South Dakota's Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration 2020
# South Dakota's Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration 2020

South Dakota's Mount Rushmore Fireworks Celebration 2020 was a fireworks celebration at Mount Rushmore held on July 3, 2020, the day before Independence Day. It was notable for featuring the first and only use of fireworks at the site since 2008 and for being held amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

President Donald Trump spoke at the event, with other politicians and notable names including South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, Host of Entertainment Tonight Mary Hart, First Lady Melania Trump and Trump's eldest son Donald Trump Jr. in attendance.

## Background

Fireworks displays were regularly held at Mount Rushmore between 1998 and 2009. In 2010, the National Park Service stopped fireworks displays because of concerns about wildfires and potential contamination of drinking water. Though plans for it had been proposed, in an effort to reduce endangering the relationships with the Lakota, as well as reduce the risk of wildfire, there will not be a Fourth of July fireworks event in 2022.

## Speeches

The event included remarks by Mary Hart and Governor Noem. Trump's remarks at the event covered his deploying of law enforcement to protect monuments, repeatedly expressed his support for God, largely ignored the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, and included a reiteration to build the border wall. The speech, as described by Matthew Rowley, is all about 'the power of positive history'—by focusing on what made America great, Americans will be moved to greatness; by focusing on failure, Americans will become harsh, judgmental and intolerant. Although the George Floyd protests form the backdrop to Trump's words, the President nowhere mentions police brutality. 'In other words', writes Rowley, Trump seems to argue that 'America is great because it removed the knee from the slave's neck, not wicked because it knelt over the slave for centuries'. Then-U.S. president Trump had been known to share an affinity with Mount Rushmore, even telling South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem that it is a dream of his to have his own face carved onto the monument. In an article done by Steven Groves he reveals that Trump “joked at a campaign rally about getting enshrined alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. And while it was Noem, a Republican, who pushed for a return of fireworks on the eve of Independence Day, Trump committed to visiting South Dakota for the celebration”.

## The Lakota Nation and Mount Rushmore

The original inhabitants of the Black Hills were the Lakota people. As stated in an article by author Amy McKeever, “For Lakota, Cheyenne, and Arapaho communities, the region was not only spiritually important, it was also where tribes gathered food and plants they used in building and medicine”. The Lakota also referred to the Black Hills as Paha Sapa (Black Hills) or He Sapa (Black Mountains). Some popular Lakota tribe members are Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull. According to author Annette McGivney, decades before the construction of Mount Rushmore, "Lt. Col George Armstrong Custer led a survey into the Black Hills.” The convoy foraged through the Black Hills without the prior permission of the tribes. Custer brought in these convoys to scavenge the hills for resources. This broke treaties the government had with the tribes; however, the US constitution allowed gold prospectors to settle in the Black Hills as well as the area around. Nicholas Black Elk, a member of the Oglala tribe, saw patterns of elimination and charged that the government was attempting to wipe out Lakota culture.

In the 1870s, Americans argued the Lakota had never lived in the Black Hills at all. Later, in the 1900s the Lakota began to seek compensation for their relocation and surrender of the hills; however, the United States denied their right to compensation. The members of the Sioux Nation surrendered their territory and were then relocated onto reservations. Following the relocation, the construction of Mount Rushmore began on the mountain the Lakota referred to as “Tunkasila Sakpe”, which translates to Six Grandfathers. Tunkasila Sakpe was a granite bluff that remained untouched until construction began. In recent decades, the Lakota demanded their land be returned, as they argue that they have inhabited the Black Hills for centuries, if not millennia.

Construction of Mount Rushmore began in 1927. Before the construction, Doane Robinson saw Six Grandfathers as an opportunity to increase tourism in the Black Hills. Robinson hired Gutzon Borglum to create a sculpture that honored “the West’s greatest heroes, both Native Americans, and pioneers”. Borglum proposed to Robinson that they use the faces of past U.S. presidents. The Lakota viewed Mount Rushmore as a symbol of United States dominance.

## Environmental concerns

In an effort to bring awareness to the concern with the event, a report was put out by The National Park Service. Bill Gabbert, an editor at Wildifre Today and Fire Aviation, stated that “fireworks were used at Mount Rushmore on July 3 or 4 from 1998 to 2009, except for 2002 when it was canceled due to the danger of the pyrotechnic display starting a wildfire. During those 11 events 20 documented wildfires were ignited by the fireworks during the middle of the fire season”. Many of these firefighters were placed around the park in order to prevent any larger blazes. The Black Hills is filled with thousands of acres of forest, causing much concern". Gabbert further states concerns regarding the “trash that can never be completely picked up. Left on the sculpture and in the forest are unexploded shells, wadding, plastic, ash, pieces of devices, and paper”. On account of the terrain, cleanup of the pyrotechnic devices is very difficult to maintain. Joe Lowe, who served as fire chief for South Dakota’s Division of Wildland Fire from 2001 to 2012, stated that the embers from pyrotechnics can ignite the dry terrain surrounding the memorial site, which is why his team was prepared to extinguish potential fires. Firefighters called in crews from other states to help a few days prior to the firework event, as a blaze consumed approximately 150 acres about 6 miles south of Mount Rushmore.

## Protest

Inspired by the Civil Rights Movement, many individuals sought out justice for the Lakota. In 1970, many activists belonging to a group known as the United Native Americans, arrived at the monument to demand that the Black Hills be returned to the Lakota. The activists set up camp on top of the memorial for several months, and after disassembling returned the next summer. Despite their return, their protests ended in their arrests. After many years of protest, the debate surrounding the monument reached the Supreme Court. In the case United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians (1980), it was ruled that the Black Hills belong to the Lakota. As compensation for the damages of the land, the Lakota were offered $17.1 million; however, the nation rejected the offer in order to continue to uphold the fight for the return of their land.

On the day of the firework celebration, NDN Collective organized a protest that blocked the road to the park, stating individuals were trespassing on sovereign lands of the Great Sioux Nation. A protest of about 200 people blocked the road to the park. Indigenous activists assembled on the highway, using cars and vans as barriers, which blocked the road for nearly three hours. In response, law enforcement officers and members of the South Dakota Air and Army National Guard were called in, leading to a skirmish between protestors and law enforcement. Some activists wore eagle feathers, beat drums and faced off with a line of air national guardsmen who were dressed in riot gear. No physical violence broke out but according to the county sheriff their actions were criminal, resulting in the arrest of 21 activists who faced charges of misdemeanors. Videos of the protest went viral, as did the “#landback” hashtag and with NDN collective's demands that the Black Hills be returned to the Lakota people and Mount Rushmore closed. Protesters described Mount Rushmore as “an international symbol of white supremacy." The assembly was declared unlawful by the county sheriff and 20 activists were arrested.

After gaining national attention, Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective President and CEO, had all charges against him dropped. This followed in suit to all other Land Defenders arrested on July 3 who had also had their charges dismissed, much in part through the efforts of many social activists. Tens of thousands of advocates raised money for bail funds through donations. By way of petitions, social media movements, as well as news coverage, enough publicity was found to put pressure on the courts to liberate the Land Defenders. Though dismissed from his prison sentence, Tilsen was obligated to attend a diversion program in lieu of all but one of the many charges made against him.

Tilsen has discussed his agenda to turn Mount Rushmore back to the tribes. According to an article done by Steven Groves, “prosecutors say that part of the program is admitting wrongdoing and ensuring that offenses don't happen again; however, Tilsen told the Associated Press he is not done pressing for changes to the monument and the Black Hills”. “Wherever you go to connect to God, that’s what the Black Hills are to the Lakota,” said Nick Tilsen, president of NDN Collective. The area, known as Paha Sapa — “the heart of everything that is” is sacred to the Lakota people. Nick Tilsen was charged with a combination of misdemeanors and felonies that could have led to 17 years in prison. Most charges were later dropped.

## Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic

The event had a large crowd in attendance who did not social distance and were not required to wear masks, despite recommendations to do so by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and other science experts, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. However, masks were handed out and attendees were given temperature screenings (despite COVID-19 being able to be spread by asymptomatic individuals). Donald Trump Jr.'s girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle was also in attendance despite testing positive for the virus the same day.

