If you've been reading First Nations News and Views (a labor of love of incredible depth and breadth by navajo and Meteor Blades), then you already know the backstory: The various Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota nations, collectively known as Oceti Sakowin, or the Seven Council Fires of the Great Sioux Nation, have a once-in-several-lifetimes chance to recover some of their most sacred lands.
Pe'Sla. The heart of everything that is.
A part of the Black Hills, Pe'Sla includes a 2,000-acre parcel that is currently "owned" by a non-Indian family named Reynolds. I put the word "owned" in quotation marks because the Black Hills belong, under the Treaty of Fort Laramie, to the Oceti Sakowin, but, as usual, the lands were long since stolen by the government and outsiders. [Meteor Blades and navajo covered this particular episode of shameful behavior at some length here.] A few weeks ago, the Reynolds family announced its intent to put the parcel up for auction and sale to the highest bidder.
A door opening to retrieving stolen sacred lands . . . or one slamming shut forever on any hope of recovery?
The Oceti Sakowin are working collectively to try to ensure that the door remains open long enough for the people to recover what is theirs - but time is short. For a time, it appeared that all hope was lost, but the door remains wedged open. We can help - but we have less than a week.
Details below the jump.
The Oceti Sakowin, in conjunction with lastrealindians.com, the Lakota People's Law Project, and Lakota activists like Chase Iron Eyes, had banded together in an effort to raise $1 million to try and buy back the land in question. Below, Mr. Iron Eyes explains the effort:
On Thursday, August 23, the Brock Auction House announced that the Pe'Sla parcel was being taken off the auction block at the direction of a representative of the Reynolds family. However, the parcel remained publicly listed, so it was not safe to assume that it would not still be sold to a non-Sioux buyer. Since that time, however, the owners have reportedly entered into direct negotiations with the Oceti Sakowin. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has announced that it has raised sufficient funding to serve as earnest money for the purchase. But more - much more - will be needed.
A video update on the auction status is here:
A few days ago, the campaign hit the quarter-million-dollar mark - an enormous sum for an indigenous fundraising effort. But it was only a quarter of what the tribes estimated would be needed. As of this writing, the number now stands at $309,937, not quite a third of the way there.
Negotiations such as these are delicate, to say the least. But it's been confirmed that the fundraising campaign is ongoing, and that the Oceti Sakowin and their partners continue to welcome every donation. The campaign is run online through an indiegogo effort, and it is set up to accept donations as small as a mere $5.
Five bucks. One latte. One pack of smokes. One microbrewed ale. One lunch at McDonalds. And every five counts up - fast.
I know we ask people to open their hearts and wallets a lot. But even if you can't give, please spread the word. Everyone you encounter should be a potential target. We've been telling clients, customers, and tourists about the campaign.
This isn't a once-in-a-lifetime chance. As I said above, it's once in SEVERAL lifetimes. Think about how many generations have come and gone, exiled from their sacred lands.
We can change that.
But the clock is ticking.