Rep. Kristi Noem, Senator John Thune, and celebrate the passage of the Black Hills Cemetery Act, which transfers ownership of nine Black Hills cemeteries to local communities:
I am thrilled to see the U.S. Senate take up this important legislation and finally put it on the President’s desk for his signature.... These cemeteries tell the stories of the people and communities that built their lives in rural South Dakota over the last two centuries. I’m proud the federal government will now turn ownership of these sacred grounds to their rightful owners: the communities that have maintained them for generations [Rep. Kristi Noem, press release, 2014.07.09].
How nice to see Republicans support the restoration of sacred grounds to their rightful owners—
—uh oh. The Black Hills are replete with American Indian burial sites, but the sacredness of the Paha Sapa goes beyond the known and unknown graves:
The entire Black Hills are sacred, not just one place, one burial site, one prayer site. There is a sacred energy field around the Black Hills. How far does it extend? One elder said that it continues about 50 miles around the Black Hills. How can people who believe that only man-made designations, such as a church or a cemetery are called sacred, understand a sacred space and landscape that extend for hundreds of miles? That is why Defenders of the Black Hills have as our motto: "Remember, the Black Hills are sacred." We ask only that respect be given for another peoples' understanding of spirituality. Maybe that respect will begin to generate more concrete actions that will contribute to the restoration of these sacred grounds [Charmaine White Face, "The Sacred Black Hills," Sacred-Sites.org, downloaded 2014.07.11].
Now you may think talk of sacred energy fields is hooey (if so, how do you feel about the Bakken?), but the Supreme Court made clear in the Hobby Lobby decision that the state is not to question religious claims.
So with Congresswoman Noem surrendering federal land to locals with beliefs in the sacred value of the land, her support for handing the Black Hills over to the Lakota people cannot be far behind.
Nice pun on the Bakken, Cory. Sacred energy fields indeed! LOL It will be interesting to hear how Noem and Thune explain this. I hope somebody asks them face to face with the cameras on sometime.
Great post, Cory: it's a litigator's dream come true!
Thanks for getting me thinking about the issue, Bill and Larry! I'd love to read Marty Jackley's amicus curiae on this issue.
We knew all along that Noem would do the right thing. Now it seems she should be the one to introduce legislation in Congress to return all of the sacred hills to the Lakota as promised in the Treaty of 1868. Oh wait, that might be something Obama would consider doing. Never mind.