Star Knowledge and Sacred Sites

The Kapemni design is frequently seen in Lakota and other Northern Plains artwork.

NPS Illustration / S. Bear Eagle

For Native people in the Black Hills region, celestial and earthly locations are inextricably intertwined. Every year, from the Vernal Equinox to the Summer Solstice, spiritual leaders follow a map of the Black Hills located amongst the stars, where constellations correspond with significant earthly locations. The passage of the sun through these constellations mirrors this spiritual journey.

The spokes on the Stone Hoop Garden sculpture denote both astronomical events and culturally significant sites.

The Lakota refer to the Axial Precession movement as the “Kapemni” (twisting motion). The above/below reflection in the image is a philosophical foundation in Lakota culture. The Kapemni design is frequently seen in Lakota and other Northern Plains artwork.

The Kapemni is also foundin the conical shape of the tiphestola (home). As a place of nurturing, learning, and growth, the home is considered a foundation of Lakota life.

All the Sacred Sites listed below have corresponding celestial features. The relationship between the earthly locations and their positions in the sky are significant for many Indigenous peoples.

 

Sacred Sites

The Black Hills and the surrounding area are spiritually and emotionally significant to numerous Native nations as sites of historical and continued importance.

Buffalo Gap

Buffalo Gap, carved by the hooves of bison, serves as both a physical and spiritual entry into the Black Hills.

Wind Cave

To the Lakota, Oniya Ohloka (Wind Cave) is the place where their people first came into the world. As the site of emergence, the cave is considered the birthplace of both the bison and Lakota culture.

Inyan Kaga

Translating in Lakota to “where rock is gathered”, this location is significant as a source of stones for ceremony and for quartzite used for knapping points and tools.

Pe Sla

Pe Sla (Bald Spot) is an area in the Black Hills marked by a rocky peak overlooking a large meadow. The site is one stop on the ceremonial journey through the Hills. In this space, no killing of animals was allowed.

Bear Butte

The Cheyenne credit Nóávóse (Giving Hill or Bear Butte) as the site where the prophet Motsé'eóeve (Sweet Medicine) received the Sacred Arrows and experienced a vision foretelling the coming of white settlers.

Black Elk Peak

Hehaka Sapa (Black Elk) was an Oglala Lakota spiritual leader. As a child, he experienced a vision where he was taken to the top of Black Elk Peak and greeted by six grandfathers. It is believed these spirits are physically embodied by the stone peaks onto which Mount Rushmore was later carved.

Bear Lodge

Bear Lodge (also known as Devils Tower - a name considered disrespectful by Native people) is a site of spiritual significance to many Northern Plains nations. While details vary, the shared origin story of this site involves a bear clawing at the side of a hill.

Race Track

Nóvȯhéstséméó’o or Kiinyanka Ocanku (Racing Road in Cheyenne and Lakota) refers to the Great Race story, in which the animals raced around the Black Hills. This is commonly known as the “Red Valley,” an iron-rich layer of shale, sandstone, and limestone bordering the hills.