Protect Bear Butte

Protect Bear Butte, our sacred ground is not their playground!

Bear Butte is a sacred mountain located in the Black Hills, just eight miles east of Sturgis, South Dakota.

Bear Butte is sacred to approximately thirty of the Plains Tribes, including Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho. The Tribes, have traveled to Bear Butte for thousands of years for their annual ceremonies, generally in the months of June through August.

When people come to the sacred mountain for their ceremonies, they prepare for this journey for one year. Bear Butte is where people go for healing, or to ask for guidance about any hardships and issues they may be faced with. The sacred mountain, Bear Butte and Grandmother Earth are our church.
The blatant disregard for the spiritual beliefs and ceremonies of Native People and the sacredness of this mountain is evidenced by the increased presence of bars, clubs, strobe lights, campgrounds that sell alcohol, concert venues and helicopters over the mountain.

Instead of praying in peace, traditional people are forced to pray with loud music from bars, motorcycle noise, flashing strobe lights over the mountain, and intoxicated campers nearby.

In the past couple years, the rally has expanded and development is encroaching right toward Bear Butte. In 2006, Jay Allen owner of Broken Spoke developed at property one mile from Bear Butte called Sturgis County Line. He has been very disrespectful from the very beginning to the Native people in this issue, completely disregarding our concerns of his development.

Over the past two years, there has been an ongoing struggle to Protect Bear Butte against this development. Recently, this location has further expanded and developed, they also changed the name to Broken Spoke Campground. Some of their expansions include opening year round, hosting rally type events all summer long, hosting concerts each night and their latest attack, offering helicopter rides over the mountain during the rally. These expansions will virtually make it impossible, all summer to pray in peace at Bear Butte.

A campaign called “Bikers for Bear Butte” is in progress to educate bikers, in regards to the significance and protection for Bear Butte. This has been an on-going effort to create awareness over the past two years. People from across the nation have participated in reaching out to the bikers. It is through awareness that we can help make a difference with this issue. We have support from many people within the biker community but most people remain unaware of the struggle. Many bikers have stated they were not aware of the significance of Bear Butte previously, but will now support us and act accordingly.

We ask for respectful behavior from people who are near the mountain. We want to limit the noise, intrusive lighting, alcohol consumption and stop the helicopter rides over Bear Butte.

Today, Native people are struggling to protect sacred sites across the country. Protecting what is sacred, our identity, culture and spirituality. These sites have been sacred since the beginning of time. Tribes received their creation stories from these sites, their medicine and their way of life.

Our sacred sites represent who we are as a people, connect us to our ancestors and to the Creator. If these places vanish where we go to pray, to fast, to speak with our ancestors, where our ancestors are laid to rest, what will happen to tradition and spirituality?

The loss of sacred sites, or ability to have the natural serenity and tranquility needed for cultural and ceremonial use, ultimately affects the life of seven generations yet to come.

http://www.ProtectBearButte.com
Protect Bear Butte Blog

Protect Sacred Sites Indigenous People, One Nation is a grass roots organization, working towards the protection of sacred sites across the country. Our organization has been actively involved with the ongoing struggle to Protect Bear Butte for several years. We are continuing these efforts, our organization is currently leading the campaign regarding the new developments and further expansions at Bear Butte.

Please visit our main website at
http://www.ProtectSacredSites.org

November 28, 2008

Action Alert!
Bear Butte Letters needed for protection of Bear Butte by December 2nd

http://bearbutte.blogspot.com/