On February 27, 2026, the U.S. Forest Service approved exploratory graphite drilling a half-mile from Pe' Sla the sacred center of the Black Hills in South Dakota using a procedural shortcut that bypassed full environmental review. This is what happened next.
Community members from the Oglala chapter of the International Indigenous Youth Council, NDN Collective, and allied organizations locked themselves to drilling equipment at two of the pads, halting operations.
After I arrived at Pe’ Sla, driving Lakota ceremonial leader David Swallow towards the contested site, a Pennington County sheriff’s deputy was blockading the road. “The road is closed to local residents only due to safety concerns,” he said. Hmmm, whose safety are they concerned about?
Turned around, we then connected with other elders and community members looking to find another way in, who confirmed that drilling had been stopped. Law enforcement was on scene. And the machines were quiet.
Three federal lawsuits are now filed: NDN Collective, Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, and Earthworks filed April 2. Nine Sioux tribes (Cheyenne River, Crow Creek, Lower Brule, Oglala, Santee, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Spirit Lake, Standing Rock, and Yankton) filed April 29–30. Lakota Law, which helped lead the original 2012 campaign to purchase Pe' Sla, is preparing a distinct fourth legal action rooted in that history.
Pe' Sla is the heart of everything that is. We reclaimed it in 2012. We are not letting it go.
Take action: Tell U.S. Interior Department Secretary Burgum to suspend the Pe' Sla permit →
Executive Director
Lakota People’s Law Project
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