Lakota People's Reverence for the Land and their Creation Story

Note:  This material is most appropriate for older grades.

This reverence for the land is explained in the introduction to He Sapa Woihanble:  Black Hills Dream, by Lakota authors Craig Howe and Lydia Whirlwind Soldier.  He Sapa is the Lakota name for the Black Hills.

“He Sapa holds memories and stories of Lakota history from the time of creation…and at the center of He Sapa is its foundation – Inyan, the Rock.  Lakotas believe that countless generations later, our ancestors left the underworld and emerged onto this earth through a hole, or connecting cave, in Inyan.

…He Sapa is a precious resource that Lakotas have held in trust for the coming generations. He Sapa to Lakotas is a wizipan, a repository from which we can draw physical and spiritual sustenance…We cannot look upon it without thinking about the power that created it.  We are part of it, as it is part of us.”