South Dakota Mining Projects Face Indigenous Protests Over Sacred Sites

Opposition is mounting against new mining projects in the Black Hills, South Dakota, where companies plan to extract graphite and uranium from sites sacred to Indigenous peoples, including the Lakota ceremonial site Pe' Sla and an area with ancient petroglyphs. Protesters argue these projects threaten Indigenous sovereignty and cultural heritage, with activists highlighting the low-grade mineral deposits and suggesting the projects are a deliberate attack rather than economically driven. Meanwhile, in Culver City, officials controversially allocated $20 million from emergency reserves to fund a private affordable housing development despite warnings from financial officers about risks to the city's fiscal health, with concerns raised about the high per-unit cost and lack of priority for local residents. In Dutchess County, New York, opposition emerged against a county plan to retrofit a Poughkeepsie property into transitional housing for single men, breaking from a previously collaborative strategy that had included families and women, sparking protests from residents and business owners. Lastly, in Edinburgh, the Friends of Western Harbour Ponds campaign group urges residents to oppose a planning proposal to build 154 apartments on a nature-rich wetland area, emphasizing the ecological importance of the site and warning that development would fragment valuable habitats. These cases reflect broader tensions between development, environmental conservation, Indigenous rights, and community priorities across diverse U.S. and international contexts.