American Indians Confront Bikers

[Omaha Steve]

Full story: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20060804/D8J9TGFG0.html

I have friends (including the Vice President of my union local) in Sturgis on both sides of this issue.

American Indians Confront Bikers
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Aug 4, 7:27 PM (ET)

By CARSON WALKER


STURGIS, S.D. (AP) - American Indians protesting development encroaching on sacred Bear Butte peacefully confronted bikers gathering Friday for a raucous annual motorcycle rally.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, scheduled Aug. 7-13, attracted 525,000 bikers last year and commercial development near the mountain has been driven in a large part by the event.

Indians have come to Bear Butte to pray, fast and hold religious ceremonies for centuries, but say noise from the bars, campgrounds and concert venues disrupts the peace.

"People pray on that mountain and they can't pray when there's a bunch of drunks," said Veronica Kills In Water of Denver, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.


A biker rides by as protesters hold signs at chant on Main Street Friday, Aug. 4, 2006 in Sturgis, S.D. As motorcyclists begin arriving for the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally, so are American Indians who are protesting biker-related campgrounds, bars and concert venues being built near Bear Butte. Indians want a buffer zone around Bear Butte, which they consider sacred, to protect it from further development and noise and traffic which they say interferes with religious ceremonies. (AP Photo/Doug Dreyer)

A couple hundred protesters carried signs and chanted "Don't ride 79" as they walked up to the Meade County Courthouse. State Highway 79 goes past the butte and the entertainment sites that are closest to it.

Alex White Plume, president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, said he will continue to seek a 5-mile buffer zone around the western South Dakota butte to prevent more development.

"We will not give up that fight," White Plume told the crowd.