September 16, 2006
Saturday, 16 September 2006 01:00 | 
| 
|
Sep 16, 2006
Meeting Notes
Opening Prayer: Ted Ten Fingers
Opening Remarks - Commemoration of Sept. 17, 1851 Treaty Charmaine gave a thank you as it is also Defenders 4th Birthday.
Opening Prayer: Ted Ten Fingers
Opening Remarks - Commemoration of Sept. 17, 1851 Treaty Charmaine gave a thank you as it is also Defenders 4th Birthday.
Introductions
Minutes of Aug. 26 were not available.
Treasurer’s Report: Brian- Have $2000 for Canada trip; $250 for the concert; the funds are the same in the Bear Butte Land Trust Fund. Need a 4 drawer file cabinet. Robin offered to deliver one on Monday.
* 1. Cave Hills Informational Meeting - Oct. 11, Ludlow - 6:00 PM (Handout) Custer National Forest and SD School of Mines and Technology will be presenting their findings on the sediment leaving Cave Hills abandoned uranium mines. The limo will leave at 3:00. Anyone wishing a ride should call Charmaine at 399-1868.
* 2. Report on Benefit Concert, Oct. 6: Garvard: College students are ready to help. Send a fax to Wakpala for Phillip and Howard who already said they would be Security. Also has a couple other workers. Still need help in the Concession stand. Has a place for Layla to stay.
* 3. Black Hills Pow Wow Tabling Charmaine will prepare copies of info and raffle items. Might need help on Friday night.
* 4. Fall Raffle: Tickets are available. Winners announced during the Lakota Nation Invitational Basketball Tournament in Dec. Raffle items include: Hand quilted Star Quilt, 3 Silver Bracelets, Tipi Lamp, Pickup load of Firewood (local only), Gingerbread Tipi (local only), and Painting by Genevieve Blue Bird. Tickets are $1 per ticket, or 6 for $5. [Note: Consolation prizes of beadwork will be sent to non-local winners should they be the winner of the firewood or gingerbread tipi.] Encourage all members to help with this fundraising project as the raffles have helped in the past.
* 5. Plans for Uranium Summit Black Hills Discussion on costs, publicity, fundraising. Tentatively set for Hot Springs on Nov. 17 & 18. The public needs to be aware of plans for increased uranium mining in the southern Black Hills, Wyoming, and possibly the Cave Hills area. Robin recommended contacting Jim Billygoots and Donna Maldonado who were involved in the Navajo and Northern Ute campaigns against uranium.
* 6. DM&E Planning Meeting - Sept. 29: Comments due by Oct. 10 on $2.3 billion federal loan. Charmaine gave a report on this upcoming meeting at the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn for 6:00 pm. DM&E Railroad is a private company which will receive a $2.3 billion federal loan. All tax payers will be paying for DM&E to haul coal out of the Powder River Basin which is within the 1868Treaty territory. There is the question of whether this coal is also radioactive. She informed Mayo Clinic of this and asked them to do a study on the coal but has had no response.
* 7. Calendar of Events (Handout) Discussion. Ingrid will provide buffalo chili and dessert for the Black Hills Wopila. Defenders will provide hamburger buns. Any donations appreciated. Caravan from the Mother Butler Center will leave at 9:00 AM. Also donations are being accepted for the Wopila in Rosebud, Nov. 25. Please call Charmaine at 399-1868 if you wish to donate food, gifts, or funds.
* 8. Other:
HELP SAVE SPEARFISH CREEK!! Letters need to be sent recommending that Spearfish Creek be returned to its natural condition prior to occupation by Euro Americans. Send letters by Oct. 28 to: Arie DeWaal, Project Manager, Meade & Hunt, Inc., 6501 Wattsroad, Madison WI 53719.
Custer National Forest has approved the Slim Buttes Area for cattle grazing. There is still time to appeal the Record of Decision. We are concerned as there have been no studies of the abandoned uranium mines in that area. Radiation has been found to stay in the muscles of animals that eat contaminated plants. We would like to appeal but need a pro bono attorney or the funds to hire an attorney.
Defenders has joined with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance requesting the US Fish and Wildlife Service designate the Leopard Frog an endangered species due to their dwindling numbers in the Treaty territory. The Leopard Frog is an indicator of good water.
Biodiversity Conservation Alliance along with Defenders and some other environmental groups were able to save a small part of the northwestern Black Hills from any further logging. BCA continued to appeal the USFS decisions, went to court and won. We were part of their team. Thank you Jeremy and BCA!!!
Closing Prayer Richard Grass
Potluck Meal
Minutes of Aug. 26 were not available.
Treasurer’s Report: Brian- Have $2000 for Canada trip; $250 for the concert; the funds are the same in the Bear Butte Land Trust Fund. Need a 4 drawer file cabinet. Robin offered to deliver one on Monday.
* 1. Cave Hills Informational Meeting - Oct. 11, Ludlow - 6:00 PM (Handout) Custer National Forest and SD School of Mines and Technology will be presenting their findings on the sediment leaving Cave Hills abandoned uranium mines. The limo will leave at 3:00. Anyone wishing a ride should call Charmaine at 399-1868.
* 2. Report on Benefit Concert, Oct. 6: Garvard: College students are ready to help. Send a fax to Wakpala for Phillip and Howard who already said they would be Security. Also has a couple other workers. Still need help in the Concession stand. Has a place for Layla to stay.
* 3. Black Hills Pow Wow Tabling Charmaine will prepare copies of info and raffle items. Might need help on Friday night.
* 4. Fall Raffle: Tickets are available. Winners announced during the Lakota Nation Invitational Basketball Tournament in Dec. Raffle items include: Hand quilted Star Quilt, 3 Silver Bracelets, Tipi Lamp, Pickup load of Firewood (local only), Gingerbread Tipi (local only), and Painting by Genevieve Blue Bird. Tickets are $1 per ticket, or 6 for $5. [Note: Consolation prizes of beadwork will be sent to non-local winners should they be the winner of the firewood or gingerbread tipi.] Encourage all members to help with this fundraising project as the raffles have helped in the past.
* 5. Plans for Uranium Summit Black Hills Discussion on costs, publicity, fundraising. Tentatively set for Hot Springs on Nov. 17 & 18. The public needs to be aware of plans for increased uranium mining in the southern Black Hills, Wyoming, and possibly the Cave Hills area. Robin recommended contacting Jim Billygoots and Donna Maldonado who were involved in the Navajo and Northern Ute campaigns against uranium.
* 6. DM&E Planning Meeting - Sept. 29: Comments due by Oct. 10 on $2.3 billion federal loan. Charmaine gave a report on this upcoming meeting at the Rushmore Plaza Holiday Inn for 6:00 pm. DM&E Railroad is a private company which will receive a $2.3 billion federal loan. All tax payers will be paying for DM&E to haul coal out of the Powder River Basin which is within the 1868Treaty territory. There is the question of whether this coal is also radioactive. She informed Mayo Clinic of this and asked them to do a study on the coal but has had no response.
* 7. Calendar of Events (Handout) Discussion. Ingrid will provide buffalo chili and dessert for the Black Hills Wopila. Defenders will provide hamburger buns. Any donations appreciated. Caravan from the Mother Butler Center will leave at 9:00 AM. Also donations are being accepted for the Wopila in Rosebud, Nov. 25. Please call Charmaine at 399-1868 if you wish to donate food, gifts, or funds.
* 8. Other:
HELP SAVE SPEARFISH CREEK!! Letters need to be sent recommending that Spearfish Creek be returned to its natural condition prior to occupation by Euro Americans. Send letters by Oct. 28 to: Arie DeWaal, Project Manager, Meade & Hunt, Inc., 6501 Wattsroad, Madison WI 53719.
Custer National Forest has approved the Slim Buttes Area for cattle grazing. There is still time to appeal the Record of Decision. We are concerned as there have been no studies of the abandoned uranium mines in that area. Radiation has been found to stay in the muscles of animals that eat contaminated plants. We would like to appeal but need a pro bono attorney or the funds to hire an attorney.
Defenders has joined with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance requesting the US Fish and Wildlife Service designate the Leopard Frog an endangered species due to their dwindling numbers in the Treaty territory. The Leopard Frog is an indicator of good water.
Biodiversity Conservation Alliance along with Defenders and some other environmental groups were able to save a small part of the northwestern Black Hills from any further logging. BCA continued to appeal the USFS decisions, went to court and won. We were part of their team. Thank you Jeremy and BCA!!!
Closing Prayer Richard Grass
Potluck Meal
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
"Defenders of the Black Hills is a group of volunteers without racial or tribal boundaries whose mission is to preserve, protect, and restore the environment of the 1851 and 1868 Treaty Territories, Treaties made between the United States and the Great Sioux Nation."
Speaking about radioactive fallout, the late President John F. Kennedy said,
"Even then, the number of children and grandchildren with cancer in their bones, with leukemia in their blood, or with poison in their lungs might seem statistically small to some, in comparison with natural health hazards. But this is not a natural health hazard and it is not a statistical issue. The loss of even one human life, or the malformation of even one baby who may be born long after we are gone, should be of concern to us all. Our children and grandchildren are not merely statistics toward which we can be indifferent."
July 26, 1963 upon signing the ban on above ground nuclear tests
