Auction for sacred South Dakota land cancelled

"SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — The planned auction of nearly 2,000 acres of land in South Dakota's picturesque Black Hills that is considered sacred by American Indian tribes has been canceled, though it wasn't immediately clear why.

"Iowa-based Brock Auction Co. planned to auction five tracts of land owned by Leonard and Margaret Reynolds on Saturday. But a message on the auction house's website Thursday said it has been canceled at the land owners' direction. The auction house and Margaret Reynolds declined to comment.

"Tribes of the Great Sioux Nation consider the site key to their creation story and are trying to purchase it because they fear new owners would develop the land, which they call Pe' Sla. The property, which spans about 1,942 acres of pristine prairie grass, is the only sacred site on private land currently outside Sioux control.

"Rosebud Sioux Tribe spokesman Alfred Walking Bull said he didn't know the auction had been canceled when contacted Thursday. His tribe, whose reservation is among the closest to the land, had agreed to allocate $1.3 million toward trying purchasing the property, though tribal officials have said they feared the selling price could be between $6 million and $10 million

The story is at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/48771510/ns/us_news/