Defenders of The Black Hills March Press Release
Posted to NDN AIM by ErthAvengr
Sent by Charmaine White Face..........thanks
Defenders of the Black Hills
PO Box 2003
Rapid City, SD 57709
Phone/Fax (605) 343-5387
For more information please
see---http://www.defendblackhills.com
For Immediate Release:
HUD Secretary Martinez Named in Injunction Filed
to Protect National Historic Landmark
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Mel Martinez, is named as one of
the defendants in an injunction filed on Friday, Feb. 28, 2003, in US
District Court in South Dakota’s Western Division. Four Native American
tribes: the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, the Crow Creek
Sioux Tribe, the Yankton Sioux Tribe, and a grassroots community group;
Defenders of the Black Hills, filed the motion to stop the spending of
federal money intended for low and middle income economic development
projects. The money, in the form of a Community Development Block Grant, was
given to fund the building of a rifle shooting range, that includes a cowboy
action range, near a National Historic Landmark known as Bear Butte. The
Landmark was named by Native American people long ago as it resembles a
reclining, sleeping bear.
For millennia, numerous Native American nations traveled to Bear Butte for
spiritual revelations and religious ceremonies. Individuals also came to
participate in days of solitude and fasting in the vision quest ceremony.
With the passage of the Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978, more and more
members of Tribes from Canada and throughout the United States currently
travel to this sacred place to participate in the same ancient ceremonies.
However, the silence necessary for these ceremonies will be disturbed by the
sound of more than 10,000 rounds of gun shots if the Sportsman’s Complex
Shooting Range is allowed to be built.
The 44 page complaint carefully documents that Indian peoples' First
Amendment Religious Freedom rights will be disregarded, and that defendants
willfully and knowingly violated federal laws by not consulting with any
tribes, many of whose members visit the site daily.
On May 8, 2002, the Mayor of the City of Sturgis, Mark Zeigler, submitted the
application for the CDBG funds. On May 9, a day later, the application was
signed for approval by then Governor, now Congressman Bill Janklow. (At a
public meeting held Jan. 22, 2003, Mayor Zeigler stated that he was
approached by Janklow about the project.) Subsequently, the City of Sturgis
received $825,000 in a Community Development Block Grant under HUD to finance
94% of the Shooting Range.
The Sturgis Industrial Expansion Corporation is the entity planning to build
the shooting range although the application states that a non-profit
organization shall manage the facility. The Chairman of SIEC, Peter Pi, is
also the owner of Cor-Bon, which manufactures ammunition. This past week,
the South Dakota legislature passed a bill (HR 1182) exempting non-profit
shooting ranges from taxes. Opponents of the bill have put pressure on SD
Governor Mike Rounds to veto the bill.
Named as codefendants with Martinez are Black Hills Council of Local
Governments, the Sturgis Industrial Expansion Corporation, the City of
Sturgis, and Black Hills Sportsman’s Complex, Incorporated. Van Lindquist,
Executive Director, of the Black Hills Council of Local Governments acted as
the delegated agency official in Martinez’s role. The defendants are charged
with violating the National Historic Preservation Act, the National
Environmental Policy Act, and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized
Persons Act.
The provisions of the NHPA state "In carrying out its responsibilities under
section 106 [16 U.S. C. 470f], a Federal agency shall consult with any
Indian tribe...that attaches religious and cultural significance to
properties described in subparagraph (A)." However, no Tribes were consulted
even after the Defendants were informed to do so numerous times in writing by
the State Historic Preservation Office. Instead, two state employees who
happen to be Native American were used to concur with the project.
Under Section 800.8(a)(2) of the National Environmental Policy Act, "Indian
tribes...who may be concerned with the possible effects of an agency action
on historic properties should be prepared to consult with agencies early in
the NEPA process, when the purpose of and need for the widest possible range
of alternatives are under consideration." However, the plaintiffs, in their
Memorandum in Support of the Motion for Preliminary Injunction and Speedy
Hearing, states that “the defendant Black Hills Council intentionally
excluded them."
Finally, under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act,
Martinez and the other defendants must prove that keeping the Shooting Range
at its present location “is in furtherance of a compelling government
interest.
For more information: Charmaine White Face, Coordinator,
Defenders of the Black Hills
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