Comments: Great interview, thanks Harold, Virginia, we need to keep the Uranium Mining Ban!
HAROLD ONE
FEATHER
John LeKay: When and where did you first discover these dangerous abandoned uranium mines?Harold One Feather: I first heard about the Riley Pass abandoned uranium mine in the spring of 1997 from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Cultural Resource Planner, La Donna Brave Bull-Allard; she said that the Grey Eagle Society of Pine Ridge / Rapid City told her that there were uranium mine tailings out there.
Then the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
as part of the Sioux Oil and Gas Leasing Draft Environmental Impact Statement
organized a meeting on June 6-7, 1997 at Picnic Springs, North Cave Hills Unit,
Sioux Ranger District, Custer National Forest; I attended this meeting and asked
to see the abandoned uranium mine tailings. The US Forest Service said that the
meeting was about the cultural resources on the Cave Hills and not the uranium
mine, more specifically, the USFS was more concerned about the petroglyphs that
were being vandalized by unknown people and the amount of the other graffiti
that was being added to the sites where there were petroglyphs.
Read more:At this meeting the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sent as its representatives Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Tim Mentz, Sr., Cultural Resource Planner La Donna Brave Bull-Allard, SRST EPA Officer Cynthia Moore, SRST Community Health Representative Director John Eagle Shield, the SRST BIA Firefighters and many young students from the SRST Grant School.My tribe is well aware of the mine but not the affected communities such as Rock Creek (Bullhead, SD) and Running Antelope (Little Eagle, SD). To protect these resources at the Custer National Forest, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, as recommended by Tim Mentz, Sr. SRST-THPO, issued a resolution 569-97 saying the cultural properties are sacred.The next year I tried to organize an informational meeting concerning the abandoned uranium mines at the Custer National Forest, but had to postpone due to inclement weather.John LeKay: When you first saw these mine sites back in 1997; do you remember seeing any warning signs posted by any of the agencies you mentioned, of the potential health hazards of uranium exposure?Harold One Feather: In 1997 there were no signs posted at all; I don't know the actual number of radiological hazard signs they posted in 2002. As of 2004 I saw two signs, one was stolen. In 2005 I went to the Pickpocket mine which is about two miles east of the Riley Pass mine and have seen a sign post that had the radiological hazard sign stolen
http://www.heyokamagazine.com/HEYOKA.4.ENVIRO.HaroldOneFeather.htm
