RAPID CITY - The Bear Butte International Alliance of Sturgis will host a noted environmentalist and political figure to speak about Bear Butte at an informational meeting Saturday, Sept. 29, in Rapid City.

Winona LaDuke, an Anishinaabekwe enrolled member of the Mississippi Band of Anishinaabeg and 1996 and 2000 running mate of presidential candidate Ralph Nader, will be the featured speaker. The meeting begins at 6 p.m. at the Prairie Edge book store, at the corner of Sixth and Main streets, in Rapid City. The event will include Native American foods, music and a silent art auction.

LaDuke, executive director of Honor the Earth, a Minnesota indigenous environmental network, and Anne White Hat, Bear Butte International Alliance coordinator, will talk about efforts and strategies to protect Bear Butte.

For several years, Meade County residents, local environmental groups and tribal members from South Dakota, Montana, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Wyoming have opposed commercial development of bars, concert venues and campgrounds near Bear Butte, a historical and indigenous sacred site.

For information about the event, go to matopaha.org or prairieedge.com.

Contact Jomay Steen at 394-8418 or jomay.steen@rapidcityjournal.com