Kiowa

Before the Kiowa came south they were camped on a stream in the far north where there were a great many bears, many of them. One day, seven little girls were playing at a distance from the village and were chased by some bears. The girls ran toward the village and the bears were just about to catch them when the girls jumped on a low rock, about three feet high. One of the girls prayed to the rock, “Rock take pity on us, rock save us!” The rock heard them and began to grow upwards, pushing the girls higher and higher. When the bears jumped to reach the girls, they scratched the rock, broke their claws, and fell on the ground.

The rock rose higher and higher, the bears still jumped at the girls until they were pushed up into the sky, where they now are, seven little stars in a group (The Pleiades). In the winter, in the middle of the night, the seven stars are right over this high rock. When the people came to look, they found the bears’ claws, turned to stone, all around the base.

No Kiowa living has ever seen this rock, but the old men have told about it – it is very far north where the Kiowa used to live. It is a single rock with scratched sides, the marks of the bears’ claws are there yet, rising straight up, very high. There is no other like it in the whole country, there are no trees on it, only grass on top. The Kiowa call this rock “Tso-aa”, a tree rock, possibly because it grew tall like a tree.

Told by I-See-Many-Camp-Fire-Places, Kiowa soldier at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 1897.

(On a personal note, I find this story particularly interesting for a few reasons. The Kiowa are usually described as a northern plains tribe that migrated southeast from western Montana before settling in Oklahoma by the 18th century yet they maintained this legend of the “Tree Rock” for generations. It’s also interesting because it incorporates a story about The Pleiades. This is one of the star clusters nearest to the earth and are often viewed as a female group. References about them can be found across many ancient cultures and societies. The great coincidence here is that the name Pleiades comes from the ancient Greeks and refers to seven divine sisters and this Kiowa tale seems to be an origin story about the seven sisters as well as about Tso-aa.)

Lakota

In the Lakota tribe long ago was a brave warrior who often went alone into the wilderness where he would fast and worship the Great Spirit in solitude. Being alone helped him to strengthen his courage so that in the future he could carry out his plans.

One day this warrior took his buffalo skull and went along into the wilderness to worship. Standing at the base of Mato Tipila after he had worshipped for two days he suddenly found himself on top of this high rock. He was very much frightened as he did not know how he would get down. After appealing to the Great Spirit he went to sleep. When he awoke he was very glad to find that he was again at the base of this high rock.

He saw that he was standing at the door of a big bear’s lodge as there was foot prints of a very big bear there. He could tell that the cracks in the big rock were made by the big bear’s claws. So he knew that all the time he had been on top of this big rock he had been standing on a big bear’s lodge.

From this time on his nation called this big high rock Mato Tipila and they went there often to worship. The buffalo skull is still on top of this big high rock and can be seen on the highest point.

This legend told to Dick Stone by Short Bull, who lived a short distance west of Oglala, South Dakota, on July 31, 1932. Mark Running Eagle, Interpreter.

I found this story on the website Sylvan Rocks. The source appears to be Sioux but the site doesn’t ascribe it to any particular tribe or band of Sioux.

Long ago, two young Indian boys found themselves lost on the great prairie. They had played together one afternoon and had wandered far out of the village. Then they had shot their bows still farther out into the sagebrush. Then they had heard a small animal make a noise and had gone to investigate. They had come to a stream with many colorful pebbles and followed that for a while. They had come to a hill and wanted to see what was on the other side. On the other side they saw a herd of antelope and, of course, had to track them for a while. When they got hungry and thought it was time to go home, the two boys found that they didn’t know where they were. They started off in the direction where they thought their village was, but only got farther and farther away from it. At last they curled up beneath a tree and went to sleep.

They got up the next morning and walked some more, still traveling the wrong way. They ate some wild berries and dug up wild turnips, found some chokecherries, and drank water from streams. For three days they walked toward the west. They were footsore, but they survived. How they wished that their parents, or elder brothers and sisters or tribe members would find them as they walked on what is now the plains of Wyoming. But nobody did.

On the fourth day the boys suddenly had a feeling that they were being followed. They looked around and in the distance saw Mato, the bear. This was no ordinary bear, but a giant bear, so huge that the boys would make only a small mouthful for him.   He had smelled the boys and came in search of that mouthful. He came so close that the earth trembled with each step he took.

The boys started running, looking for a place to hide, they found none.  The grizzly was much, much faster than they. They stumbled, and the bear was almost upon them. They could see his red, wide-open jaws full of enormous teeth. They could smell his hot breath.

The boys were old enough to have learned to pray, and the called upon Wakan Tanka, the Creator: “Tunkashila, Grandfather, have pity, save us.”

All at once the earth shook and began to rise. The boys rose with it. Out of the earth came a cone of rock going up, up, up until it rose more than a thousand feet high. And the boys were on top of it.
 Mato the bear was disappointed to see his meal disappearing into the clouds. This grizzly was so huge that he could almost reach to the top of the rock when he stood on his hind legs. Almost, but not quite. His claws were as large as a tipi’s lodge poles. Frantically Mato dug his claws into the side of the rock, trying to get up, trying to eat those boys. As he did so, he made big scratches in the sides of the towering rock. He tried every spot, every side. He scratched up the rock all around, but it was no use. They boys watched him wearing himself out, getting tired, giving up. They finally saw him going away, a huge, growling, grunting mountain disappearing over the horizon.

The boys were saved by Wanblee, the eagle, who has always been a friend to our people. It was the great eagle that let the boys grab hold of him and carried them safely back to their village.

If you’re interested in reading more legends about the site, the Devils Tower Natural History Association offers a book called First Encounters: Indian Legends of Devils Tower with 25 different creation stories.

Despite near unanimous opposition from the regional tribes, Senate Bill S. 70, introduced on January 9, 2017 by Senator Michael B. Enzi (R-WY), proposes to enshrine in law the name Devils Tower.

(In my update in 2023, I found that the original link in the sentence above was no longer active. Looking to replace it, i learned that the original bill didn’t pass but as recently as 2021, Wyoming senators were continuing their attempt to enshrine the name Devils Tower.) 

Finally

You didn’t think you’d escape two posts on Devils Tower without a Close Enounters of the Third Kind reference

or two

did you?

In the next post, I take a little detour into South Dakota and get lost in the process.