Hey - if you're here looking for new stuff, you're likely going to be disappointed. Check here instead.
Greetings friends! Apparently we did get some of you interested in the situation at Bear Butte, at least judging by the emails and calls we've gotten this month asking for another update! The day after the Christian Solidarity walk (we left Bear Butte that morning), a treaty meeting was held at Bear Butte. The following day began the three day Summit of Nations - a gathering of representatives from many Native Nations (including representation from Ecuador, as well as all across North America) to discuss protection of sacred sites. The Summit ended with a large march into Sturgis the Friday night before the rally began. The Gathering of Nations camp began winding down after the march, so there was a much smaller presence there during the rally week itself. It's hard to know how much effect the "Don't Ride 79" campaign had on rally traffic past the Butte. Sturgis rally attendance in general was down this year, probably due in part to gas prices. Leafletters in Sturgis said that biker response was mixed; while some were aggressively uninterested or hostile, many others were open, glad to learn, and willing to keep their parties at locations further from the Butte. Several major biker websites endorsed the Defend Bear Butte campaign and called for boycotts of Jay Allen's bar. On a rally night with live music playing, a couple scouts from the camp found that there were less than fifty people there, clearly far less than the bar was built for. However, less than a month before the rally, a campground located right at the base of Bear Butte (even closer than Allen's bar) was purchased by new ownership, renamed Free Spirit Campground, and acquired a beer license. This campground (with port-a-potties right on the slopes of the Butte itself) is also adjacent to the tribal land where the Gathering of Nations camp was held. A few bikers shouted epithets at the camp as they drove in or out, and noise from the partying there was a major problem. Just another reminder that this issue is bigger than any one bar owner, and won't be resolved until there is permanent legal protection for Bear Butte and its environs. This month there will be a wopila (thank you) celebration at Bear Butte, and a time for camp participants to debrief the summer's events and plan the next year of struggle to defend Bear Butte. Thanks so much to all of you for being a part of that struggle in so many different and important ways. In other exciting news, we are interviewing some folks this month for the MCC service worker positions we told you about back in June. We're really excited about our candidates!! We would appreciate prayers that their visits and interviews go well, and that we can make a good decision for the future of this Unit and the relationships in the community here. Maybe finally, as program coordinators, we'll actually be coordinating something beyond ourselves :-) Blessings! Carl & Karissa
