Community members growing powerful coalition to safeguard Black Hills’ sacred sites and resources

RAPID CITY – A number of groups have formed what a local Native leader called a “winning coalition” to protect the sacred sites of the Black Hills and more. “In South Dakota, I do believe that the coalitions amongst our environmental groups, water protectors, people standing against violence against women, the LGBTQA, the tribal nations – this is a winning coalition to make social change in South Dakota,” said COUP Council Executive Director Dr. Natalie Stites Means offering words of encouragement to the 25 or so people who came on Monday night to the first of three Save The Black Hills (STBH) dinners sponsored by the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance (BHCWA).

The first near-freezing rain of the season didn’t deter people from filling up the parking lot and the meeting room at the Minneluzahan Senior Center at 315 N. 4th Street in Rapid City, to share a meal, get an update on mining activities, and learn what they can do to help protect sacred sites, waterways and communities from more radioactive and destructive mining.

With a mining boom underway, permitting processes for exploration and drilling projects remain confusing and unclear. One of the sacred sites under threat is Pe Sla in the Black Hills. Pete Lien and Sons has proposed exploratory drilling in the area for graphite.

In 2012, four tribes – Rosebud, Shakopee Mdewakanton,

Crow Creek, and Standing Rock Sioux Tribes – raised $9 million dollars to purchase the 2,022 acres at Pe Sla to return the land to a sacred site for traditional ceremonies and preservation.

The Reynolds Family, who had owned the land since the late 1800’s, had intended to auction the property in parcels for potential development. Carla Rae Marshall from the BHCWA said when they heard about the rumor, they began a GoFundMe account and raised the money to purchase the land with the help of the four tribes. “It received federal Indian trust status in 2016. So, we were able to hold the land together so it wouldn’t be split up and developed.”

Marshall explained that the area is southwest of Rochford and north of Deerfield Reservoir. She noted that Rochford Road has been black topped. “I wonder why they black topped it?” she asked aloud, intimating it may have something to do with the mining proposal by PLS. “Does anybody know who they are? You can’t miss them. You drive out to Black Hawk on the interstate going west from Rapid City, you’re going to see the damage that they have caused with their gravel mining and processing.”

Most days of the week, the west end of Rapid City and portions of Black Hawk are enshrouded in dust from PLS activities as well as related industries.

Marshall showed a map of the north central Black Hills shows the threat from PLS’s proposed graphite project. “This is directly along Castle Creek tributaries that are in the Rapid Creek watershed, which supplies water for Rapid City, Ellsworth Air Force Base as well as communities and ranches downstream.”

A boundary for the site was set in 2024 in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the U. S. Forest Service and tribal representatives. Marshall explained that the solid yellow line shows that boundary, however, the actual size of the protected area would need to be substantially larger because exploratory drilling is a 24-hour-a-day process involving noise, lights, and traffic, which would disrupt ceremonies and wildlife in the area.

There are already active mining claims in the brown squares shown on the map. The black squares show where PLS wants to place at least one drilling site. “The company is proposing 18 drilling sites as deep as a-thousand feet. There would also be two large storage sites and almost a mile of new 15-foot-wide overland routes.

While many of the attendees had been to Pe Sla, many had not been to Craven Canyon. BHCWA Communications Associate Denise Giago said that’s because it’s a protected area and visits can be arranged for educational and spiritual purposes only. “The reason is because it 7,000 years old, and it is the most amazing, power place.” But it’s threatened by a new uranium mining proposal in the area that was historically mined for uranium.

She said that this is an exploration project that is currently being contested by BHCWA, NDN Collect and the Oglala Sioux Trie. .“We are in the middle of a court case right now. So, stay tuned.” She said that a tentative hearing has been set for early January 2026.

BHCWA cites recent research conducted in South Dakota that finds uranium is both toxic and radioactive and poses a significant risk to human health and the environment. Water tests on the Cheyenne and Missouri Rivers and on the Pine Ridge Reservation show significant uranium contamination, above EPA standards.

BHCWA says that nuclear energy is not “clean” and poses environmental and health risks at every stage of the process – from exploration for uranium to processing uranium into nuclear fuel, to finding a destination to store high-level nuclear waste.

BHCWA also provided a fact sheet about proposed data centers, which they say risk overloading local water resources, driving up electricity costs, fueling inequality, threatening privacy and leaving taxpayers with the costs while corporations capture the benefits. Data Centers play a crucial role in the storage, management, and dissemination of data. Two data centers have been proposed, Artificial Intelligence (AI) process facilities in the industrial park southeast of Rapid City on Highway 79.

The Rapid City Council recently approved a Tax Increment Financing district (TIF) for the industrial park where the data center are proposed, putting taxpayers on the hook if the projects fail.

Data centers use a massive amount of electricity for their servers and cooling systems, frequently relying on fossil fuels which can lead to increased carbon emissions, strain local resources and increase utility costs. They consume millions of gallons of water daily for cooling. BHCWA says that data centers would compete with agriculture, tourism, residents, and a booming mining industry for water.

Two more free STBH Dinner & Info events are scheduled so communities can learn about Black Hills threats from increased mining. The presentation at the December 1 gathering will be about actions being taken to protect waterways. The presentation on December 8 will be about protecting communities.

(Contact Marnie Cook at cookm8715@mail.com)

The post Community members growing powerful coalition to safeguard Black Hills’ sacred sites and resources first appeared on Native Sun News Today.

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