Move over, Jefferson.
Chief Arvol Looking Horse travels here, to this formation of igneous rock that juts nearly 900 feet into the sky, to pray.
He prays for peace and harmony. He prays for people to reverse their mistreatment against Mother Earth. He prays for future generations.
But before the spiritual leader with the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Great Sioux Nation can focus on prayer, he must first pass through the national monument’s entrance gate, where park rangers welcome him to Devils Tower. They offer him a map of Devils Tower. In the car he glances at signs pointing to Devils Tower.
That name is offensive, the chief says, and invokes anxiety and anger among American Indians who consider the site sacred. It can interfere with their ceremonies and praying. People need to pray with a good heart and mind — free of drugs and alcohol, with purity, holiness, reverence, respect and no ill will against others, he says.
He is leading the effort, backed by spiritual leaders of 20 tribes and two interfaith groups, to change the name of Devils Tower to Bear Lodge, a place where Sioux have prayed and gathered for spiritual ceremonies for 19 generations, and where other tribes worshipped before them.
Devils Tower is not the name any of the tribes use for the area, he says. There is no equivalent concept in Sioux spirituality of the Christian devil. A tribal resolution in support of the change argues the Devils Tower moniker “equates cultural and faith traditions practiced at this site to ‘devil worship,’ in essence equating indigenous people to ‘devils.'”
“It almost gives me an anxiety attack,” says the chief, who is tall and thin, ties his long hair in a ponytail and answers questions by sharing the teachings of his people. “All the people who come here don’t know the energy of the sacred site. I pray people have enough respect to just come here with a good mind.”
Although tribes have petitioned the government to change the name since the 1920s, it is now urgent: Sioux prophecies of environmental destruction are coming to fruition, he says.
“This is a very important time in our history,” says the chief, who lives on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota.