RAPID CITY, SD — Around 200 arrived this afternoon to witness the first volley of what is likely to be a prolonged legal battle between Non-Government Activist Organizations, allied with the nine tribes of the Great Sioux Nation, against the US Forest Service. 

District Judge Camela Theeler issued a 14-day Temporary Restraining order aimed at preserving Pe’ Sla from potential damages from exploratory graphite drilling located in the two mile buffer zone around the sacred site.

Conflicts between Native American groups and Pete Lien over Pe’ Sla began over a year ago following the proposal for exploratory drilling, with the intent to establish graphite mines within the Black Hills. This proposal was pushed forward by the Forest Service to significant backlash from native groups. 

Pe’ Sla a protected Federal Trust site since 2016, recognized as being vital to the cultural survival of the Lakota, Nakota, and Dakota Native American groups. A two mile buffer was also established around the site at this time, existing with the intention of preventing developments which could bring lasting damage to the site. To the Great Sioux Nation, these sites represent the traditional origin of their people, and act as a modern space for religious ceremony, the gathering of traditional medicine, and a venue for cultural education. Mark Van Norman, representing the tribes in this case, referred to the site as “Both a church and a school”.

The above map is a visual aid for informational use only. It was compiled from numerous sources to estimate the location of drill pads in relation to Pe’ Sla and the two mile protective buffer zone put in place by the U.S. Forest Service and tribes. (Courtesy of NDNCollective)

The plaintiffs argument focused greatly on this, stating that the Forest Service in their approval had been rushed – that they had not gone through proper tribal channels as required by the NHPA (National Historic Preservation Act) necessary to establish tribal concerns, that the placement of drilling pads 2400 feet from the site flagrantly disregards the buffer zone established by the federal government, and that the drilling and following reclamation efforts could cause immediate harm to the landscape, causing noise and visual disturbance to ceremony and potentially disturbing the native plants gathered for medicinal purposes.

The defense, the US Forest Service argued that they had performed necessary processes, determining noise would be at “Acceptable levels for wildlife”, and that the Forest Service’s obligation to conduct government-to-government communications with affected tribes was fulfilled via emails sent to tribal officials, and that individual meetings also met these requirements by virtue of holding individual public meetings which were labeled in the agenda heading as “government-to-government” meetings. Additionally, they claimed that material concerns for noise were insubstantial, or anecdotal in nature.

In the end however, Judge Theeler established a 14 Day Temporary Restraining Order and bond of 10 Thousand Dollars to be paid to Pete Lien & Sons by the NDN Collective (as a precautionary measure against later claims of wrongful injury) siding with NDN in anticipation of a potentially more long-term preliminary injunction, to be decided on in an evidentiary hearing forthcoming.

Judge Theeler stated in her decision that she felt the case was warranted, and that based on substantive claims from plaintiffs, feels that the forest service “Acted arbitrarily in its approval of the proposal”. 

The evidentiary hearing covering the preliminary injunction is expected to be set for the tail end of the month.