We the undersigned believe that the Federal government has an obligation to the Dakota/Nakota/Lakota tribes as well as to the American people to take pro-active measures to stop the Rainbow Family from digging latrines, burying garbage and trampling miles of fragile wilderness in the Black Hills National Forest. While we support the right of all people to peacefully assemble, the First Amendment does not grant anyone the right to engage in unlawful activity on public lands or to engage in any activities that would pose an environmental threat a public health threat or a threat to the integrity of Native American cultural heritage.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has not been invited to gather in the Black Hills by any recognized Federal American Indian Tribe nor have they ever asked permission to gather on their lands.

WHEREAS: Rainbow/elder interactions have been characterized by ignorance and disrespect on the part of the Rainbow Family. The Rainbow Family has a long history of refusing to listen to legitimate Native American spiritual leaders on the issue of cultural sovereignty.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has a long history of ignoring the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, A Federal law pertaining to Native American cultural items, and bones. In the past, the Rainbow Family have dug up bones, and a child’s skull which are likely to have been those of Native Americans and they have failed to turn them over to proper authorities. 

WHEREAS: The Rainbow family has consistently shown extreme disrespect for Native American cultural heritage by ignoring cultural issues with regarding their racist mis-appropriation of  sacred ceremonies. They have deeply offended the religious sensibilities of numerous tribes in the past by digging trenches and building latrines on their sacred lands and/or burial grounds and disturbing sacred and/or cultural artifacts.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has violated the First Amendment rights of Indigenous people to preserve the integrity of their religious practices, such as the sweat lodge, by mimicking it, conducting a twisted version of it, without proper permission, and combining it with nudity and drugs with the FULL knowledge that this is offensive to the LEGITIMATE HEREDITARY spiritual elders of the Native Nation on whose lands they squat.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow family has been profoundly dishonest in seeking out illegitimate representatives of the Native Nations they have offended and deliberately sought out individuals they knew to be impersonating Native American leaders in order to achieve their political/social agendas.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has consistently refused to consult legitimate scientific experts about the impact their presence will have on fragile environments and endangered or threatened species, and has insisted on conducting their own consistently flawed “research.” They have worked to deny the public access to soil and water reports following their gatherings and they have refused to comply to any tests that would verify that they have complied with federal standards for soil and water.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has consistently fallen short of their pledge to COMPLETELY rehabilitate the public lands on which they squat and has not been forthcoming with this information about who is responsible for the rehabilitation.

WHEREAS: The tons of human feces and other waste that the rainbows deposit on public lands will inevitably have had long term negative effects on the public lands on which they squat.

 WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has consistently sought out and accepted social services that were INTENDED for the poor (mainly Native) people in the small communities on which they descend causing hardship for the legal residents of that community.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has consistently been irresponsible in dealing with excessive drug and alcohol use, violent crimes including rape and murder, creating unnecessary medical bills for the community and causing the deaths of at least 4 human beings.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has engaged in disinformation campaigns to promote only positive advertising about their event, insulting the intelligence of the American public and  violating the right of the people to hear all points of view in order to decide for themselves what is the truth in this matter.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has repeatedly harassed ex-Rainbows and other critics with a vengeance, conducting campaigns to shut down their websites, banning them from forums when they post anything critical of the Rainbow family, and violating THEIR first Amendment rights.

WHEREAS: The Rainbow Family has consistently promoted their rights first over the rights of other citizens who are EQUAL to them and failed to demonstrate any empathy or basic human compassion towards anyone outside of the Rainbow Family.

WHEREAS: The Black Hills are in the middle of a severe draught, and danger from forest fires is high at this time of year. Fighting fires in the Black Hills set by the Rainbow Family will draw precious resources from important conservations projects planned this summer in the Black Hills National Forest.

WHEREAS: Article 1 of the  1868 Treaty of Laramie, a federal law, provides that “If bad men among the whites, or among other people subject to the authority of the United States, shall commit any wrong upon the person or property of the Indians, the United States will, upon proof made to the agent, and forwarded to the Commissioner of Indian Affairs at Washington city, proceed at once to cause the offender to be arrested and punished according to the laws of the United States, and also reimburse the injured person for the loss sustained.”  The Rainbow Gathering is undoubtedly a bad act against the Native American people who view it as a desecration of their sacred lands, and cultural heritage. It is the will of the overwhelming majority of the citizens of the surrounding Native American Nations that the Rainbow Gathering not be allowed in the Black Hills this summer and the federal government is obligated to see that their wishes are respected.

Therefore: WE THE PEOPLE OF THESE UNITED STATES insist that the United States Government in conjunction with the United States Forest Service enforce the existing laws that are intended to preserve the cultural and environmental integrity of OUR public lands. We insist that you deny permits to the Rainbow Gathering and prevent them from illegally camping in the Black Hills National Forest. We insist that you enforce the Native American Graves Protections and Repatriation Act (N.A.G.P.R.A), and prosecute Rainbows who dig up artifacts and bones to the fullest extent of the law. We insist that you enforce the 1868 Treaty of Laramie and stop the Rainbow Family from desecrating sacred land. We insist that you prevent the Rainbow Family from digging any slit trench latrines in the Black Hills National Forest or burying any garbage this year and in future years.

If the Rainbow Family continues to gather illegally on public lands, we insist that they be prosecuted and billed for any and all environmental destruction that occurs and any for any ill effects that may occur in the future due to the depositing of tons of waste and human feces on public lands. We insist that the Rainbow Family be treated EXACTLY the same way that ANY OTHER United States citizens be treated who had engaged in the same behavior.  We insist that the Rainbow Family leadership be prosecuted, jailed and/or billed in the EXACT same way that any other citizens would be had they engaged in a similar unlawful activity. We insist that the appropriate law enforcement authorities and elected officials take all necessary legal measures to stop the Rainbows from violating the laws that exist to protect our public lands and to preserve the culture and religious freedom of indigenous Americans.  We also insist that the United States government hold the Rainbow Family leadership and any member of the Rainbow Family who signs an application for a permit financially responsible for the complete and total environmental rehabilitation of the site of every Rainbow gathering held since its inception in 1972. In short, we insist that the United States Forest Service fulfill its mission to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations by acting immediately to stop the Rainbow Gathering from taking place in the Black Hills National Forest in July of 2015.

The undersigned: