Full Breakdown
Tribal Coalition Forces Mining Company to Abandon Drilling at Sacred Pe’ Sla
8/26/2026, 4:15:00 AM
Background and Legal Tactics
On 27 February, the U.S. Forest Service quietly approved an exploratory permit for Pete Lien & Sons to drill 18 boreholes on national-forest land, including at least ten inside a two-mile buffer around the Pe’ Sla meadow that tribal leaders had agreed to protect. The permit was issued as a “categorical exclusion,” bypassing the standard environmental review. In early April, the Indigenous-led NDN Collective, the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, Earthworks, and nearly every Dakota tribe filed lawsuits challenging the Forest Service’s authority to waive review.
On-the-Ground Occupation
When a restraining order was filed, the company accelerated drilling. By 30 April, a drone survey showed crews had moved overnight to two illuminated pads across the highway. Approximately a dozen vehicles formed a convoy, and activists blocked the only access road, lying on the drill pads to prevent operation. The occupation lasted seven days, with a youth council at the front and elders anchoring the camp, despite police, private security, and cold, fire-free conditions.
Official Statements & Responses
Anissa Martin, leader of NDN’s Black Hills Land Back campaign, emphasized that the coalition’s success relied on “stacking” legal, direct-action, and narrative tactics, treating Indigenous sovereignty as a legal instrument. After the federal judge’s 4 May ruling that the plaintiffs were likely to prove the Forest Service had unlawfully waved through the permit, Pete Lien & Sons withdrew its plan.
Verbatim Quotes
- “We’re just not used to winning,” — Dr Valeriah Big Eagle
- “It’s to set a precedent to attack all sacred sites,” — Big Eagle
- “It was supposed to be one day, to make a statement,” — Robert Bordeaux
- “The only weapons we had were our prayers,” — Big Eagle
- “None of this moves forward without all of us working collectively,” — Anissa Martin
The Pe’ Sla victory illustrates how coordinated lawsuits, rapid on-site resistance, and unified storytelling can compel a mining company to abandon a project that threatened a sacred landscape and a community already facing high poverty rates.
