The Ȟesápa, also known as the Black Hills, are the center of Lakota lifeways and culture. To the land’s children, it has always been more than trees and water, it is the home and foundation of many. It is the birthplace of a people who have respected and fought to protect it for generations.
The latest iteration of this fight is protecting the Ȟesápa from mining. Mining interests around the world have often left once lush, natural, biodiverse landscapes little more than jagged pits that stand out like scars, wounds on the Earth. In the Black Hills of so-called South Dakota, the early “discovery” of gold and minerals led to an influx of settler colonialism, racist U.S. policy, land theft, and contributed to the genocide of Lakota people and surrounding nations.
On December 26, 2024 US Secretary of the Interior, Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo), signed and approved the Pactola Mineral Withdrawal for the US Forest Service, protecting those lands from any and all mining for 20 years.
“The Pactola Reservoir-Rapid Creek Watershed is a treasured landscape, valued for its clean air and water, abundant recreation and ecological benefits, and sacred to multiple Tribes who call the area home,” said Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland in a statement. “I’m proud to take action today to withdraw this area for the next 20 years, to help protect clean drinking water and ensure this special place is protected for future generations.”
This victory is the result of years of advocacy and community organizing, working with tribes, local officials and the US Forest Service to protect water and natural resources. Protect the Ȟesápa organizers advocated for the passing of the Pactola Mineral Withdrawal, a proposal by the US Forest Service that would protect up to 20,000 acres of land near the Pactola Reservoir from any mining or mining exploration for at least twenty years. With support from the community and tribal partners, organizers were able to gathermore than 1,900 public comments supporting the mineral withdrawal submitted before the deadline, a huge win for the campaign and the Ȟesápa.
Local organizers with NDN Collective began the Protect the Ȟesápa campaign in 2021 to end mining in the Black Hills through advocacy, public education, and bringing together community stakeholders including tribes, local leaders, and tourism. “We work with our grassroots people, on the ground activists, local organizations and our tribal governments, bringing all these people together to Protect the Ȟesápa,” according to organizers of the Protect the Ȟesápa campaign.
The human and environmental harms of the mining industry are many. The destruction of sacred Indigenous lands and cultural sites, contamination of ground and surface water, aquifer depletion, wildlife habitat and ecosystem destruction, and acid mine drainage are just some of the negative impacts of mines at all levels. The carbon footprint of this industry also has a disproportionate impact on BIPOC communities (environmental racism) and perpetuates the indisputably racist mining policy the U.S. has adopted since 1872. In the U.S. there are approximately 500,000 abandoned mine sites, which have continued to be sources of environmental pollution throughout the 152 years of the 1872 General Mining Act.
“The 1872 Mining Act created the political and legal conditions that allowed corporations to have more rights than human beings. It allowed corporations to have the ability to violate the treaties of 1851 and 1868, steal land, and put mining claims on public lands,” said Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective president & CEO on the podcast, LANDBACK for the People, where a recent episode discusses the issue of mining in the Black Hills.
The General Mining Act of 1872 paved the way for individual mining exploration, “discovery”, ownership, and minerals found on federal lands. This opened the floodgates on tribal land and there was nothing outlined in the law that required Indigenous people and tribes be informed of mining exploration on their lands. This led to further diminished land bases and the theft of Indigenous land by individuals and mining companies who laid “claim” to sites where valuable minerals were found.
“One thing I think we need to make more known is the baseline pollution that occurs from mining projects in all forms,” said Taylor Gunhammer, local organizer on the Protect the Ȟesápa campaign. “Acid mine drainage is a good example, it happens when rocks containing sulfide minerals are broken apart, which they are in every form of lithium mining, and those sulfides are exposed to oxygen, causing the formation of sulfuric acid which becomes environmentally harmful runoff from the mining site. And that is when everything goes “right,” meaning there are no spills, accidents, or disasters.”
According to the US Government Accountability Office, mining has already contaminated 40% of the country’s rivers and 50% of its lakes. This contamination is often located near Indigenous communities with a whopping 75% of known lithium, nickel, and copper deposits located within 35 miles of an Indian reservation.
At this time, about 20% of the Ȟesápa is under mining claims for lithium, gold, uranium, and other minerals and is the result of a long, sore history of U.S. policy prioritizing mining interests over the health and rights of people.
Because mining interests catalyzed the outright taking of Indigenous land, it only makes sense that one of the solutions to mining pollution is returning those lands to Indigenous people.
“The best anti-mining strategy to protect Indigenous lands that was ever created is land back,” Taylor said on the LANDBACK for the People Podcast.
It is important to celebrate, to follow protocol on the wins of our work, knowing these are just small steps in protecting the sacred Black Hills. To connect to the land and water and give thanks for the victory of the Pactola Mineral Withdrawal, our Protect the Ȟesápa team will go to Pactola and give offerings of thanks and put down prayers of protection for the water.
As the Protect the Ȟesápa campaign celebrates this win, we are also gearing up to continue the work of protecting and returning sacred lands to Indigenous People.
We will fight them mine by mine as they pop up, with the understanding that confusing and burning out resistance is a tactic of these mining groups. We will continue to educate ourselves and our people to continue this fight. We are not alone, our ancestors stand with us, the Tribes have been growing in strength in their stance for the Black Hills, and no matter how dark the days ahead of us seem, we have endured the hard times before. We are all in this together.
To learn more about the Protect the ȞeSápa Campaign watch Season 2 Episode 4 of LANDBACK For the People Podcast on YouTube
LANDBACK For the People is also available to listen on Spotify, Apple podcasts, & Audible
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