In a stunning victory last week, a Federal District Court in South Dakota ordered a graphite mining company to immediately halt an exploration project before destroying a sacred site in the Black Hills National Forest.
Ming threatens a sacred site
In late April 2026, a mining company started drilling at Pe’ Sla. This landscape has a high mountain meadow, grasslands, and forests sacred to many Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota peoples. In 2016, the US Government recognized this sacred area. It dedicated more than 2,000 acres into trust for four Tribes: the Rosebud Sioux, Shakapee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Standing Rock Sioux, and Crow Creek Sioux. In 2024, the US Government agreed to protect a two-mile radius surrounding a portion of Pe’Sla. Despite this, a mining company staked claims within the protected area. And, in February 2026, the US Forest Service unlawfully allowed mine exploration.
Legal action and protests
During the Spring season, for thousands of years, Native peoples gather at Pe’Sla to perform ceremonies. When members of the NDN Collective discovered new roads, drilling, and blasting activities near Pe’Sla, they filed a lawsuit. Earthworks, Black Hills Clean Water Alliance, and nine federally recognized Great Sioux Nation Tribes joined in the suit. This kicked off a week-long occupation at Pe’Sla by many Tribal leaders and youth, led by NDN Collective.
On May 5, the Court granted an injunction to temporarily stop building and drilling activities until the lawsuit concluded. Two days later, the mining company packed up, withdrew their plans, and pledged not to mine there again. On May 18, the Court issued an order ending mining activities but allowing the operator to clean up and restore the lands to their previous condition.
Mining affects Indigenous Peoples’ rights
Graphite, along with minerals like nickel and lithium, is used for batteries for electric vehicles, cleaner energy projects, and military technology. Pressure to mine more, especially for these minerals, has driven rushed mining. In the US, this rush is happening with support from the Trump administration.
Mining often happens on Indigenous Peoples’ land, and the United States is no exception. Impacts on people and the environment happen everywhere mining occurs, but these mines can also permanently change sacred and culturally significant places.
A just transition to sustainable energy demands solutions that honor Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty and stewardship. Projects like the exploration at Pe’Sla do the opposite.
Better laws could protect sacred places
What happened at Pe’Sla isn’t an isolated incident. It reveals the weakness of the 1872 Mining law, the statute that still governs almost all public lands mining, including in the sacred Black Hills. Under this law, any person may claim public lands as their own for a small fee. They can begin drilling, blasting, construction, and other exploration, sometimes without even asking permission.
To remedy this, Congress should pass durable reforms to the 1872 Mining law to protect Pe’ Sla and all sacred landscapes from mining without public notice nor meaningful consultation with affected Tribes. Senator Lujan’s Mining Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Prevention Act will do just that.
Here, the Tribes and nongovernment organizations won because the Forest Service unlawfully excluded the mine project from environmental review and public and Tribal input. The leadership and organizing from the Tribes and NDN Collective ultimately helped secure this victory.
But asking a judge to step in every time a mine threatens Pe’Sla or any other sacred place is not a good system. Congress should pass meaningful mining reform and provide a better way.