Press and Dakotan-Thursday, August 26, 2004
|
|
Many Indians still refuse to hike up the mound north of Vermillion. On
Wednesday, during Vermillion's observance of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial,
it appeared they still had reason to feel both respect and fear.
Lewis and Clark re-enactors hiking the mound -- symbolizing the explorers'
Aug. 25, 1804, ascent of the hill -- were greeted by a sudden, unexplained
windstorm. Clouds gathered and swept over the prairie.
The sight brought a sense of awe to Dave Huebner, a re-enactor from
Bushnell.
"Right after they started coming down, a black cloud came over us and a
straight line wind passed over the mound. It was a strange little wind,"
he said. "The whirlwind sucked the papers into a pile. Then we had thunder
and lightning in the northwest, and there was rain."
Huebner said he encountered similar strange conditions when he hiked up
Spirit Mound on a re-enactment two years ago.
"We had one character who portrayed a Ponca woman, and she was getting
bitten by buffalo gnats," he said. "Then the gnats left, and the
brown wrens came circling all around us."
While Lewis and Clark are known for their search for the "Little
People," Huebner said a reference to the legend was mentioned in a
historical paper about a man captured by the Brule Sioux in 1802.
"(The captured man) told of a legend that the Indian people killed too
many animals and left the meat. Then Wakontonka, the Great Spirit, took away
the game. The people prayed for a return of animals because the children were
starving," Huebner said.
"The Great Spirit returned the animals but put in place the Ślittle
people' to watch the Indians and make sure they didn't take more than they
needed."
Many Indians still offer prayers and gifts at Spirit Mound, Huebner said.
They also take precautions against evil on the mound, he said.
"Today, I know a Lakota man who smudges himself when he goes on the
mound," he said.
American Indians still pass on the story of Spirit Mound and other sacred
sites, said Jerome Kills Small, a University of South Dakota faculty member.
"I am pleased to be here to honor the earth. I am mainly a storyteller.
I'm a writer who doesn't write. I am an oral traditionalist," he told an
audience. "The Lakota storytellers don't analyze. They leave that up to
each one for their own conclusion and to apply it to their lives."
At the base of Spirit Mound, Vermillion native Paul Peterson was re-creating
his own vision of Spirit Mound on canvas. Peterson said he now lives in Sturgis
but still comes back to Spirit Mound whenever he visits the area.
"I grew up north of here, along Frog Creek Road," he said.
"It's always interesting, when you are younger, what you can do with your
imagination when you look at odd geographical features that just stick out of
nowhere. It's great."
Peterson said he enjoys painting outdoors. He said he finds something
different in Spirit Mound each time.
"It has a different look and feels. I am a different person each time,
and there is the change of weather and seasons each time I paint. I am always
struck that the mound has a very distinct profile," he said.
"Then there is the historical point to the story of Spirit Mound. This
is part of the Native American aspect of the Lewis and Clark Expedition."
Peterson said he learned of the legend of the "little people" as a
child.
"It brings such power images, and it's such a source of inspiration,"
he said. "It fuels the imagination. It affects the way you understand and
study Lewis and Clark."
Spirit Mound affects visitors from all across the nation, Peterson said.
"Yesterday, I was here and there was a party who was coming through
from Alaska. And we had a retired college professor from New Mexico. We sat and
watched the sunset," he said.
"The (Lewis and Clark bicentennial) anniversary makes it possible for
people to travel all over to be here. It provides an interruption from the
hustle and bustle of everyday life. It's great to see how many other people
find this such a special place."
As he spoke, Vermillion resident Mary Anne Cracauer descended from her first
trip up Spirit Mound.
"My husband and I came out here after the Vermillion Plain Talk printed
a picture of all the beautiful flowers out here, but this is the first time I
have gone all the way up to the top," she said.
"It's just marvelous to think that are you are standing in the same
spot that Lewis and Clark stood 200 years ago. It's such a beautiful place.
Back then, it was covered with buffalo. But it's still a wonderful, spiritual
place."
The observance continues this weekend at Spirit Mound and W.H. Over Museum
on the USD campus.
A postcard with the cancellation mark I designed.
