Ronin (Aizawa Romance)

(e)Devil's Tower meaning

Devil's Tower Wyoming
American Indians People Places Stories

Affiliated Tribes
The following peoples have geographical, historical and/or cultural ties to the Tower:

Lakota Cheyenne Crow
Arapahoe Shoshone Kiowa

Aside from the Kiowa, all of these tribes are considered Northern Plains Tribes. All six of these groups lived in or near the region known today as the Black Hills. The Tower is situated in the northwest corner of this region. In addition to, or inclusive with, the six groups listed above, there are over two dozen individual tribes affiliated with the Tower.

A tipila (tipi) set up in the snow
Ceremonies may occur at the Tower any time of the year, and are not always visible to visitors.

Cultural and Spiritual Connections
The connections which tie American Indian culture to the place known as Devils Tower are both ancient and modern. Oral histories and sacred narratives explain not only the creation of the Tower, but also its significance to American Indians. They detail peoples' relationships with the natural world, and establish those relationships through literal and symbolic language. Today there are several sources one can reference to read the various oral histories. 2

Modern connections are maintained through personal and group ceremonies. Sweat lodges, sun dances, and others are still practiced at the monument today.1 The most common ritual that takes place at the Tower are prayer offerings. Colorful cloths or bundles are placed near the Tower - commonly seen along the park's trails - and represent a personal connection to the site. They are similar to ceremonial objects from other religions, and may represent a person making an offering, a request, or simply in remembrance of a person or place. As with many religious ceremonies, they are a private to the individual or group. Please do not touch, disturb or remove prayer cloths or other religious artifacts at the park.

It is important to note a key difference between American Indian religions and many other contemporary religions (referred to as "western" or "near eastern" religions): a sense of place dominates the religion of American Indians, as opposed to the sense of time that dominates many western religions. Instead of a focus of chronological events and the order in which they are presented, American Indian religion focuses on a place and the significant events that are connected with that location. Although western religions have their important places, they do not hold the level of sacredness associated with the important places of American Indian religions.

Site of a Sun Dance ceremony at the park
The Sun Dance ceremony is often held at the park, although not every year.

Tribal Connections
Many of the tribes below have a sacred narrative, or oral history, about the creation of the Tower. You can read some of these oral histories on our park website.

Arapahoe
Arapahoes call Devils Tower "Bear's Tipi." 1
Sherman Sage, an Arapahoe, said that his grandfather, Drying-Up-Hide, was buried near the Tower.2

Cheyenne
The Cheyenne call Devils Tower "Bear's Lodge," "Bear's House," "Bear's Tipi," and "Bear Peak."1

The Cheyenne camped and hunted at Bear's Lodge in the winter and consider it a holy place.2

"A band of Cheyenne Indians went on one of its visits to 'Bear's Tipi' to worship the Great Spirit, as did many other tribes before the white man came. The Cheyenne braves took their families with them as they felt that would be safe, as Bear's Tipi was a holy place."2

Devils Tower is where Sweet Medicine died and it is his final earthly resting place. Sweet Medicine is the great culture hero of the Cheyenne who brought the Four Sacred Arrows to the tribe. The Four Sacred Arrows' sanctuary was located within a secret cave on the south side of Bear's Lodge.1 Sweet Medicine also founded the Cheyenne Warrior Societies, tribal government, special laws, and ceremonies. As Sweet Medicine lay dying in a hut by Bear's Lodge, he foretold a dark prophecy of the coming of the horse;the disappearance of the old ways and the buffalo, to be replaced by slick animals with split hoofs the people must learn to eat (cattle). He told of the coming of white men, strangers called Earth Men who could fly above the earth, take thunder from light, and dig up the earth and drain it until it was dead.2