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SACRED LAND DEFENSE TEAM ALERT!
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NATIONAL BOYCOTT OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA South Dakota Bulldozes Native Burial Grounds and Sacred Sites The State of South Dakota hopes to draw more tourists this summer to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Preparations include developing newly acquired lands up and down the Missouri River, developing the “North Point Area” to provide recreation areas, sewage facilities, toilets, welcome centers and fish cleaning stations. This development is happening in spite of the well-known fact that the land along the Missouri River is a burial ground for hundreds of thousands of ancestors of the native people from many tribes in the Northern Plains. The lands in question were transferred to the state from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by Congress, and contain dozens of developed recreation areas. North Point Recreational Area, where many burials are located, now belongs to South Dakota, which began last year to further develop the area for tourism and recreation. Last spring, a bulldozer cut in half the burial of a Yankton woman and her child, even though the Yankton tribe had repeatedly informed both the Army Corps and the state of South Dakota that burials existed in the area and were being disturbed. Then, other ancestral remains were scattered around the park in loads of earth that was used for landfill. The agencies denied that this occurred and the Yankton Sioux were prevented from looking through the landfill for their relatives. Other Missouri River tribes have ancestral burials and sacred and cultural places on these lands as well. Pawnee, Kiowa, Arikara, Ponca, Lakota and other tribes have moved through and lived in this area. In March 2003, excavation uncovered more human remains and funerary objects, and a court order stopped the construction. In May, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Piersol ruled the state could resume construction, and as the earth moving began, the human remains in the native burial grounds were immediately unearthed. Skulls, bones (human legs, arms, joints, vertebrae), mourning bowls and ceremonial items have been found in the upturned earth. The contractors, disturbed by what they uncovered, said they were never told the area is a burial ground and that this is a very different job than the one they contracted for. The state of South Dakota is ignoring the repeated requests of sovereign native nations to stop the desecration of the burial grounds. As a result, native activists are calling for a boycott of the State of South Dakota. Join in a BOYCOTT OF THE STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA! Please contact the South Dakota Department of Tourism to let them know you support the boycott of the state because of the desecration of native burial grounds, and that you will not visit or support the state of South Dakota until the excavation stops and the wishes of native people are respected. Tell them that you will not visit a state that robs Indian people of their lands, then bulldozes their sacred sites and burial grounds to build parking lots, picnic areas and RV sewage dumps, all in the name of tourist dollars. Spread the word by telling your family and friends to join with thousands of others who will not go to South Dakota until the state stops this senseless desecration. Contact list for South Dakota action to register your boycott: Secretary John Calvin South Dakota Department of Tourism and State Development Capitol Lake Plaza 711 East Wells Avenue c/o 500 East Capitol Avenue Pierre, SD 57501-5070 Phone: (605) 773-3301 or (605) 773-5032 Fax: (605) 773-3256 E-mail: SDINFO@state.sd.us South Dakota Governor M. Michael Rounds Phone: 605-773-3661, Fax 605-773-5844 E-mail: South Dakota Game Fish & Parks Department Phone: 605-773-3391 E-mail: Parkinfo@gfp.state.sd.us Please call your congressional representative to let them know how you feel. The past and current treatment of indigenous peoples must be recognized at the federal level. You may also contact South Dakota U.S. Senate and congressional representatives, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to register your protest. Senator Tom Daschle (D) Phone: (202) 224-2321, Fax: (202) 224-6603 E-mail: daschle@senate.gov Senator Tim Johnson (D) Phone: (202) 224-5842, Fax: (202) 228-5765 E-mail: Johnson@senate.gov Representative Bill Janklow (R) Phone: (202) 225-2801, Fax: (202) 225-5823 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Colonel Kurt Ubbelohde, Commander, Omaha District 215 North 17th Street Omaha, NB 68102-4978 http://www.usace.army.mil/ To prevent further destruction of ancestral burials and other sacred places, the Yankton Sioux Nation has begun an encampment at the North Point Recreational Area and a media campaign to call attention to events there. Please call, write or e-mail the Yankton Sioux Nation with your support. They are accepting donations to support the camp. For more information, contact: The White Swan/North Point Team c/o The Braveheart Society, Faith Spotted Eagle P.O. Box 667, Lake Andes, SD, 57356 E-mail: eagletrax@hotmail.com Phone: (605) 487- 7769, (605) 487-7980 To read a May 13, 2003 article on this situation from Indian Country Today, "Yankton Standoff Begins to Protect Sacred Site", by David Melmer, see: http://www.indiancountry.com/article/1052831135 |