BEAR BUTTE ISSUE MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER!

www.ProtectSacredSites.org and www.ProtectBearButte.com

Protect Sacred Sites Indigenous People, One Nation is a grass roots organization, which works towards protecting our sacred sites across the country.

We are a local organization actively working on the Protection of Bear Butte, in South Dakota.

BEAR BUTTE ISSUE MORE CRITICAL THAN EVER!

SACRED SITES ARE WORTH THE FIGHT!


Greetings to all my relations,


I am writing to you today to alert you to the commercial desecration of land held sacred by nearly all the Plains American Indian Nations, Bear Butte. This blatant disregard for the spiritual beliefs and traditional and cultural treasure of thousands of people is evidenced by the continuing and mounting presence of bars, clubs, strobe lights, a proposed stadium, and other venues of crass commercial entertainment.


A brief background:

Bear Butte is a sacred site located eight miles west of Sturgis, South Dakota. It is registered as a National Historical Landmark. Bear Butte is sacred to the Plains Tribes, many continue to travel to the mountain each summer to pray and hold their annual ceremonies. Instead of praying in peace, traditional people are forced to pray with loud music from bars, mufflers and flashing strobe lights over the mountain.

For the past few years there has been a continual encroachment of bars and venues heading towards the sacred mountain. In the summer of 2006, the massive two story bar opened just one mile from the mountain, called Sturgis County Line. Their goal is to have a 50,000 seat concert stadium and a RV park, in addition to the newly built two story bar. The owner of this location, Jay Allen has been disrespectful from the start. He initially wanted to call the location “On Sacred Ground” and erect an 80-foot Indian statue pointing towards the sacred mountain. Of course this was not viewed lightly, there has been a major battle to shut Jay Allen down, ever since.

There have been several developments since the summer of 2006, expansions are in progress and things are potentially getting worse. On April 14, 2008, Jay Allen announced a new partnership with a travel corporation from Boston, MA. In addition to this new partnership, they announced their plans to open the Sturgis County Line, year round. Biker rally events are NOW scheduled in June, July and August for the Sturgis Rally. So far, over a thousand bikers are scheduled to attend each event in June and July. The concert venue will be moving forward, by next summer they could have a 50,000 seat concert stadium, one mile from Bear Butte! With this new year round expansion, it will virtually become impossible ALL summer, to pray in peace at Bear Butte. This issue has escalated and is now, more critical than ever. We are continuing the struggle to Protect Bear Butte and hope you will join us in these efforts!


What YOU can do to help!

Help us create awareness for the continual desecration of sacred sites, including Bear Butte. Get actively involved! Take Action!

Help spread the word! The goal is to create public awareness across the country about desecration of our sacred sites! Being proactive and creating awareness, is one of the many ways, WE EACH can help to make a difference.

Join our Bear Butte Working Group! We need pro-active, dedicated people who are willing to help in this continual struggle. Email us to find out how YOU can help Protect Bear Butte!

Talk with as MANY BIKERS as you can! Ask for their support on this issue, to not endorse Jay Allen’s Sturgis County Line. The motto is Bikers for Bear Butte!
Sign up for our email updates! We send out announcements, updates, action alerts, upcoming meetings, hearings and information about current status.

Contact us at info@ProtectBearButte.com