#pesla — Public Fediverse posts

25 years ago, I interviewed #ChiefLookingHorse about World Peace and Prayer Day, and was inspired to organize a solidarity event in #PortlandME (in conjunction with #PeaceActionMaine) where we made art, spoke truth, played music, and fed the #Unhoused. It took a lot of work to organize, but I'm glad it happened. It's was all about #BuildingCommunity and #MutualAid, and that's what's needed #InTheseTimes!

#WorldPeaceAndPrayerDay: The Power of Spirit

Article by @bsnorrell.blogspot.com , Censored News, noon, June 21, 2026

#MathóPahá (Bear Butte) South Dakota -- "Chief #ArvolLookingHorse, Chief began by saying the riders are coming from Green Grass and then they will proceed to the Little Big Horn.

" '#MotherEarth is sick, and we are sick, because we nourish from Mother Earth' Chief Looking Horse said.

"With a message of hope, Chief Looking Horse said his people are a people of peace and today, more than ever, the youths are singing their songs and on the ride from Green Grass.

"As World Peace and Prayer Day began, now in its thirtieth year, Chief Looking Horse said, 'Pipestone is the Blood of our People,'

"We need peace in this world more than ever."

"As World Peace and Prayer Day begins today, an elder from #Alaska speaks on the impact of a typhoon at #HooperBay. She spoke on the power of prayer, and efforts to recover. 'Their homes are totally destroyed.' Now, the federal government is depriving them of their funds."

"#Paiute #JoshDini and youth honor #MyronDewey, Paiute, and his efforts at #StandingRock. They are sharing what is happening at #ThackerPass, the #LithiumMining in Nevada.

"On the ride, now from Green Grass in South Dakota, Josh said they are able to share what is happening in Nevada and that Thacker Pass is a place of massacres.

"#Datacenters are being pushed without consultation with the tribe. The data centers are taking the land and water, even now in a #drought, the data centers are coming for the water, Josh said.

"Dr. #ValeriahBigEagle, #Nakota / #HunkpatiDakota, speaks on the power of prayer and protection of the land and water. At Sacred #Pesla, two drill rigs were stopped from going in. An injunction, and preliminary injunction was filed to stop the drilling for graphite. Then, 'they started drilling around the clock.' On May 8, the permit was rescinded.

"There were drones and helicopters overhead, but the occupation went forward with prayer, she said. The protectors had their own drone as well, for security. Big Eagle said it was an honor to be a part of this.

" 'The only weapons we had were our prayers,' she said, describing the lock downs to equipment to halt the drilling.

" 'When we are in #solidarity and #unity, we can make things happen,' she said, speaking on ongoing efforts to protect the Sacred #BlackHills."

Read more:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/06/live-now-world-peace-and-prayer-day.html

#ArvolLookingHorse #WorldPeaceAndPrayerDay #SummerSolstice #ProtectTheSacred #DefendMotherEarth #StandWithStandingRock #NoDatacenters #NoMining #RespectTheSacred #WaterIsLife #LandIsLife

Some background about #PeSla

Pe’ Sla Controversial Drilling Project

GABRIELLE NELSON, March 25, 2026

Excerpt: "The decision memo doesn’t mention Pe’ Sla. Gubble says in the memo, 'There are no known Native American or Alaska Native religious or cultural sites within the project area.' The USDA spokesperson told #BuffalosFire in an email, 'No activities are planned on Tribal trust lands, including Pe’ Sla.'

"The #BlackHills #CleanWaterAlliance says otherwise. The map provided by #PeteLien & Sons shows the project’s drilling sites outside of Pe’ Sla boundaries, which were agreed upon in a Memorandum of Understanding between the Forest Service and tribes in 2024. But a map of the proposed drilling operations made by the alliance using coordinates provided by Pete Lien & Sons shows one site within those boundaries.

"Plus, the alliance says the actual area that needs to be protected from #drilling operations, which includes #noise, lights and traffic (usually 24 hours a day), should be larger. The alliance shows a two-mile buffer on its map. Most drilling sites are within that buffer zone. Yet, the alliance emphasized it is opposed to all drilling in the Black Hills, even outside this two-mile buffer.

"Protected Indian trust land also lies within the Pe’ Sla boundaries. In 2012, four #Sioux tribes — #Rosebud, #CrowCreek, #ShakopeeMdewakanton and #StandingRock — raised $9 million to purchase nearly 2,000 acres of Pe’ Sla. In 2016, the Bureau of Indian Affairs placed that land (plus 200 acres) into federal Indian trust status to protect the land from development.

" 'They recognized that due to the unique cultural significance of the Pe’ Sla area that this situation was different, that this is a special place,' said Gunhammer. 'But now, unfortunately, the Forest Service, Black Hills National Forest, has managed to look past all of this very, very well documented history.'

"Lilias Jarding, executive director of the Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, told Buffalo’s Fire that the project is 'obviously not OK' because of its proximity to Pe’ Sla. She said the Forest Service ignored this when they approved the project without an environmental assessment."

Read more:
https://www.lakotatimes.com/articles/pe-sla-controversial-drilling-project/

Archived version:
https://archive.ph/kq5sj

#USPol #IndigenousNews #IndigenousResistance #ProtectTheSacred #WaterIsLife #BlackHills #NoMining #OcetiSakowin #SiouxNation #PLS #RapidCreekWatershed

HAPPENING NOW!

#LakotaYouths are Locked Down to #Drilling Equipment at #PeSla

Drilling is Shut Down Now at 1 P.M. on Thursday: Two Drilling Sites are Shut Down and All Workers Were Sent Home. Lakota Youths Protecting Their Water Demand that all Drilling be Halted Until this is Heard in Court on Monday.

Posted by #NDNCollective, April 30, 2026, via @bsnorrell.blogspot.com

Photos by Angel White Eyes

"Lakota youth have locked down onto the drilling equipment at Pe’ Sla. An alter has been set up and community members have offered prayers. The drilling company said that law enforcement is on the way.

"At this time, we are calling on Tribes, Nations, Organizations, Collectives, and Coalitions to show support and sign the 'Stop the Drilling at Pe’ Sla' sign-on letter:

"If you are nearby, we encourage you to visit the #MysticRanger station and tell them to Rescind the permit and stop the drilling at Pe' Sla.

"#Mining activity is currently taking place at Pe' Sla despite community opposition. The Rochford Mineral Exploratory Drilling Project (#RMEDP) which seeks to drill for graphite, proposed by #PeteLien & Sons, must be stopped.

"The 2026 #MMIR March is a collaborative effort between the Minnesota Indian Women’s Sexual Assault Coalition (#MIWSAC), the Minneapolis American Indian Center (#MAIC), the Minnesota Indian Women’s Resource Center (#MIWRC), the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis, the Native American Community Development Institute (#NACDI), the Minnesota Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (#MMIR) Office, #GatheringsCafe, #Minneapolis Public Schools American Indian Education, the #IndigenousProtectors Movement, the #TRADISH Project (a MAIC program), the Culture Language Arts Network (a MAIC program), Indigenous Women’s Life Net (a MAIC Program), the Many Shields Society, Mending the Sacred Hoop, Make Voting a Tradition (a NACDI program), and the #AmericanIndianMovement (AIM)."

Source [includes photos]:
https://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2026/04/lakota-youths-are-locked-down-to.html

Sign on letter:
https://ndnco.cc/signtosavepesla

#USPol #IndigenousNews #IndigenousResistance #ProtectTheSacred #BlackHills #NoMining #OcetiSakowin #SiouxNation #PLS #RapidCreekWatershed