You might wonder what makes a mountain range so sacred that an entire people would refuse over a billion dollars rather than sell it. The government offered compensation – for the value of the land in 1876, prior to its occupation and the gold that was extracted, including interest – of approximately $106 million. Since then, that amount has grown to exceed one billion dollars. Yet the Lakota Sioux have consistently refused these payments, with one elder explaining, “How can one sell a sacred grandmother?” Their connection to these hills runs deeper than any financial transaction could ever reach.
The Black Hills , the original occupants of the area when white settlers arrived. For generations, these people have maintained an unbreakable spiritual bond with what they call Paha Sapa. This relationship transcends mere ownership or territorial control. It represents something far more profound: a sacred geography that forms the very foundation of Lakota identity and spiritual practice.
The Meaning Behind Paha Sapa
They claimed the land, which they called Ȟe Sápa (Black Mountains). The mountains commonly became known as the Black Hills (Pahá Sápa in Lakota). The name itself carries deep significance. The hills’ distinctive dark appearance when viewed from a distance (caused by the dense ponderosa pine forests) gives them both their English and Lakota names.
More importantly, The Lakota Sioux, along with other peoples native to the Northern Great Plains, consider the Paha Sapa, or Black Hills, to be the center of the world, the heart of everything that is, with its seven sacred sites aligned with the very pattern of the stars. This isn’t simply a poetic description. Paha Sapa, once the heart of everything that is, has also become a place that makes our hearts ache for the life we once shared as a proud people.
Sacred Geography and Ceremonial Life
Paha Sapa is sacred land of the Lakota that the white man has named Black Hills. We never lived in this place. It is the womb of Mother Earth, the rightful home of birds and animals. We came here only for ceremonies, vision quests and burials. This explains why the Lakota never established permanent settlements within the Black Hills themselves.
For the Lakota, the Black Hills are imbued with sacred significance and dotted with sacred sites and transcendent spaces – mountain tops, caves, and buttes – where they historically went to pray, fast, and seek visions. They also have gone to the hills for vision quests and to procure the trees central to the Sun Dance and other ceremonies. The landscape served as nature’s cathedral, where spiritual seekers would isolate themselves to receive guidance from the spirit world.
The Creation Story at Wind Cave
Indeed, Lakota creation myths detail their emergence from the Wind Cave, guided by the spirits and the buffalo, into the Black Hills to find their way in the world. This emergence story forms the cornerstone of Lakota spiritual beliefs. Lakota oral tradition speaks of how the first bison and humans emerged from this deeply spiritual place… and from a small hole, which is the cave’s natural entrance.
The larger idea in any story you hear about Wind Cave is that Lakota people emerged out of Wind Cave. In this narrative, Wind Cave represents the womb of Mother Earth, the place from which the Lakota Nation was born. The cave’s natural “breathing” reinforces this imagery – the earth itself breathing life into the people. The creation of bison is closely associated with the emergence story from Wind Cave located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The Lakxóta refer to Wind Cave by many names, including Washúŋ Niyá, which means “breathing cave”.
The Sacred Bond with Buffalo
Significantly, the buffalo – an animal central to traditional Lakota life and sustenance – emerged alongside the people. This simultaneous emergence established a sacred bond between the Lakota and the buffalo, a relationship that would define their way of life on the plains for centuries to come. The buffalo provided food, clothing, shelter, tools, and spiritual connections, making this origin story not just a tale of creation but a foundation for the Lakota’s entire cultural and economic system.
And when they emerged from the cave they saw everything the people before them did, but there was also a bison hoofprint on the ground. The Creator told them to, “Follow that bison because if you follow the bison, you’ll have everything you need to live on this earth. From it you can get food, clothing, shelter, it leads you to water.” This spiritual instruction became the foundation for the buffalo-centered Plains culture that would flourish for centuries.
Spiritual Practices and Seven Sacred Sites
Many Lakota people say that it was there that White Buffalo Calf Woman brought the sacred pipe to the people and revealed to them their seven sacred ceremonies. The hills form the nucleus of the Lakota religious universe – their art, music, performance, and poetry are rooted in the land.
In the 1700s and 1800s, the Lakota ceremonial season began each spring with the stampede of buffalo from the Black Hills through Buffalo Gap. As the people followed the buffalo, they would go to places like Devils Tower and Bear Butte, their pathway forming the shape of a buffalo’s head. We say that Wakan Tanka created the Heart of Everything That Is to show us that we have a special relationship with our first and real mother, the earth, and that there are responsibilities tied to this relationship. Wakan Tanka placed the stars in a manner so what is in the heavens is on earth, what is on earth is in the heavens, in the same way.
Historical Treaties and Broken Promises
In 1868, the federal government entered into a series of treaties with the Lakota. This resulted in the Fort Laramie Treaty, which established the Great Sioux Reservation, including all lands from the Missouri River west to the Bighorn Mountains of western Wyoming. The treaty forever ceded the Black Hills to bring about lasting peace with the tribes of the plains and established agencies that would distribute food, clothes, and money to the Native Americans.
The treaty protected the Black Hills “forever” from American settlers. However, this promise would be short-lived. When George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills, gold was “officially” discovered on July 30, 1874. This soon led to thousands of miners encroaching upon the Sioux lands, violating the treaty and Federal law. The United States government illegally seized the Black Hills – a mountain range in the US states of South Dakota and Wyoming – from the Sioux Nation in 1876. The land was pledged to the Sioux Nation in the Treaty of Fort Laramie, but a few years later the United States illegally seized the land and nullified the treaty with the Indian Appropriations Bill of 1876, without the tribe’s consent.
Modern Legal Battles and Ongoing Resistance
On July 23, 1980, in United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that the Black Hills were illegally seized by the federal U.S. government and ordered remuneration of the initial offering price plus interest, nearly $106 million. The Supreme Court ruled in 1980 (US v Sioux Nation) that the Sioux Nation never received just compensation for their land, writing “a more ripe and rank case of dishonorable dealings will never, in all probability, be found in our history.”
The Lakota refused the settlement, as they wanted the Black Hills returned to them. The Lakota have refused to accept the money on the grounds that one cannot buy and sell sacred land. In the “spirit of Crazy Horse” – the courageous Lakota leader who never assented to the 1876 agreement, proclaiming that “one does not sell the earth upon which the people walk” – the Sioux of South Dakota’s reservations voted to keep struggling for the return of their sacred land. Rick Two-Dogs, an Oglala Lakota medicine man, explains: “All of our origin stories go back to this place. We have a spiritual connection to the Black Hills that can’t be sold. I don’t think I could face the Creator with an open heart if I ever took money for it.”
The Black Hills represent far more than a territorial dispute or legal technicality. They embody the soul of a people whose entire spiritual and cultural identity is rooted in this sacred landscape. This sacredness means that we walk on our ancestors. For the Lakota Sioux, accepting money for Paha Sapa would mean selling their grandmother, their creation story, their spiritual center, and their ancestral heritage.
Today, as Mount Rushmore attracts millions of visitors annually, the original sacred meaning of these hills remains largely unknown to most Americans. The ongoing struggle of the Lakota Sioux to reclaim their sacred land continues as one of the most significant unresolved issues in American history. What do you think about the complexity of sacred land versus economic development? Tell us in the comments.
Hi, I’m Andrew, and I come from India. Experienced content specialist with a passion for writing. My forte includes health and wellness, Travel, Animals, and Nature. A nature nomad, I am obsessed with mountains and love high-altitude trekking. I have been on several Himalayan treks in India including the Everest Base Camp in Nepal, a profound experience.
