Sioux tribes push to protect sacred Black Hills site Pe' Sla

Some Rosebud Sioux were dismayed when South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard said last month that he believes the money to buy and maintain Pe' Sla should be spent on the reservation, which is among the poorest places in the United States.

Pe' Sla holds cultural and spiritual significance beyond monetary measure, similar to sites across the world held dear by other religions, Rosebud Sioux tribal member Wizipan Little Elk said.

The change would guarantee that Pe' Sla stays in the hands of Native American people and would exempt it from taxes, said Kurt BlueDog, an attorney representing the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community of Minnesota and the Crow Creek, Rosebud and Standing Rock Sioux tribes of the Dakotas.

There are many translations for Pe' Sla, including "the bald area" and "the center of our world" because of its central location in the Black Hills, which are significant in creation stories that vary among tribes and family groups, said Duane Hollow Horn Bear, an instructor at Sinte Gleska University on the Rosebud reservation.

South Dakota has fought against converting the land in part because of concerns over jurisdiction, which would be exacerbated by the distance of Pe' Sla from existing reservations, according to a 2015 letter from the state attorney general's office to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

A spokeswoman said Daugaard's statement against the Pe' Sla plan is "his personal opinion," separate from the state's opposition.