The Black Hills, Part 1
In which Moominmama walks on sacred ground and learns the stories of the Lakota and other Plains tribes who consider these hills to be holy... Tourist visits to Devil's Tower in eastern Wyoming picked up dramatically after Close Encounters of the Third Kind and the film continues to draw visitors, probably more than an interest in Native American stories. The KOA campground outside the National Monument plays the film for campers every night during the summer season. Fortunately, that wasn't Moominmama's campground though she wouldn't mind seeing the movie again. Instead, she wanted to learn the Lakota side of the story. Devil's Tower is a misnomer for starters. A cartographer who did not speak the language somehow confused "devil" for "bear." I can imagine a native person trying to act out the word like a game of Charades, and the cartographer getting it entirely wrong. But this magma extrusion's original name was (and is) Bear Lodge. Bear...