Sacred land auction called off - KOTA Territory News

Sacred land auction called off

Members of the Sioux nation are breathing a sigh of relief Friday.
 
The auction of nearly 2,000 acres of prairie land in between Rochford and Hill City has been canceled - at the owners behest - according to a post on the auction house website.

Upon hearing about the auction three weeks ago, dozens of tribal groups around the Midwest mobilized to purchase the land (called Pe' Sla) raising more than a million dollars.

It's considered sacred and a key to the creation story of the great Sioux nation.

Members feared new owners would develop the land.
 
"[the sellers] were shooting for $6-$10 million dollars right off the get go. So, I think their own greed sunk their own ship," said James Swan, Founder of the United Urban Warrior Society.
 
"Just because it doesn't have walls and a roof, this is a natural church, more than a natural church, this is a major sacred area and the ramifications are not just to us, they're for the whole world," said Charmaine White Face, of the Defenders of the Black Hills organization.
 
Numerous attempts to contact the land owners (the Reynolds family) for comment were unsuccessful.

Original story:

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) _ The planned auction of nearly 2,000 acres of land in South Dakota's Black Hills that is considered sacred by American Indian tribes has been canceled.

Brock Auction Company planned to auction five tracts of land owned by Leonard and Margaret Reynolds on Saturday. But a message on the auction house's website says it has been canceled at the owners' direction.

The auction house said they had no comment, as did Margaret Reynolds.

Tribes of the Great Sioux Nation consider the site key to their creation story, and members feared new owners would develop the land they call Pe' Sla.

Rosebud Sioux Tribe spokesman Alfred Walking Bull says he didn't know the auction was canceled. The tribes have raised more than $1 million to try to buy the land.