Pe’ Sla, or Reynolds Prairie, is a high-elevation Black Hills meadow of sacred importance to Lakota people. (Seth Tupper/South Dakota Searchlight)
An environmental organization and a Native American advocacy group say two important Black Hills cultural and historical sites face threats from exploratory drilling projects.
One of the projects is proposed by Rapid City-based Pete Lien and Sons. It wants to conduct exploratory drilling for graphite on national forest land near Pe’ Sla, also known as Reynolds Prairie, which is a high-elevation meadow in the central Black Hills. Graphite is used in electric vehicle batteries, lubricants, pencils and other products.
Pe’ Sla is a ceremonial site for Lakota people, and it figures prominently in traditional Lakota creation stories.
“Drilling at Pe’ Sla would be like drilling under the Vatican or at a sacred site in Jerusalem,” said Taylor Gunhammer, an Oglala Lakota, in a news release. “Under any circumstances, it is not a place to be considering mining.”
In response to questions from South Dakota Searchlight, a representative of Pete Lien and Sons said the U.S. Forest Service is reviewing the plan’s potential impact on sites of cultural and historical significance in the proposed project area, and questions and concerns should be directed to that agency.
Gunhammer is a local organizer with NDN Collective, a Native American advocacy group in Rapid City. NDN and the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance are encouraging people to submit comments on the Pete Lien and Sons project and another project that could affect Craven Canyon in the southern Black Hills.
That’s where a Canadian company, Clean Nuclear Energy Corp., plans to conduct exploratory drilling for uranium on state-owned land located seven miles north of Edgemont. Uranium is the primary ingredient in nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants.
The Black Hills Clean Water Alliance and NDN said Craven Canyon contains 7,000-year-old cultural and historical sites of importance to Indigenous tribes, historians and archeologists.
A representative of Clean Nuclear Energy Corp., Mike Blady, said in email correspondence with South Dakota Searchlight that the proposed exploration area has been explored and mined previously. A letter to the company from state regulators last year said the area is within a quarter-mile of the edge of Craven Canyon, but Blady said the area is over a mile away.
“We are aware of the cultural significance and are doing everything in our power to ensure that there is no collateral damage,” Blady wrote. “We have consulted with the state and federal government as well as hosting an open house for Indigenous groups and are confident that there will not be adverse effects.
Meanwhile, another company, enCore Energy, hopes to mine uranium in the Edgemont area. Its various state and federal mining permit applications have been bogged down in administrative and court appeals for years.
The Clean Nuclear Energy Corp. drilling proposal will be considered by the state Board of Minerals and Environment. The Pete Lien and Sons proposal is under consideration by the supervisor of the Black Hills National Forest. Both proposals are open for public comment.