Renewed liquor licenses violate sanctity of Bear Butte

More than 400 people from dozens of tribes gathered at Bear Butte to formulate ways to protect this sacred site.  Photo by Valerie Taliman

BEAR BUTTE, South Dakota -- Ignoring the cultural and spiritual rights of Native peoples, the Meade County commissioners recently approved renewed liquor licenses for four bars that have raised controversy because of their proximity to Bear Butte. 

Indian nations and their supporters no doubt will continue the struggle to protect this sacred site facing off against businessmen who cater to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, attended by more than 500,000 people last year.

But for thousands of years before Sturgis was a town, more than 30 tribes have made spiritual journeys to Bear Butte to fast, to pray, to pick medicines, and to teach their families the importance of perpetuating traditional ceremonial ways.  

The Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, Northern and Southern Cheyenne, Northern and Southern Arapaho, Ponca, Osage, and Kiowa nations traditionally have ceremonies at Bear Butte in the summer months. But in recent years, these ceremonies have been disrupted by intrusions from the nearby Sturgis Motorcycle Rally and the construction of large outdoor amphitheaters that sell hard liquor and blare loud music toward the mountain where Native people are attempting to pray in solitude.

Developers like Jay Allen promise to build "the biggest biker bar on Earth" within two miles of Bear Butte with a huge amphitheater for outdoor concerts and a campsite large enough to accommodate 30,000 bikers.  Read more about the impact of noise, crowds and public intoxication (For Sacred Indian Site, New Neighbors Are Far From Welcome (NY Times).

Despite continuing protests from Indian nations, churches, civil rights groups and even Sturgis residents, the Meade County Commission once again renewed liquor licenses for four controversial establishments.  

Bear Butte is one example of numerous attacks across the country on Native peoples' rights to practice their spiritual beliefs in privacy and without disruption. This is not merely a cultural and spiritual concern. It is a matter of human rights, recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the UN International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Labor Organization's Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention (ILO Convention No. 169.)

Article 7 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides that "Indigenous peoples have the right ... to maintain, protect, and have access in privacy to their religious and cultural sites." In addition, Article 25 provides that "Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally ... occupied and used lands ... and to uphold their responsibilities to future generations in this regard."

The UN Declaration spells out the legal and moral obligations of countries, including the United States, to respect and promote the human rights of indigenous peoples - particularly the right to maintain, protect and have access in privacy to their spiritual and cultural sites. This fundamental human right is at risk with the newest alcohol and concert hall developments taking place at Bear Butte. The UN Declaration recognizes these rights, and we call upon the United States to fulfill its obligation to protect indigenous peoples' right to continue their spiritual practices at Bear Butte.