Bear Butteis ageologicallaccolithfeature located nearSturgis, South Dakota,United States, that was established as aState Parkin 1961. An important landmark and religious site for thePlains Indianstribes long beforeEuropeansreached South Dakota, Bear Butte is calledMatȟó Pahá,[2]orBear Mountain,by theLakota,orSioux.To theCheyenne,it is known asNoahȧ-vose( "giving hill" ) orNáhkȯhe-vose( "bear hill" ),[3]and is the place where Ma'heo'o (Great Spirit) imparted toSweet Medicine,a Cheyenne prophet, the knowledge from which the Cheyenne derive their religious, political, social, and economic customs.
Bear Butte | |
 | |
  | |
| Location | Meade County, South Dakota |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Sturgis, South Dakota |
| Coordinates | 44°28′33″N103°25′37″W/ 44.47583°N 103.42694°W |
| NRHP referenceNo. | 73001746 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | June 19, 1973 |
| Designated NHL | December 21, 1981[1] |
The mountain is sacred to many indigenous peoples, who make pilgrimages to leave prayer cloths and tobacco bundles tied to the branches of the trees along the mountain's flanks. Other offerings are often left at the top of the mountain. The site is associated with various religious ceremonies throughout the year. The mountain is a place of prayer, meditation, and peace.
The park includes a campsite west ofSouth Dakota Highway 79where horseback riding, fishing, and boating are permitted. On the summit side of Highway 79, a moderately sized herd ofbisonroams the base of the mountain. An education center and a summit trail are available. Official park policy advises visitors to Bear Butte to respect worshipers and to leave religious offerings undisturbed. Park fees are waived for those undertaking religious activities. Some nearby land was also obtained by some Native American tribes in later years as well.[4][5]
Geological history
edit
Bear Butte is not strictly a butte (created primarily by erosion of sedimentary strata), but alaccolith:anintrusivebody of igneous rock, uplifting the earlier sedimentary layers, which have since largely eroded away. This is the result of the forcible entry (or intrusion) ofmagmainto cooler crustal rock in the Black Hills area during theEoceneEpoch. In this, Bear Butte shares a similar geological history with other formations in the region, including theBlack Hills,Devils Tower,theMissouri Buttes,and some parts of theRocky Mountains.[6]It is possible that when the intrusion was emplaced, some magma may have breached the surface, forming a volcano; however, it would have eroded away long ago.
The peak rises 1,253.5 feet (382.1 m) above the surrounding plain and measures 4,426 feet (1,349 m) above sea level.
Modern history
editHuman artifacts have been found on or near Bear Butte that date back 10,000 years, indicating a long and continuous interest in the mountain.[7]The Cheyenne and Lakota people have maintained a spiritual interest in Bear Butte from their earliest recorded history.
Notable visitors likeRed Cloud,Crazy Horse,andSitting Bullmade pilgrimages to the site. In 1857, a council of many Indian nations gathered at Bear Butte to discuss the growing presence of white settlers in the Black Hills.
Violating a treaty of 1868,George Armstrong Custerled an expedition to the Black Hills region in 1874, and according to custom he camped near Bear Butte. Custer verified the rumors of gold in the Black Hills, and Bear Butte then served as an easily identifiable landmark for the rush of invadingprospectorsand settlers into the region. Indian reaction to the illegal movements of whites into the area was intense and hostile. Ultimately the government reneged on its treaty obligations regarding the Black Hills and instead embarked on a program to confine all northern Plains tribes to reservations.
Ezra Bovee homesteaded on the southern slopes of the mountain, and by the time ofWorld War II,he and his family were the legal owners of the site. In the spring of 1945, the Northern Cheyenne received permission from Bovee to hold a ceremony at Bear Butte to pray for the end of World War II. The Cheyenne found that the Bovee family welcomed their interest in the mountain, and over the years the Bovees continued to encourage native religious ceremonies.
By the mid-1950s Ezra Bovee was attempting to stir up interest in making Bear Butte a national park. After his death, his family continued the effort. When federal interest in the project waned, the state government in Pierre took action, and Bear Butte became a state park in 1961 and was registered as aNational Historic Landmarkin 1981.
Frank Fools Crow,the Lakota ceremonial chief (d. 1989), made pilgrimages to Bear Butte throughout his lifetime. Fools Crow taught racial harmony not just between whites and Indians, but among all the peoples of the world. He believed the Lakota should never sell the Black Hills. A bust and plaque in front of the education center at Bear Butte State Park honor Fools Crow's efforts.
Frank Fools Crow was the plaintiff in one of the most prominent attempts by Native Americans to gain access to sacred lands under theAmerican Indian Religious Freedom Actof 1978. The case,Fools Crow v. Gullett,related to the introduction in 1982 of limits on when and for how long Lakota and Cheyenne religious ceremonies could take place on the Bluff. The Indian Americans argued that both the American Indian Religious Freedom Act and theFirst Amendmentprotected their right to unlimited access to the Bluff. They also wanted the Bluff to remain untouched as it was sacred. The plaintiffs lost their case on both the District and Appellate level and were denied a hearing by theSupreme Court.[8]
In 2011, theNational Trust for Historic Preservationincluded Bear Butte on its list of the11 Most Endangered Places.[9]Between 2016 and 2018, Native American tribes such as the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe of Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of Montana and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota acquired land around the butte due to the cultural significance.[10][4][5]
See also
edit
Notes
edit- ^"Bear Butte".National Historic Landmark summary listing.National Park Service. Archived fromthe originalon June 14, 2009.RetrievedJune 26,2008.
- ^Elementary Bilingual Dictionary(1976) University of Colorado
- ^English-Cheyenne Student Dictionary(1976) Northern Cheyenne Bilingual Education Program
- ^abHolland, Jim (November 22, 2018)."1,020 acres near Bear Butte sells to tribes for $2.3 million".Rapid City Journal.RetrievedMarch 3,2021.
- ^abGriffith, Tom (November 1, 2016)."Tribes buy Bear Butte land for $1.1M".Rapid City Journal.RetrievedMarch 3,2021.
- ^Gries, John Paul (1996).Roadside Geology of South Dakota.Missoula: Mountain Press. pp. 187–189.ISBN0878423389.
- ^Schilling, Vincent (April 7, 2009)."Bear Butte Mountain: A beautiful, sacred site in South Dakota".Indian Country Today.RetrievedNovember 6,2020.
- ^Forbes-Boyte, Kari (1999)."Fools Crow versus Gullett: A critical analysis of the American Indian Religious Freedom Act".Antipode.31(3): 304.Bibcode:1999Antip..31..304F.doi:10.1111/1467-8330.00105.RetrievedDecember 1,2015.
- ^"America's 11 Most Endangered Historic Places 2011: Bear Butte".Archived fromthe originalon July 12, 2011.RetrievedJuly 23,2011.
- ^Griffith, Tom (November 8, 2017)."Tribes buy Bear Butte land for $1.1M".Rapid City Journal Media Group.RetrievedNovember 3,2020.
References
editOehlerking, Jerry.The Dick Williams Story: If Bear Butte Would Speak,South Dakota Conservation Digest, March/April 1977, pp. 22–25.