Black Hills Unity Concert

The Black Hills Unity Concert

The Black Hills Unity Concert is a three-day, drug, alcohol and admission free event that utilizes the instrument of music to unite Lakota/Nakota/Dakota peoples (the Pte Oyate, also known as the Buffalo Nation) in the name of our sacred sites and our Mother Earth.The Black Hills Unity Concert is a hub for groups and organizations, local and nation-wide, working to address social, environmental and economic issues.

Thousands of native and non-native peoples came together in South Dakota for The Black Hills Unity Concert in 2014 and 2015. These two extraordinary gatherings were held in the name of cultural reconciliation and environmental restoration. We gathered together to honor indigenous ceremony and knowledge, to make a prayer for our Mother Earth, and to ask for the return of Paha Sapa (the Black Hills) to the rightful guardianship of the Pte Oyate (Lakota/Nakota/Dakota). We will gather again Sept 9-11, 2016 for the third year.

The first and second Unity Concerts created an unprecedented sense of hope and unity among the different factions of the Lakota, Nakota and Dakota, which is needed for the successful return of these sacred lands. It also redefined the native/non-native relationship as one of respectful collaboration, allowing for the long overdue release of ancestral trauma and pain that exists on Turtle Island (America). Furthermore, the gathering created a space for various social and environmental issues to be voiced and connected. Invaluable alliances were forged and their impacts on the world continue to grow in many tangible ways.

To honor the four directions, at least two more unity concerts are planned at the same site in the Black Hills in 2016 and 2017. The Black Hills Unity Concert has also inspired planning for sister concerts in other indigenous communities who see the need to come together and make this Unity Prayer. By creating these spaces, we have an opportunity to rapidly accelerate the movement building processes that are needed to address humanity’s greatest challenges.

We invite you to make history with us this year by contributing your time, skills and resources to the Black Hills Unity Concert:

Sept. 9-11, 2016

Elk Creek Resort in The Black Hills, South Dakota

We will engage the people in song, dance, ceremony.

We will exchange methods and traditions between the elder and youth.

We will celebrate the alliances created for the great mission of returning the guardianship of Black Hills to the Pte Oyate.

Our project addresses grave planetary, environmental and social challenges by bringing together groups and organizations to address environmental, economic, and indigenous rights issues.  We are working towards healing the wounds of the past and cultivating a resouced-based economy that respects the rights of nature and is not based on principles of extraction and imperialism. The Black Hills Unity Concert is a free event and is entirely dependent on crowd funding, volunteers and heart felt donations of time and resources from people around the world.  All the performers and presenters come and donate of their talent and are dedicated to making this prayer in the sacred lands of Paha Sapa.  In accordance with the spirit of the gathering we have designed this crowd funding campaign to be a multi-purposed effort whereby 10% of all funds raised goes to other local indigenous organizations working to address the following:

economic development and poverty alleviation

cultural revitalization and language preservation

sacred sites preservation and environmental contamination

health and wellness to address trauma, suicide and substance abuse

The concert is, among so many things, a clarion call to the United States government and to the world that the time is now to honor the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty and in doing so honor the native and non-native peoples of this continent. The third annual event will gather people of all races and all walks of life to stand behind the Pte Oyate and their long-standing request to return the sacred Black Hills to the guardianship of the Buffalo Nation.

Please join us for this epic moment where cultural preservation meets creativity and action.

The Black Hills Unity Concert