This gentleman was an important man to the Native American Indian. His name is Frank Fools Crow, a Ceremonial Chief of the Teton Lakota, known as a Visionary, Ambassador, Healer, and Storyteller. He believed in unity, and respect amongst all people. His life stretched almost 100 years, 1890 to 1989, and during his time on earth he made an impression. In 1975 he appeared before the Senate, leaving the Senate with this prayer: "Give us a blessing so that our words and actions be one in unity, and that we will be able to listen to each other. In doing so, we shall with good heart walk hand in hand to face the future".
Frank Fools Crow visited Bear Butte often, and it is believed this is where he received his healing powers.
One issue of important I owe to the Native American Indian is an apology. In my last post I showed pictures of the cloths and prayer ties hanging on the trees, this was an act of disrespect to the people and their deceased ancestors. When I made my second trip to the butte, the educational center was open. One of the requests was not take pictures of the cloths and prayer ties, respecting the families and ancestors. Once I learned that, I removed all my photos I took on my second journey up the mountain.
I did get up to the summit and lookout point this trip, all 3.74 miles round trip. To this day the Indians still come to their sacred mountain. The Cheyenne call the mountain Noavosse, meaning the "Good Mountain". The Sioux call the mountain Mato Paha, meaning "Bear Mountain".
It was here that the Cheyenne prophet, Sweet Medicine received the "4 Sacred Arrows", the 4 commandments, and a moral code. The four Sacred Arrows included two "Man Arrows" for warfare, and two "Bison Arrows" for hunting. The arrows were renewed every few years, unless a murder took place, or the pledger needed a blessing.
The Sioux worship Wakan Tanka, or Great Spirit, and pay tribute to spiritual rulers. One of their reasons for coming to the mountain, was to gain spiritual guidance for big hunts. One event would involve the entire tribe, dancing a "Buffalo Dance" to get the spirits to bring the buffalo to them.
- Black is for the West, and is the color of the Thunder and Lightning people, who clean the Earth.
- Red is for the North. The Buffalo come from the north and sacrifice themselves for the people, so the people may live.
- Yellow is for the East. Hope and a new day come from the east.
- White is for the South, which is the direction we go when we leave this physical world, on to the next.
The Cheyenne tradition is to spread out the cloth on the ground, representing the individual's altar, or personal medicine place. Rocks are placed on each corner representing the directions and boundaries of the individual's universe. In this way, the universe encircles the individual and outlines the worshiper's world. After a four-day prayer ceremony, the cloth is burned and given to the family, or tied to a tree, like the Lakota do today. Tobacco ties can be found tied to the trees as well, these are for the spiritual helpers.
FIRST STEPS ON THE JOURNEY
ABOUT A 7-8% GRADE GOING UP
THE SHORT CUT IN THE PHOTOS ABOVE
ABOUT A 1/4 OF THE WAY
BEAR BUTTE LAKE
AT THE TOP
BACK DOWN WE GO
See that thin white line on the other hills, that's our trail. I'm not sure how many mountain goats it took to make this trail, but they weren't fat goats.
FOR THE FLOWER LOVERS
I made it back to that little blue blob in the parking lot.
Back in the education center there were several exhibits. The above exhibit is some of the attire Red Cloud wore.
RED CLOUD (MAHPIYA LUTA)
AND HIS WIFE
LEAN WOMEN (WA-TAMAHECHA)
1857 BEAR BUTTE COUNCIL MEETING
It was rumored that there were close to 30,000 horses brought to the butte by the people attending the meeting; biggest meeting ever, to discuss the encroachment of the "white man".
Going upstairs there is a mural on the wall entitled "Make a Choice". Keep in mind that this is how our Native American Indians see their culture, and express it to us.
This mural depicts the struggles the Native American Indians deals with, which are much the same as "white men", drugs and alcohol addiction.
The mural begins on the left with the two trees; they represent the do's and don'ts, the good and the bad in life. If we stay on the right path, we will reach maturity, healthy and happy. Bad choices are represented by the logs lying on the ground... hollow and empty.
The wiped off faces of the people lined-up represent emotionally dead lives while we are here in this world. The other choice is in learning the ceremonies of our ancestors. This is accomplished through fulfillment of pride, dignity of self and family, knowledge of songs, stories, accurate history, and looking to the future. When these areas are focused on, one can walk in a more positive path. The Lakota people still teach their songs to the next generation.
the Elderman is reaching out, knowing that help is available. When the choice is made to return to, and open up to the cultural traditional ways, the Elder becomes a happy young man again, changing into an eagle, returning to the place said to be the center of the universe, which is Bear Butte.
A new day, a new life begins, and the waters change. People are happy, singing and dancing. The most sacred ceremony in their way is a small cottonwood tree, representing the Sundance. The little tree takes root and begins to grow, reaching out to help. If you really look close, you might see a face in it.
Mother Earth is sacred; life comes from her and returns to her. Sage is blanketing the land; the Thunderbeings are represented by lightning, which is the most powerful natural force. The man and women lightning represent the Indian Nations; the Teepee lightning represents their homeland; the warrior lightning represents walking with courage, a straight and narrow path, and living by the peoples values: Respect, Generosity, Courage, and Wisdom.
Daryl No Heart, Standing Rock, Hunkpapa, Lakota
Wo ecetu waste' (good and simple)
Oyate' Wakanpi (People look at him)
It was a good day for this journey, much was learned.
My cave adventure continued when I visited Jewel Cave. In the last post I told you I tried to tour the cave, but missed out... sold out. I went back home and went online to make a reservation for an afternoon tour. I didn't pay attention to the write up on the tour, it was only a short one cave room tour.
The day my tour came up, I got the brilliant idea to, thanks to the ranger the first trip, to show up early the morning of my original tour. I was close enough in the walk-up line to get a reservation for the "scenic tour", which was a 1 1/2 hour tour.
They offer four types of tours: Discovery (easiest), Scenic (moderate), Lantern, and Caver (hardest).
In the beginning there were about two miles of discovered cave, today there is over 200 miles of explored cave.
This cave is multiple levels, and the scenic tour starts on the upper cave level. This tour is in the blow-up on the right side of the above map. The tour starts at the elevators that take visitors to a barometric waiting area. For those that are not too sure what a barometric chamber is, it is in this case, an area with airtight doors at the elevators and entrance to the cave. The purpose of the chamber is to preserve the natural air flow throughout the cave.
To get to the entrance of the cave, the elevator ride takes visitors about 240 feet down. Entering the cave, visitors look up and see this... This chamber is a very large chamber. What I don't show you is the stairs the tour will be climbing. Don't fret, their not strenuous... they are metal, with handrails.
Visitors need to have their heads on a swivel... there is so much to see. The passage through the cave is naturally made, and no additions were created protecting the integrity of the cave.
The interesting part about the cave is that it has two environments, dry, and wet. Through the cave making process, water supported the weight of the rock, but when the water receded, the rock would crumble, or break apart. These are (blurred) examples...
The outer rock releases, breaking off and exposing the limestone underneath.
EXPOSED EDGE OF OUTER LAYER
I lied, here is a photo of what the railing looks like throughout the cave. By the way, this is one of the formations in the first chamber of the cave.
What you have seen so far are formations in the dry portion of the cave, we will now climb down to the wet portion of the cave, you will be able to see the difference.
VARIOUS STALACTITES
3' SODA STRAW
Q: what makes a soda straw different from a stalactite?
A: the soda straw is hollow and the same diameter the entire length, where the stalactite is larger at the base and narrower at the tip.
FLOW STONE FORMATION
LOOKING UP TO CEILING
STALAGMITE AND FLOW STONE
TRANSLUCENT CRYSTALS
"CAVE BACON" RIBBON
LOOKING AT CEILING
WANTS TO FALL?
The black mineral here is nothing to play with. The ranger was explaining that it has a sticky texture, and when it sticks... it sticks... and the unlucky person would be tracking it throughout the cave, into the gift shop, and probably to their vehicle. Fortunately none of it was near the floor of the cave.
LOOKING OVERHEAD AGAIN
LOOK, MORE RAILING
LOOKS LIKE TWO HOLES POKED IN THE ROCK
From here we headed up to the elevators. Before exiting the cave we had to walk through a solution that kills any "white nose" spores, this is done to protect the bats population in the cave.
After I left the visitor center I drove to the original cave entrance about a mile away.
I thought I was done with steps, after the 734 in the cave tour. Besides, my muscles were sore from the previous day hike.
SMALL VENT TO CAVE
ORIGINAL ENTRANCE TO CAVE
USED FOR LANTERN TOUR
From the cave it was homeward bound. I'm not sure I will do much else before we leave South Dakota. I went to bed one night, the diesel price was $4.24, on base. I got up the next morning, it was $4.43, on base.
See you on the other side of the mountain... somewhere.
