Visiting the Rosebud Indian Reservation

Image via WikipediaThe Sicangu Oyate or Burnt-Thigh people are one of the bands of the Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) that comprise the Tetuwan Oyate, Lakota or Great Sioux Nation. The name supposedly comes from a time when the band had to run through a fire on the prairie which left many tribal members with burns.

Lewis and Clark called them the Teton of the Burnt Woods in their journals of 1804, and said they "rove on both sides of the Missouri, White, and Teton rivers." The French trappers and traders thereafter called them the Upper Brule.

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Best Places to See Bison in South Dakota

Image via WikipediaIf you have never visited South Dakota, you're in for a surprise. The state is split in two by the Missouri River. The land east of the Missouri is called "East River", the land to the west is "West River".

When people think of South Dakota, many picture the flat farmlands of east river. West river is completely different - the prairie starts to roll, the sky opens up to fill the horizon in every direction until you finally reach the Badlands and Black Hills region on the western edge of the state.

This is bison country, the home of the Lakota Sioux people who were the original hunters of the majestic American Bison. In the late 1800s these animals were hunted nearly to extinction by settlers who would kill an animal and take only the tongue to sell as gourmet food to easterners, leaving the corpses to rot under the prairie sky.

American bison were reintroduced to western South Dakota in the early part of the 20th century. Bison are making a comeback today with free-roaming herds such as you can see at Custer Sate Park or Wind Cave National Park or on private ranches such as 777 Ranch or privately and tribally owned herds of the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations.

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Visiting Mato Tipila (Devils Tower)

Image via WikipediaScience fiction fans may recognize this site from the movie "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" . To the Lakota and other tribes that make the northern plains their home, this is a sacred site; the site where the Seven Sisters became the Pleiades.

You may know it as Devils Tower, but to the Lakota, this place is the Bear's Lodge, as a giant bear plays a big part in the story of the Seven Sisters.

If you are traveling to Mato Tipila, keep in mind that it is the equivalent of a church, mosque or synagogue. Ceremonies may occur year-round, but are especially frequent during summer months.

If you do come across someone in prayer or ceremony, please be respectful; don't gawk, stare, point, start asking questions, giggle, take pictures or otherwise interrupt.

If you plan to climb Mato Tipila, please also be respectful of the voluntary ban on climbing during the month of June, the height of the ceremonial season at Mato Tipila. By working together and being respectful of each other, we can do our part to ensure that Mato Tipila remains open for people of all faiths and backgrounds.

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Sandstone Buildings of Hot Springs

Image by bradleygee via FlickrOriginally called Mni Kahta (warm water) by the Lakota who used the spring-fed waters here as a healing tool, the town of Hot Springs, South Dakota became famous by sharing its mineral waters with the world.

Hot Springs, founded in 1879, was widely promoted as a resort destination beginning in the 1890s. With the building of an enormous mineral pool at Evan's Plunge and a railroad line through the center of town, Hot Springs was on its way to prosperity.

The health spa business was booming, and a building boom came soon after. Beautiful sandstone buildings quarried from local rock began springing up all over town and Hot Springs came into full flower.

By the mid-20th century, the health spa business was a bust. That didn't effect Hot Springs, however, as it was still booming as the city nearest the Black Hills Army Depot and Igloo, South Dakota and the mining operations in nearby Edgemont, South Dakota.

After the Army Depot shut down and the mining operations ceased, Hot Springs came to a standstill. Today, there are only about 4,000 people left in the once-thriving city. Many of the beautiful and historic sandstone buildings in town fell into disrepair.

Today, with the rebirth of interest in the health spa industry, many of these buildings have been restored to their original glory, and some are even being used in the same way they were used over a hundred years ago.

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Visiting Crazy Horse Memorial: Tips for Travelers

Image by jimbowen0306 via FlickrWhile Mount Rushmore National Memorial is impressive, it's not the largest carved mountain in the world. That honor belongs to the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills, just down the road from Mount Rushmore.

Korczak Ziolkowski started out as a sculptor at Mount Rushmore; his work there began in 1939, after winning a prize for his sculpture "PADEREWSKI, Study of an Immortal," at the 1939 New York World's Fair.

A fateful encounter with Chief Standing Bear caused Ziolkowski to change gears and begin his own mountain carving, one dedicated to a hero of the Lakota people whose homeland this is.

Ziolkowski began work on Crazy Horse Memorial in 1948 and continued working there until his death in 1982. Crazy Horse Memorial receives no public funding, and as such it as still a work in progress even after all these decades. Ziolkowski's children and others continue the work on the Memorial.

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Pte Tali Yapa: Visiting the Buffalo Gap

 

Pte Tali Yapa (tay tah-lee yah-pah) is the Lakota name for the unique entry into the Black Hills that we now know as Buffalo Gap. The Gap in question can be entered by turning onto the 7-11 Road (named for a ranch, there are no 7-11 stores anywhere near here) from Highway 79.

As you wind your way along this road you'll notice several interesting things. First, it's absolutely beautiful with the rich red earth known local as the red racetrack of Lakota stories or the Spearfish Formation to geologists.

There are a couple small ranches along the road, and not much else created by humans, other than some very interesting "junk art" sculptures such as a cowboy lassoing a dragon made from old car and farm machinery parts.

If you look west from the Gap, you'll see the southern Black Hills, look east and there's the wide open prairie, with the Badlands not far beyond. From the end of 7-11 Road you can turn left and head into the town of Hot Springs (with its famous minerals baths and spas) or right to Wind Cave National Park.

You can also still see the buffalo as you drive along the road through buffalo gap. Look behind the high buffalo fencing and if you're lucky you'll catch a glimpse of the bison herd that lives on the restored prairie of Wind Cave National Park.

 

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