CPTnet
7 August 2007
BEAR BUTTE, SD: Prayerful responses to the threat of development

by John Spragge

"I don't want people to drink beer and watch my grandson praying as their
entertainment." With these words, traditional Lakota elder and organizer
Deb White Plume summed up the problem with allowing unlimited party venues
to surround the holiest Native American site in North America's Great Plains
region.

The speech by Deb White Plume on 5 August 2005 culminated an afternoon of
teachings by Native Elders on the language, philosophy, and customs of the
Lakota, the Crow, and the Cheyenne people, and their relationship to Mato
Paha, the mountain also known as Bear Butte. Mato Paha sits on the South
Dakota plains that fringe the Black Hills. The town of Sturgis, four miles
southwest of the mountain, hosts a major motorcycle rally every August, and
bars, concert venues, and campgrounds spilling from Sturgis threaten the
mountain.

Elders gathered to discuss a traditional, prayerful response to this threat,
focusing on the need to preserve language and culture for future
generations. The South Dakota Association of Christian Churches and
Christian Peacemaker Teams spoke about the problem from a Christian
perspective.

At the same meeting, CPTers also had an opportunity to learn about new
development proposals, from road-building to uranium mining, that threaten
Mato Paha, the Black Hills, Pine Ridge, and the Lakota way of life. The
people at the forum warmly welcomed CPT and invited the organization to
continue working with them.