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Position Statement on Homestake Mine

Position Statement on Homestake Mine

Whereas, Homestake Mine came into being through the illegal trespass by goldseekers into the territory that was set aside for the exclusive use and occupancy of the Great Sioux Nation; and

Whereas, Homestake Mine was responsible for bringing tens of thousands of people into the Black Hills, a place sacred to the Great Sioux Nation and many other Indigenous nations of the North American continent; and

Whereas, the logging of the forests of the sacred Black Hills was started by the officials at Homestake Mine to support their mining operation; and

Whereas, the logging led the way to the destruction of the entire natural ecosystem of the sacred Black Hills to this day with the extermination of many species of flora and fauna exclusive to the Black Hills; and

Whereas, the logging and mining were and continue to be responsible for the desecration and destruction of many places holy to the Great Sioux Nation and other Indigenous nations; and

Whereas the thousands of illegal trespassers that were allowed into the Black Hills to work directly or indirectly for Homestake Mine under the secret orders of United States President Ulysses S. Grant were and continue to be in violation of the U. S. Constitution, Article VI, and in violation of two ratified
treaties that the United States made with the Great Sioux Nation, the Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868; and

Whereas the states known as South Dakota and Wyoming are illegally occupying the Black Hills and the rest of the Treaty Territory; and

Whereas the violation of the U. S. Constitution and the Treaties in order for Homestake Mine to continue to operate was the cause for the genocide of the Great Sioux Nation; and

Whereas the continued operation of Homestake Mine as an underground science laboratory would continue the illegal trespass into the Black Hills and cause further destruction of the Black Hills through the development of an infrastructure to support an increasing human population in the Black Hills, such as housing and road development; and

Whereas, all the residents of South Dakota will be held financially responsible for the environmental liability caused by the above ground and underground mining that was done for the private benefit of the owners of Homestake Mine; and

Whereas, the environmental liability of all activities at Homestake Mine, including the contamination of underground water, is the sole responsibility of the corporate owners of Homestake Mine and the state of South Dakota does not have the right to transfer this responsibility to the taxpayers of South
Dakota;

Therefore, Defenders of the Black Hills opposes the development of an underground science laboratory at the now abandoned Homestake Mine; and

Furthermore, Defenders of the Black Hills urges all people who support legal and social justice, the US Constitution, and the restoration of the sacred Black Hills to its healthy natural state to voice their opposition to the development of Homestake Mine as an underground science laboratory or for any other purpose.

Approved at a Regular Meeting held Jan., 22, 2005. Attest: Charmaine White Face,Coordinator
Nancy Kile, Secretary
 

Mission Statement

"Defenders of the Black Hills is a group of volunteers without racial or tribal boundaries whose mission is to preserve, protect, and restore the environment of the 1851 and 1868 Treaty Territories, Treaties made between the United States and the Great Sioux Nation."

Speaking about radioactive fallout, the late President John F. Kennedy said,

"Even then, the number of children and grandchildren with cancer in their bones, with leukemia in their blood, or with poison in their lungs might seem statistically small to some, in comparison with natural health hazards. But this is not a natural health hazard and it is not a statistical issue. The loss of even one human life, or the malformation of even one baby who may be born long after we are gone, should be of concern to us all. Our children and grandchildren are not merely statistics toward which we can be indifferent."

July 26, 1963 upon signing the ban on above ground nuclear tests