We need your support now to stop the drilling happening now at Pe'Sla. Our community is doing everything we can spiritually, politically, legally, and organizing to stop the desecration of this sacred site. We need you to stand along side us and support our work.
Pause for a moment and think about the most sacred place you know. Maybe it is a church, synagogue, temple, or mosque. Perhaps it is a river, a mountain, or a small altar in your home. Take a breath and reflect on how that place holds you—how it grounds your spirit, offers healing, and welcomes you into relationship with others.. Now imagine hearing that a mining company plans to tear into that sacred place—to drill into the earth for graphite. Imagine knowing that the sanctity of that place could be permanently scarred, sacrificed for profit rather than protected for the generations to come.
This is the reality facing Indigenous Peoples near the He Sapa (Black Hills) who have prayed at the sacred site of Pe’ Sla since time immemorial. Pe’ Sla is a high elevation meadow that sits among the rolling forests of the He Sapa, where wildflowers burst from the earth every summer, a herd of buffalo roams freely, and birds sing as they dance on the mountain wind. This sacred site has been used for ceremonial gatherings of the Lakota, Dakota, and other nations for thousands of years.
In 2024, Pete Lien & Sons, a Rapid City-based mining company, submitted a proposal for what they are calling the “Rochford Mineral Exploratory Drilling Project.” And at the end of last month, the U.S. Forest Service Black Hills Regional Office issued them a permit to drill at Pe’ Sla. In their plan, Pete Lien & Sons would drill holes up to 1,000 ft into Mother Earth directly next to and inside the protected area of this sacred ceremonial site. Threats to Pe’ Sla from this project include: 18 drill pads, 10 drill holes each, with each hole up to 1,000 feet deep. Clear-cutting forests to create wider roads for equipment transfer and drill pads. Toxic drilling results in mud pits, wildlife harm, and loss of all other land uses. High risk of contaminating the Rapid Creek watershed (including the Ellsworth Airforce Base), both surface and underground, due to drill locations extremely close to streams and drilling depth into the aquifer.
The land at Pe’ Sla has taken care of us for generations, and now she needs us to show up and take care of her now more than ever.
You can join us in this fight to save Pe’ Sla by taking action in the following ways:
1. Donate today to support our work on the ground protecting Pe'Sla.
2. Text “SAVEPESLA” to 50302 to stay up to date on the latest developments and future calls to action.
3. Sign our petition: https://ndnco.cc/protectpesla.
4.Learn more about the threat to Pe’ Sla on our latest LANDBACK For the People podcast episode: Sacred Site Under Attack: Pe’ Sla or find on your preferred podcast platform.
