gold rush<\/a> of the 1870s that developed the region and displaced Native Americans. And in recent years, a new crop of miners driven by rising gold prices have sought to return to the landscape.<\/p>\nThe complaint said the project by Rapid City-based mining company Pete Lien & Sons would impact the use of Pe\u2019Sla for traditional, cultural and religious purposes by the tribes, and that the Forest Service did not consult with the tribes before approving the project. <\/p>\n
Parts of Pe\u2019Sla are owned by Sioux tribes after they bought the land in 2012, 2015 and 2018, and an agreement between the tribes and the Forest Service established a two-mile (three kilometer) buffer zone on public lands around the site, according to the complaint.<\/p>\n
Because Pe’Sla was not included as an affected area and no environmental review was conducted, the approval violates the National Historic Preservation Act and National Environmental Policy Act, the lawsuit alleges.<\/p>\n
Pete Lien & Sons, which supplies materials like limestone, sand and gravel, did not return email requests or voicemails for comment Thursday and Sunday.<\/p>\n
Frank Star Comes Out, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said in a statement that the lawsuit is \u201ca historic demonstration of unity” between the nine tribes. The tribes are separate, distinct federally recognized tribes sharing cultural and linguistic roots, but each with its own government and land base.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe as Lakota people have been coming and praying and holding ceremony at these places for over 2,000 years,\u201d said Wizipan Garriott, president of Indigenous advocacy group NDN Collective and a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. \u201cAnd so us being here is a continuation of countless generations before us. And it\u2019s important that these sacred places be protected for future generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project was granted a permit from the Forest Service in February without conducting an environmental review because the agency said it met the requirements for a categorical exclusion, like having a duration of less than a year and not posing impacts to environmental and cultural sites.<\/p>\n
But tribal opponents disagree that those requirements were met and said drilling projects are often a first step leading to future mines.<\/p>\n
Besides the lawsuit from the tribes, NDN Collective and other environmental groups filed a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to halt the project.<\/p>\n
Some of the drilling pads are in the buffer zone around the site, according to NDN Collective. The project calls for the company to drill up to 18 holes down some 1,000 feet (300 meters) into the Earth to collect samples.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, opponents demonstrated with signs reading \u201cProtect Pe’Sla\u201d and \u201cSacred ground not mining bound\u201d near two drilling pads to block access. NDN Collective said the Forest Service told them drilling was paused for the rest of the day and the contractors were sent home. <\/p>\n
The Forest Service said in a statement that it had no comment on the project when asked for a response.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Forest Service does not comment on the specifics of the case or on issues that are part of ongoing legal proceedings,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n
It is unclear when drilling began, but NDN Collective said it noticed drilling pads in operation last week. The group said protest actions will continue as needed to protect Pe’Sla.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs Lakota, we pray as long as we need to,\u201d Garriott said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Nine Native American tribes in South Dakota, North Dakota and Nebraska are suing the federal government in a bid to stop […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":353611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[6910,25687,29118,1779,10027,609,29985,3363,29986,29983,29984],"class_list":["post-353608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-advocacy","tag-mining","tag-mount-rushmore","tag-nebraska","tag-north-dakota","tag-president","tag-rosebud-sioux-tribe","tag-south-dakota","tag-speedy-metropolis","tag-u-s-forest-service","tag-wizipan-garriott"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353608"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":353610,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353608\/revisions\/353610"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.etrafficlane.com\/60dollarmiracle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}