Across The Fence: Hinhan Kaga Paha

This past week my wife, Deb, and I attended a sacred Lakota ceremony for the freeing of the spirit and wiping of the tears. Lakota holy man Basil Brave Heart gathered us together on a high point of rocks overlooking a lush, green valley on the southern fringes of the Black Hills. Under the grey skies of an impending spring rain Basil sent the spirit of our close friend, David, on a journey where, in death, he would join the spirits of his ancestors.

In his left hand, Basil held the sacred staff of truth and in his right the wing of an eagle. David's wife, Elaine, held the ashes of his human form while Basil, with four mighty sweeps of the eagle wing, sent the spirit of his friend David onward to the great mystery.

The ceremony was one of reverence with moments of sadness, touches of humor and profound spiritual depth. The proceedings ended with Elaine scattering the ashes of her husband to the wind that swept past the lofty granite ledge where she and David had often gone to gaze in wonder, meditate in solitude and pray in silence. White puffs of windblown ash disappeared into the pines like the spirals of pungent sage smoke that mingled with the smells of cedar and wildflowers. And as we left the circle of friends who had gathered there and wiped away the tears, we knew that David was gone but that a part of his spirit would always remain with us.

During the ceremony Basil Brave Heart spoke of a mountain peak in the Black Hills that the Lakota call Hinhan Kaga Paha. The meaning of these Lakota words is difficult to explain, though the literal translation would be something like "the mountain of the sacred owl" or "the sacred scary owl of the mountain." In many Native American traditions the owl is believed to be a messenger, and often a messenger of death.

When Basil spoke of this mountain, Hinhan Kaga Paha, he said that he would not speak the name given to it by white men, as he believed that the name brought great sorrow to his people. In fact, the Lakota nation has petitioned the U.S. government to officially change the name of the mountain and restore its Lakota name.

I have to say that I agree with the purpose of this petition and so, to honor the wishes of the Lakota I will not include the name in this column.

No doubt the first to climb the peak were the native people of the Black Hills. According to the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) in 1872, a 9-year old boy named 'Hehaka Sapa' (Black Elk) was taken ill and lay in a coma for several days. In his illness he had a vision where he stood on the sacred mountain. When he was older Black Elk became a much respected wichasa wakhan (holy man) of the Sioux and in his later years told the story of his vision to Nebraska poet John G. Neihardt, who recorded the telling in his book, "Black Elk Speaks."

Black Elk related his vision to Neihardt saying, "I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world. And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being."

Indeed, the mountain peak where Black Elk stood is the highest point in South Dakota. In fact, it is the highest point, in the United States, east of the Rocky Mountains. In Black Elk's vision he was in fact, "standing on the highest mountain of them all..."

The first recorded arrival of European Americans to reach this sacred mountain was the expedition led by George Armstrong Custer in 1874. Custer along with five other men under his command attempted to summit the 7,242-foot peak. Starting from the base, Custer challenged his men to a horseback duel of sorts in order to see who could get the farthest up the mountain while mounted. Custer forced his steed farther up the steep incline long after the other riders had dismounted. One member of the party, engineer W. H. Wood described Custer's treatment of his horse as nothing less than cruel. Although it has been claimed that Custer did summit the peak, there are those eyewitnesses who say that he was unable to reach the top.

On July 24, 1875, Dr. Valentine McGillycuddy was employed as a surveyor for the Newton-Jenney Party that was charged with the mission to determine whether or not there was any truth in the claims that there was gold in the Black Hills. When the expedition camped near Hinhan Kaga Paha, McGillycuddy decided to hike to the top. Near the summit Dr. McGillycuddy found the final ascent too steep to climb. Seeing a dead pine tree still standing near the summit, he pushed the decaying trunk until it leaned against the rock face of the peak and climbed the tree to the top. McGillycuddy is credited as being the first white man to reach the summit of Hinhan Kaga Paha.

Later, Dr. McGillycuddy served as physician and agent on the Sioux reservation and gained the trust and admiration of the Lakota. He attended the fatally wounded Lakota chief Crazy Horse and stayed at his side until his last breath. When Dr. McGillycuddy died in 1939, Sioux elders arranged to have his ashes placed in a small tomb on the mountain. The bronze plaque that marks his grave reads; "Valentine McGillycuddy, Wasicu Wacan", which means Holy White Man.

In the late 1800s the mountain, that is held sacred by the Lakota, was given a new name by Lieutenant G. K. Warren, U.S. Army engineer. The name given to the mountain was the name of a military commander known for his explosive temper, his ruthless and often inhumane treatment of the enemy. During the Mexican-American war he ordered the simultaneous execution, by hanging, of 30 prisoners of war. One of the prisoners had lost both legs during battle and this commanding officer ordered the prisoner to be stood up on his bleeding stumps for the hanging. This commanding officer was, and is still today, known among the Sioux as the "woman killer" for his actions in Nebraska Territory at Ash Hollow when he and the men under his command shot into the caves where women and children were hiding and many were killed.

This commander was the man who ordered his aides to capture young Indian girls and bring them to him. This is the man by whose name the sacred mountain, Hinhan Kaga Paha, is called today.

Black Elk finished the telling of his vision to Neihardt, "...I saw that the sacred hoop of my people was one of many hoops that made one circle, wide as daylight and as starlight, and in the center grew one mighty flowering tree to shelter all the children of one mother and one father. And I saw that it was holy."

Black Elk was involved in several battles between the Lakota and the U.S. Army. At age twelve he fought in the Battle of the Greasy Grass on June 25 and 26 of 1876 and in 1890 Black Elk was shot in the stomach at Wounded Knee. As a holy man, Black Elk spent much of his life trying to educate the whites in the ways of his people in the hope that, as he had seen in his vision, all people would be inside the great circle where the mighty tree that stood in the center would shelter them.

Black Elk became a baptized Catholic in 1904 and recognized the similarities between Christianity and the Lakota religion. He continued to practice as a Lakota holy man and was a leader in reviving the Sun Dance ceremony among the Lakota and other tribes. After Black Elk had told his story to Neihardt and after the sacred mountain had been topped with a stone tower, with steps leading to its summit, Neihardt took Black Elk to the mountain of his vision. As he stood at the summit Black Elk stretched out his arms toward the wide sunlight and holding an eagle feather in his right hand and a staff of truth in his left, he prayed.

Basil Brave Heart also sees the similarities between Christianity and the Lakota religion. He believes that many of the truths that we hold about the creator, the presence and power of the spirit and the divine nature of all things is inherent in our very souls, a primordial knowledge that sometimes baffles our ability to understand. Black Elk said, "I saw more than I can tell and understood more than I saw..."

Basil Brave Heart said, "We don't know that we know more than we know."

M. Timothy Nolting is an award winning Nebraska columnist and freelance writer. To contact Tim, email: [email protected]