SACRED PLACES AND STORIES
SACRED PLACES
NOVAOSSE ( BEAR BUTTE--Sturgis, South Dakota)
When you look at the picture of Bear Butte what do you see? To some it is only a large hill rising 1,253 feet about the plains on the Wyoming-South Dakota border. To a geologist it is a laccolith, an area of uplifted magma that never reached the surface. The magma rose to a shallow level and then stopped, cooled, crystallized and solidified. It almost defies the imagination to visualize this large formation completely covered with land. Over time the forces of erosion, wind, water and weather, stripped away the surface of the land baring this magnificent butte. But this has always been a sacred place to the Kiowas, Mandan, Arkiara, Crow, Sioux and Cheyennes. Their ancestors came here to seek visions and pray and succeeding generations still do so today. Today Bear Butte is important not only for its spiritual value to many of the Plains Indian people, but for its historic past as a navigational landmark to early travelers.
GRIZZLY BEAR'S LODGE (DEVIL'S TOWER--Devil's Tower, Wyoming)
This unique geological formation is known by many as Devils Tower. To the Cheyenne and other American Indian tribes it is known as Grizzly Bear's Lodge. This is perhaps one of the most recognized physiographic features in the world. Located on the western flank of the Black Hills of Wyoming it became the first national monument in the United States. The geologic explanation is that like Bear Butte it is the remnant of magma that did not reach the surface. Once again try to visualize this huge feature being completely buried beneath the land. Erosion has shaped what we see today.
SACRED STORIES
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