Oglala Sioux Tribe

The proposed rail extension to Wyoming’s Powder River Basin passes within a mile of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the village of Red Shirt. The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, which governs the Pine Ridge Reservation, opposes DM&E’s plan.

The Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council, which includes all Sioux reservations, also opposes the project. In addition, 35 out of 38 tribes and tribal organizations have not signed the project’s Programmatic Agreement, developed by DM&E, because they believe the railroad violated Executive Order 13175, which requires consultation and coordination with Indian tribal governments.

The Oglala Sioux and other Lakota tribes have multiple objections to the PRB project:

Treaty violation. In the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 with the Sioux Nation, the U.S. government agreed to “set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians” the land west of the Missouri River in what is now South Dakota – including the route for the rail extension. In allowing the railroad to build, the federal government would violate the nation-to-nation treaty.

Inadequate cultural protection. The Surface Transportation Board’s Environmental Impact Statement on the PRB project was incomplete and inadequate in protecting sacred tribal cultural properties and burial sites along the proposed route. To the Lakota people, sacred space is boundless and cannot be plotted or fenced off. The Powder River Basin was the epicenter of the climactic confrontation between the U.S. government and the Lakota Nation. Near the end of his short life, his people defeated but his spirit unbroken, Ta-Shunka Witco (Crazy Horse) was asked derisively, “Where are your lands now?” Referring to the Cheyenne River Valley and Powder River Basin, the great Lakota warrior replied, “My lands are where my dead lie buried.”

Health Hazards. Because of the constant northern winds, coal dust from up to 43 trains a day pulling open-hopper coal cars will have an adverse impact on air quality, resulting in health hazards for people on the Reservation. Shannon County, which encompasses all of the Pine Ridge Reservation, already has the lowest life expectancy in the nation.

Safety. The proposed route would cross the two major routes from the reservation to Rapid City, S.D. These routes are used by individual tribal members, school buses, tourists, ambulances, emergency service vehicles, high school sports teams, school field trips and tribal employees. Despite potential for many accidents, DM&E did not consider overpasses or underpasses at these highway-rail crossings.

Environmental concerns. As stewards of the planet, the Lakota people object to a project that would:

• Threaten the fragile ecology of the Cheyenne River Valley, which is home to bald eagles and other threatened or endangered species.
• Build a rail line through the last of the pristine prairie areas in the United States.
• Sever the migratory path of the pronghorn antelope from the prairies to the Black Hills.
• Increase air pollution, acid rain and global warming through increased burning of coal for energy.