For Sacred Indian Site, New Neighbors Are Far From Welcome
By JIM ROBBINS
New York Times
August 4, 2006


STURGIS, S.D., Aug. 2 Robert Simpson pieces together a living, building ranch fences and riding saddle broncs at rodeos. When things get tough, he says, he makes a trip from his home in Montana to the Black Hills of South Dakota, where he can practice the traditional ways of his tribe, the Northern Cheyenne, with four days of fasting and praying on a bed of buffalo robes and sage atop Bear Butte.

Spirits come and hear your prayers, Mr. Simpson said. You can regroup from everyday life, and get your marbles together. Its peaceful.

But Bear Butte, which dozens of tribes hold as one of the most sacred sites in North America, is getting a new neighbor: a giant biker bar and campground are under construction about two and a half miles away. They are scheduled to open this weekend, in time for the annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, one of the countrys largest biker events, which officially starts Monday.

The potential for rock music, roaring motorcycles and thousands of people drinking near the striking volcanic Bear Butte formation has brought American Indians from around the country to an encampment on the treeless plains near here. They plan to march into downtown Sturgis on Friday to demonstrate their concerns to the bikers already gathering for the rally.

Organizers said that about 2,000 Indians and their supporters were expected to take part. Nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation was the site of the Wounded Knee standoff in 1973, and some participants are veterans of that protest. Some religious groups, including the Mennonite Central Committee at Pine Ridge, have also become involved.

We need integrity in our ceremonies here, and it requires a certain amount of quiet, said Alex White Plume, president of the Oglala Sioux tribe at Pine Ridge, as he stood at the hot, windy encampment at the base of the butte about five miles from here. A small buffalo herd still roams the land.

Mr. White Plume estimated that as many as 8,000 Indians from 30 tribes around the country travel to Bear Butte, which the Sioux and others call Mato Paha, to fast and pray each year. Bear Butte, which rises 1,100 feet, is in a state park with an interpretative center that describes the central role the butte played in the lives of the Plains Indians for centuries.

Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Black Elk and other widely known leaders sought visions here, and the trees are still covered with bright prayer cloths and other offerings of modern-day seekers. The Sioux call it an emergence site, where their prophet Sweet Medicine brought forth the cultural traditions of their people. Tribal traditionalists say many people are finding their way back to the old ways, which is healing the drug and alcohol addictions that have plagued tribes.

Mr. White Plume said tribal leaders wanted to preserve a five-mile buffer around Bear Butte. Over the years, tribes have spent more than $1 million to buy about two and a half square miles of land near the butte, but they have not been able to raise enough money to protect the rest.

Down the road from the encampment, Jay Allen, who owns the Broken Spoke Saloon here in town, is racing to finish the new bar. Mr. Allen said that the Indians concerns were overblown and that the bar and campground would be good neighbors.

Were very responsible about how we run our operation, he said, as a table saw whined behind him in a parking lot filled with antique Harley Davidsons and construction equipment. Weve got a flawless reputation.

Mr. Allen estimated the cost of his 22,000-square-foot, three-story bar and adjacent campground at $3.5 million. The bar will allow motorcyclists to ride through it, and it will feature a regular Best Breast contest. A separate rock music amphitheater, he said, will face away from the mountain to reduce noise.

I know for a fact that this isnt a disruption, Mr. Allen said.

I come out here all of the time for sunsets, and to me this is sacred ground. Look at that mountain, he said, gesturing toward the butte. No one has anything like it.

The disagreement over the new businesses is one of the largest controversies here in many years. There have been numerous public meetings, and seven lawsuits have contested the beer and liquor licenses granted to Mr. Allen and other campground owners. The Meade County commissioners who approved the permits have refused to comment because of the lawsuits.

Laura Gehner, a spokeswoman for Gary Lippold, a local businessman who puts on a five-night concert called Rockn the Rally, said that Mr. Lippold had taken measures to reduce the noise but that the proposed buffer was impractical.

The Native Americans are asking for far more than is feasible, Ms. Gehner said. A five-mile buffer would extend into Sturgis.

Tim Coulter, director of the Indian Law Resource Center in Helena, Mont., said the new development, as well as two nearby campgrounds with bars, would violate a declaration on the rights of indigenous people that the United Nations is expected to pass next month.

This declaration says that Indian people need to be able to control development or their culture and traditions and even their existence as a distinct people are likely to be destroyed, said Mr. Coulter, who helped write the United Nations document and has joined the encampment at Bear Butte. The document says the world is watching and considers this a crucial matter.

Opposition to the new development has brought support from non-Indians as well. In addition to the Mennonites involvement, the Association of Christian Churches of South Dakota backed a march last month.

Because we suppressed their ability to pray their way, and because of the terrible history churches have with Indian people, we want to work with them to protect these last few places, said Carl Meyer, who works for the Mennonite Central Committee on the Pine Ridge reservation.

Some bikers have also sided with the Indians.

If they wanted to put a bar in the Vatican it would be the same thing, said Kenneth G. Robinson, who rode out from Sturgis with another biker to show his support.

The Indian encampment, which was set up on July 1, has been a mix of modern and the old ways. A low-power FM station called MATO carries speeches by Indian leaders, while wireless Internet enables laptops amidst teepees and traditional staffs with eagle feathers fluttering in the breeze.

Mr. Simpson said he hoped the protest would force a change.

I want my kids to be able to go up there and fast and pray and not have Aerosmith playing in the background, he said.

Mr. Allen, the bar owner, said he had planned to build a statue of an 80-foot-high praying Indian on his property as a nod to his neighbors, but has since given up the idea.

Everyone loved it, he said, but the Native Americans.


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Protesters Ask Bikers to Stay Away
By Kevin Woster, Journal Staff Writer
Rapid City Journal
August 5, 2006

STURGIS - American Indians from throughout the nation marched into the rumbling heart of the Sturgis motorcycle rally Friday to ask bikers to steer clear of Bear Butte, a prairie mountain that holds the spiritual soul of many tribal people.

As the temperature sizzled toward 100 degrees, about 200 protesters including a scattering of non-Indian supporters of the rally gathered at Meade County Law Enforcement Center to flash signs and urge bikers passing on Main Street not to drive the stretch of S.D. Highway 79 leading to Bear Butte a few miles northeast of town.

The peaceful, three-hour protest was aimed at persuading county officials to create a five-mile buffer zone against development around Bear Butte to protect the mountain from the raucous spread of the rally.

Speaking through a microphone, Alex White Plume, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, told the crowd that county officials had turned deaf ears to requests by American Indian leaders to block development near the mountain, known as Mato Paha in the Lakota language. More than just a zoning issue, the battle to protect Bear Butte is essential if the Lakota and other tribes are to survive the ongoing attempts by non-Indian governments to assimilate them, White Plume said.

We will no longer exist as a people if we lose our mountain, he said. We have to draw a line today and say were not going to be assimilated any more.

The protest began with a prayer gathering at Bear Butte and moved into town for the rally at the law enforcement center. They then drove to the intersection of S.D. Highways 34 and 79, where the most physically able marched north to their camp at Bear Butte.

At least one protester was treated for heat exhaustion by medical personnel at the law enforcement center.

Protest organizers worked with law enforcement officers to coordinate the rally and march. Officers were scattered around the perimeter of the rally at the law enforcement center, along with young Indian men in military-style and boots and pants, and red shirts that read Mato Paha Security. The men, members of the Warrior Society, wore bandanas over their faces to represent the centuries of invisibility they and their ancestors have suffered because of colonizing powers.

Warrior Society spokesman Vic Camp of Manderson said bikers arent welcome at Bear Butte unless they come with a respectful attitude.

We dont want them at Bear Butte, unless theyre going to come in a sober, clean way to pray, Camp said.

Part of the state park at Bear Butte is open to the public. But another part is restricted to Indian religious ceremonies.

Most bikers passing on motorcycles or walking on the sidewalk across the street appeared puzzled by the rally and the chants of Dont Ride 79. Some raised a fist in a gesture of support and a few shouted back in derision.

Biker Bruce Isringhausen of Godfrey, Ill., said he wasnt aware of the Bear Butte issue and hadnt ever been to the mountain. But the rally made him curious enough to go.

I think Ill probably go up there now and have a look, he said. Is it cooler out there?

Bob and Joan Brown of Phoenix walked inside the perimeter of the protest and listened to several speakers. They agreed that they would honor the wishes of the protesters and stay off the route to the butte.

Its a legacy that should be honored. Were not going to ride 79, Bob Brown said. We want to show respect for what theyre trying to do to show respect for those who came before us and those who will come after us.

Joan Brown said it would be a small sacrifice: Theres lots of beautiful roads.

Carter Camp, a former American Indian Movement leader who helped form the Intertribal Coalition to Defend Bear Butte, said the rally was aimed at the county officials who granted beer and liquor permits for businesses wanting to build near the butte.

But bikers can help in the effort to protect the mountain by honoring protesters request that they not ride that stretch of highway, Camp said.

Our fight is not with the bikers. Its with the government, he said. We dont care if they (bikers) party their lives away. Our problem is when they do it next to Bear Butte. Were not going to end the struggle until we have a five-mile buffer zone to stop that development out there.

As the protest began to wind down at the law enforcement center, White Plume discussed the possibility of a rally Monday, to be aimed at U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne. Kempthorne and Josh Bolten, chief of staff for President Bush, will be among a group of dignitaries in Sturgis on Monday for the dedication of new motorcycle stamps by the U.S. Postal Service.

Kempthorne and Bolten also will join in a motorcycle ride to Crazy Horse Memorial.

White Plume said Kempthorne should be meeting with tribal officials on more serious matters.

He needs to be addressing our issues, White Plume said. Hes going to be dedicating a damn bikers stamp when weve got people starving.

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com

NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.

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thank you: CrimethInc. International


This was sent our way recently. If anyone wants to travel there and help feed, please use the contact info below.
--Rufio

Greetings~
My name is Sky Davis. I am with Save Bear Butte. We
currently have a Peace Camp at Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota hoping to
prevent the further destruction of our sacred land by bringing together people
of all cultures in order to provide awareness to our situation through
community, education and ceremony.
We are currently desperately low on food stuff to provide for the kind people
who are here to assist us in our struggle. If you or any one you know can offer
assistance we would be very grateful.
You may contact me at:
ironlodgesky@charter.net or 413-529-9423 (I am not in South Dakota, I am
coordinating from western Massachusetts).
Regards, Sky Davis
(www.defendbearbutte.org).