Grass-roots campaign to save Pe'Sla

James Anaya, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, issued a call for consultation to occur over the proposed auction of land in South Dakota that is revered as a sacred place for the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota peoples.

The auction has been cancelled, but the future status of the sacred land remains unclear at this time.

Pe'Sla has a unique and special place in the cosmology of the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota peoples.

Since word of the planned auction spread, there has been a concerted effort by individuals and tribes to raise awareness about Pe’Sla and to raise funds to try to purchase at least some of the land at the auction.


The call for consultation by the UN Special Rapporteur is one that is significant. Under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, there are several provisions that address indigenous rights to sacred land such as Pe’Sla.

Article 8(2)(b) requires states to have “effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for... any action which as the aim or effect of dispossessing them of their lands, territories or resources.” State obligations go much further than that, however. Article 26 requires states “to give legal recognition and protection” to lands which have been “traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired.”

There can be no doubt that Pe’Sla fits the description of lands given in Article 26. The United States should heed the call to consult with indigenous groups, but its obligations transcend mere consultation. It has a duty to protect Pe’Sla.


But waiting on the United States to take actions to protect Pe’Sla might prove fruitless. To this end, an amazing grass-roots campaign was sparked, seeking donations and raising awareness about both the sacred nature of Pe’ Sla, and how the planned auction jeopardised Pe’ Sla. This campaign, organised through joint efforts of Lastrealindians.com and the Rosebud Sioux .. call for donations to help raise money towards the purchase of at least part of Pe’ Sla.

The response has been tremendous, with on-going donations now totalling over $ 266,000 with a further contribution of funds from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of $1.3 million.

International instruments are often criticised for providing rights that are not practically accessible. It is hoped that the combined efforts of the campaigners to save Pe’ Sla, and the call issued by the UN Special Rapporteur will result in the protection of Pe’ Sla as required by the United Nations Declaration—an instrument now endorsed by the United States. Just as grass-roots advocacy movements were the genesis for the campaign for indigenous rights going international, it seems that grass-roots movements have not lost their importance in continued efforts to promote and protect indigenous rights.

At Risk: "The Heart of All that Is"

“The Heart of Everything that Is”—that is how the peoples of the “Great Sioux Nation” describe the Black Hills. The Black Hills are regarded as sacred, an integral part of the essence of life. Treaties in 1851 and 1868 recognised the Black Hills as land of the “Great Sioux Nation” but it did not take the United States long to break those treaties in search of the gold believed to be under those hills. Over time the land that had been granted by the treaties was seized by the United States government until only a very small percentage of land remained with the indigenous peoples of the Great Sioux Nation.

This land taking was denounced by the United State Supreme Court: “"A more ripe and rank case of dishonorable dealings will
never, in all probability, be found in our history..” (quoting the Court of Claims)in the decision rendered by the Supreme Court in United States v Sioux Nation of Indians in 1980.

Despite the denunciation, little has been done to restore the Black Hills to their rightful possessors. The loss of the Black Hills is not a lamentable historical fact. The loss continues right up until this moment in time.

Land that is privately held, the Pe’ Sla, one of the few remaining pristine areas of the Black Hills, and an area held to be deeply sacred by indigenous peoples, is due to be auctioned off on August 25. There are very realistic fears that the pristine and sacred prairies will be sold to development interests.


A campaign has been organised to try to raise money to purchase the land at the auction. This campaign is organised through LastRealIndians, Inc. More information on the urgent need for donations to save the land and how to donate, as well as the significance of this land, can be found here. Even a small donation will help—as many small donations add up!

Despite Legal Protections Sacred Spaces Still At Risk: The Black Hills

It is a situation that repeats itself with depressing regularity. Despite legal protections put into place by domestic, regional and international law, there seems to be no end to the onslaught of destruction to indigenous sacred places. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides specific protections for indigenous lands. There is article 8(2)(b) which requires state to “provide effective mechanisms for prevention of and redress for... any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing them [indigenous peoples] of their lands, territories or resources.”

Further, there is Article 11(2):

"States shall provide redress through effective mechanisms, which
may include restitution, developed in conjunction with indigenous
peoples, with respect to their cultural, intellectual, religious and spiritual
property taken without their free, prior and informed consent
or in violation of their laws, traditions and customs."

Sacred spaces are surely “spiritual property.”

Article 26 is very clear about the protections to be given to indigenous lands:


"Article 26
1. Indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and
resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise
used or acquired.
2. Indigenous peoples have the right to own, use, develop and
control the lands, territories and resources that they possess by reason
of traditional ownership or other traditional occupation or use,
as well as those which they have otherwise acquired.
3. States shall give legal recognition and protection to these lands,
territories and resources. Such recognition shall be conducted with
due respect to the customs, traditions and land tenure systems of the
indigenous peoples concerned."



It is not disputed that the Black Hills are sacred to indigenous peoples nor that they were wrongfully taken. The United States Supreme Court, in its 1980 ruling in United States v Sioux Nation of Indians , made that clear.

Yet, according to this news report, another sacred space is being made vulnerable to destruction in the name of development. The article states that development plans are “spelling the end of one of the last quiet vestiges of traditional Lakota worship in the Black Hills, or Paha Sapa.”

What can be done to preserve sacred spaces? What good are provisions in international instruments if they are not enforceable and beyond the reach of those who need to access them? And while academic and bureaucratic debates and conversations abound on these matters, fragile landscapes continue to disappear. Surely this is unacceptable. Surely indigenous sacred spaces should be given legally required protections. Surely accessing those legal protections must not be put out of reach by those who need to avail themselves of these. But what is being done—in concrete practical terms—to make these legal provisions useable and meaningful?