Lakota · Cheyenne (Indigenous)
Matȟó Pahá
Bear Butte
“A mountain where prayers are tied to every tree, swaying in the wind”
Scenes
Meaning
All the way up the trail, colored prayer cloths and small tobacco ties bound to the branches sway quietly in the wind. Someone is fasting and praying alone somewhere above even now, and your steps slow of their own accord so as not to break the stillness.
The Lakota call it Bear Mountain (Matȟó Pahá) and the Cheyenne Noahȧ-vose, holding it among their most sacred places of prayer. Tradition tells that the prophet Sweet Medicine received the teachings of life for the Cheyenne here. To this day people climb the mountain to fast for several days and seek a vision, and along the path the trees carry the cloths and tobacco ties that hold those prayers.
Field notes
- Location
- 블랙힐스 동편 · South Dakota · N44.5° · W103.4°
- Best time
- In the early morning, when the prayer cloths, wet with dew, stir in the wind
- Getting there
- Near Sturgis, South Dakota; the Summit Trail of Bear Butte State Park climbs to the top.
- Etiquette
- The prayer cloths and offerings are left untouched, those in prayer are not disturbed, and a low voice is kept; some areas close on ceremony days.
Sources
- · South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks
- · Encyclopaedia Britannica
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