Home Meetings Meetings November 21, 2004

November 21, 2004

November 21, 2004

Defenders of the Black Hills 11-21-04 Meeting notes

Opening prayer: Nancy

Introductions

Treasurers report: Brian

Opening comments: Charmaine

Wopila prayer gathering at Beaver Park.

20 people walked up the road to the cultural site for prayers. The site remains undisturbed, but the road that goes by it has been upgraded. The choke cherries and other foliage that surrounded the entrance of the former trail is removed, an ancient flint knapping site is gone.

Those in attendance agreed to go up there again for prayers in 2005.

Everyone went to Mother Butler hall for the noon meal. The Defenders regular monthly meeting followed.

Forest Service Phase II meetings at the I-90 Rapid City Visitors Center.

1.) Frank Carroll expressed that the Forest Service wants to help with Indigenous signage in the forest.

A one page letter joining Biodiversity?s technical comments drafted and sent out on Defenders web site e-mail list before the Dec. 15th comment period closing date. (Brian did you volunteer to draft?)

Tentative date set for Brian presenting at School of Mines, Dec. 8th.

Discussion on Phase II and impacts to the He?Sapa

The 1997 Forest Plan is not protecting sensitive species. Black Hills National Forest service is taking the position that wildlife is persisting. Wildlife is not thriving and we cannot expect that it will in light of all the development taking place in the He?Sapa.

Black Hills National Forest as an agency is focusing on fire prevention because pressure comes from those who believe that private property has value and public land does not.

Ruth volunteered to get a forest service map.

Lilly has access to map making software that can create overlay.

Defenders, Tribes and Treaty councils should send a letter of support for the Inyan Kara mineral withdraw proposal.

Homestake should be held up as a symbol of betrayal.

Who is held accountable for the clean up of abandoned mines? Tax payers are expected to bail out industry while illegal trespass degrades the environment and the Treaties.

Super Fund is national priority list with monies to be used to clean up contaminated sites. He?Sapa hold all the clean up sites for South Dakota.

Lilly will develop a draft fact sheet on Homestake Scientific Lab for the Dec. meeting. It was suggested to incorporate a time line in the fact sheet, Treaty, National Forest Service, State, and Janklow.

Brainerd Indian School:

Brainerd Indian school sites sits at the fork on two water sheds that are likely contaminated by uranium mines. Indigenous students were exposed. Who owned these mines? Tennessee Valley. Who is responsible for clean up? Who is accountable for impacts on people and wildlife? Igloo was the location of a WW II bomb building operation (documented contamination and clean up efforts due to munitions dump), land values are still low (what isn?t being told to possible developers), German POW camp was also located in the area.

Hot Springs newspaper article sited for information about water quality and Nature Conservancy interest.

Hot Springs area is a unique geological site, warm springs. Culturally significant to Indigenous peoples.

Charmaine volunteered to write a grant specifically for uranium mine clean up.

Reports:

Bear Butte Preservation Task Force report given by Nancy, Jace and Nora. Next BBPTF meeting is Dec. 8th at Nora?s in Spearfish, 6 p.m.

Plant survey discussion; no plants are listed as endangered in South Dakota.

Elders are leery of giving information about medicines to state and federal agencies. This knowledge may be misused and exploited by the dominant culture under the cloak of economic viability.

Charmaine will be leaving for United Nations meetings in Geneva, Switzerland.

Lakota Journal wants us to buy and add in their weekly.

Brian Brewer waived the booth fee for Defenders table at LNI, Dec. 16th 17th and 18th. We will sell raffle tickets and raffle our items off Sat. Dec. 18th.

Next Defenders regular meeting will be Fri. Dec. 17th afternoon 1-5 p.m. at Mother Butler. We will publicize our December meeting time and place at LNI table and offer Ingrid?s donated giner bread house for a door prize.

Janice, Nora, Charmaine, Lilly, Garvard, Ingrid and Nancy volunteered to table at LNI, Dec. 16th, 17th and 18th.

Defenders has been invited to set up a booth at the Dakota Fest in Brandon, Manitoba in January, 2005.

Closing prayer: Garvard

Potluck

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