American Indian sacred sites are being destroyed in the Black Hills as a result of an unconstitutional "rider" passed last summer by Senator Tom Daschle. Daschle's "rider" authorized thousands of acres of logging in the Black Hills National Forest and exempted the logging from all laws, including those meant to protect the rights of American Indians and their sacred lands.

While Daschle's "rider" may have intended only to circumvent environmental laws (i.e., laws that protect our natural world for our health and happiness), Daschle's move also circumvented laws like the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and National Historic Preservation Act. On the ground, this has led to the direct destruction of areas used for religious ceremonies, other American Indian sacred sites, and even burial grounds. In the Beaver Park Roadless Area for example, an area that still holds some of the last sacred places undisturbed by American development, bulldozers and other heavy machinery have wiped out sacred burial sites (see pictures).