12.16.2009

Bear Butte, South Dakota.



Bear Butte is a holy and spiritual site for lots of different tribes. It is also a Pilgrimage for Native Americans.


Leaders such as Red Cloud, Crazy Horse, and Sitting Bull made pilgrimages to Bear Butte over the years. In 1857, a council of many Indian nations gathered at Bear Butte to discuss the growing presence of white settlers in the Black Hills, which is located in the Western part of SD, close to Rapid City where I live.


We were feeling SUPER stir crazy this weekend and we had a "heat wave" (it was only freakin' 35* F) and so we took off to Bear Butte. Baktash had never been there before and it is so special. I really feel God there and that makes me stoked. I love how so many special and historical places are so accessible to us here in Rapid - Wounded Knee, The Badlands, Bear Butte, just to name a few really special places.


It is hard for us to live here in SD sometimes, but days like this one make it allright. and actually pretty rad. We try to make the best of it, and entertain ourselves. here are some shots from our lovely day:



dude, this buffalo was HUGGGGGGEEE:

The various cloth ties are prayer offerings, sometimes wrapped in tobacco, sometimes not, but always with a prayer. i find them so very beautiful:
What are some special places for you?

7 comments:

Tony Piff said...

likes this.

montague said...

layli, these photos are just... too much. it looks like an outstanding place, and i wish i could visit with you!

dpmoore said...

great shots, Layli. I hope to post some one of these days from the North Shore of Lake Superior.

SAMIMI-EXTREMIE said...

@tony: so glad you do brutha!
@ amy: you are welcome ANYTIME. please come!!
@ daddio: i cannot wait until you do!! so excited!

Unknown said...

When I lived in Juarez last year, we had a "porch" next to our house that was built on the side of one of the mesa hills or dirt mountains in the colonias. we lived on the west side of the dirt mountain and we had this little broken down foundation next to our house. In the morning you could look out over Juarez and see the sunrise creep over the mountain and light up the city. From a distance you could see the Wells Fargo across the border. Loved it.

Kya said...

a secret moss garden at an old temple in kyoto, just 5 min from my parents' house. it is so quiet & old there ~ with a big buddha statue meditating quietly on a hill in a bamboo forest. I used to do my homework there.

SAMIMI-EXTREMIE said...

phyl: i love this, i feel like i am there with you. thank you for sharing!!

kya: dude, PLEASE take me there one day soon. i miss you so much.

xoxo.