuals and as a
collective. Who do they represent_ Many residents are against further
destruction of the environment of Bear Butte.
The many people
who marched on Sturgis, closing down Highway 34, included several
Traditional Healers (Medicine Men), elders, Treaty Councils, many Sun
Dance Societies, Headsmen, Matriarchs, elders, school children, high
school and college students and faculty, Warrior Societies, United
States military Veterans, elected officials, ikce wicasa and winyan
(common men and women), drum groups; bikers from several states,
South Dakota Senators and Congressional Representatives, Civil
Liberty Attorneys, church groups, Tribal Police, and local and Black
Hills area residents. We engaged in a collective action. We stood in solidarity. |
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At the Protect and
Preserve Bear Butte Rally the Lakota and other Tribal Nations, and
our many brothers and sisters of all races and walks of life stood
together in solidarity with one prayer, to protect and preserve Bear
Butte. The prayer strengthened the people, which was in the heart of
those who organized the Rally: Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear
Butte, Lakota Action Network, Owe Aku (Bring Back the Way), Mennonite
Central Committee, Bear Butte International Alliance. We all
understood that the Commission is guided by a system of oppression,
the capitalist system. Some felt that the Commission was also guided
by another system of oppression, racism. We understood that
environmental racism (policies/laws which most greatly impact a group
of people-Lakota and other tribes, in this case) would also probably
rear its' ugly head, and it did. Yet, we recalled the words of Martin
Luther King, Jr., who said "Our lives begin to end the day we
become silent about things that matter." We could not be silent
that day, we had to make a stand for our Sacred Mountain. It was a
peaceful stand, there were no arrests, not criminal behavior, no riot
broke out. The Lakota Security (Warrior Society) on duty that day
protected the Rally participants, and kept a firm hand on the crowd
at all times. The only people who got out of hand were the towns folk
peeking out of stores who yelled insults at our youth. We did not
throw insults back, our voice was our March and our Rally, and we
were not silent that day when we made a stand for our Sacred Mountain
and our Way of Life.
Our work is not
done, we will continue to resist the desecration of Bear Butte. April
4 was just the beginning of our resistance. We will continue to make
a stand for our Human Right to pray, for our Sacred Mountain, with
the establishment of an encampment, with Opening Ceremonies on July 4
at Bear Butte. We will camp there with our Tribal Nations,
organizations, and societies, and our allies will join us. We will
have a peaceful Gathering of Nations to Defend Bear Butte. In this
organized resistance to the desecration of our Sacred Mountain, and
the accompanying destruction to our Way of Life, we will host many
learning experiences from traditional medicine and food to
international Human Rights law. The Meade County Commissioners have
stated that they are concerned and worried about so many "Indians
coming to town." We wonder why they do not worry about the
drunken, drugged tourists, a higher crime rate, enormous mounds of
trash, people urinating in the ditches because there are not enough
toilets for half a million people, increased police calls, and the
many social problems testified to by county residents at the hearing
(not to stereo-type the bikers, just repeating the residents'
testimony!). We wonder why the Commission would choose to be faced
with such an outcome, but they don't want Indians praying at Bear Butte_ |
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