County of site: Meade County
Location of site: SD 79, NE of Sturgis
"Introduction
"Located in Southwest South Dakota, Bear Butte, with an elevation of 4,422 feet, rises above the South Dakota prairie on the northeast edge of the Black Hills. To most, Bear Butte stands simply as a beautiful and striking landmark, but to many Plains Indian tribes, it is one of, if not the, most important focal point in their religious and cosmological belief systems. Bear Butte is a tertiary intrusive, which formed when volcanic magma pushing to the surface caused an uplift in the earth’s crust, but failed to reach the surface for eruption. The mountain has religious significance for over 30 indigenous groups, including the Lakota Sioux, the Omaha of Nebraska, and the Tsistsistas (Cheyenne). Native peoples from Canada to North Texas know and believe Bear Butte to be a sacred place. Many conflicts concerning the obstruction of the freedom of religion guaranteed by the first amendment have surrounded the management Bear Butte, including the public access to the mountain, proposed construction of a shooting range, and approved liquor licenses for bars and concert venues within earshot of the Butte. As Bear Butte is an active religious site for native worshippers, these controversies have roused a vocal and dedicated mass of defenders of Bear Butte.
"Religious Significance and History
"The Lakota call Bear Butte Mato Paha, or Bear Mountain, and believe the Butte to be the most powerful land mass in their religion. They consider Bear Butte sacred for its location near the Black Hills and due to the fact that one can find the seven sacred elements – land, air, water, rocks, animals, plants, and fire – surrounding the Butte. The Lakota believe that Bear Butte is most sacred when worshippers pray there with the Lakota Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe. On April 4, 2006, Debra White Plume spoke to the commissioners who were listening to public input on the request for a liquor license by a biker bar to be built near Bear Butte. While speaking she attempted to confer the significance of the Mountain. She related the story of how the map of the sky that guided the spiritual life of the greater Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nations was given to them on the top of Bear Butte. The map particularly instructed the Sioux on how they should behave while near or on Bear Butte. The receiving of the star map is not unlike the receiving of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai. She explained how people gather at Bear Butte at particular times of the year to consider important questions to the tribe and make lasting decisions for the people, as well as to gather medicine and food. The Cheyenne call Bear Butte Noahvose, and believe that their gods presented their mythical hero, Sweet Medicine, four sacred arrows and a medicine bundle in a cave at Bear Butte. Gordon Yellowman Sr. tells the story of Sweet Medicine (Listen). The story explains the importance of Sweet Medicine as a prophet to the Cheyenne, he is a religious figure of at least equal importance as Moses to the Cheyenne people. The fact that Sweet Medicine is said to have communed with the spirits on Bear Butte is evidence to the fact that the mountain is a place of acute religious importance to the Cheyenne. These two native groups, along with the plethora of others, annually hold sun dances, sweat lodges, and vision quests at Bear Butte, making it one of the most active native sacred sites in the United States.
"The religious magnitude of Bear Butte becomes apparent when examining its rich history. Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull all camped, prayed, and performed ceremonies at Bear Butte during their lifetimes. A council of Sioux met at Bear Butte for yearly summer conventions; in 1857, a much larger convention, including the Teton, Miniconjou, Oglala, Sans Arc, and Hunkpapa Sioux tribes convened at the mountain to discuss the invasion of the white men onto their lands. During this convention, the young Crazy Horse underwent an Inipi, or a purification ceremony, and had a great vision on the inclines of Bear Butte, which his father interpreted as meaning that Crazy Horse would one day be a great warrior. In June 1871, Crazy Horse returned to Bear Butte for a Hanblecheyapi, or a vision quest, and foresaw the upcoming Black Hills War. After Crazy Horse’s death, legend has it that his followers buried him near Bear Butte. More recently, the movement to pass to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA), one of the most significant pieces of legislation addressing with Native American religious grievances, began in 1967 after Native traditional religious leaders and practitioners held ceremonies on Bear Butte. AIRFA affirms the right of Native Americans to have access to their sacred places.
"Controversy Surrounding the Black Hills
"Bear Butte is so important to the Lakota that when they met with the United States’ government in 1868 to discuss treaties, the Lakota demanded the control and ownership of the Black Hills, or Paha Sapa, forever. The treaty that they signed would later be called the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. The treaty spelled out the agreement in very clear, unmistakable language so that the Black Hills would be:
set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation of the Indians herein named...and the United States now solemnly agrees that no persons...shall ever be permitted to pass over, settle upon, or reside in the territory described in this article.
"However, in 1874, General George Armstrong Custer violated the treaty and on August 15th camped at the base of Bear Butte. His expedition was meant to confirm or disprove the rumors of gold that were floating along the frontier. When he returned and confirmed the rumors, white settlers flooded illegally onto the Great Sioux Reservation. Not wanting to remove the miners and punish them, the U.S. government demanded the sale of the land back to the U.S. by January 31, 1876. An army messenger delivered the demands to Crazy Horse and Black Twin, whose followers were camping at the foot of Bear Butte that winter. The government was forced to resort to threats of withdrawing all aid (food, housing, medicine) from Lakota living on the reservations if the Black Hills were not surrendered to the government. However, even with those threats, by February of 1877 the United States was only able to convince ten percent of the adult male Sioux to sign an agreement that abrogated the treaty of 1868, and took the Black Hills from the Sioux.
"In the 1920’s the Sioux began to demand the return of the Black Hills, in the 1970s the Sioux sued the United States government. In 1980, the Supreme Court determined the land had been unlawfully taken from the Sioux Nation, and awarded the Sioux $17.5 million, the worth of the land in 1876, plus interest that accrued 5% for each year since 1877. Justice Harry Blackmun said, "A more ripe and rank case of illegal dealings may never be found in or history." The Sioux, however, refuse to take the compensation, stating that they want rightful ownership of the Black Hills again. Even though some members of the Sioux believe that the money would benefit the Indians more than the ownership of the Black Hills, the majority still refuse to consider taking the money and instead are continuing their efforts to earn back the Black Hills." ~ The Pluralism Project Harvard University