For my final civic issue blog, I want to change directions a bit and focus on the way that memorials and landmarks can affect the community. I believe that the National Park System allows for us to have a glimpse into the past. I think of the parks, landmarks, and memorials as living time capsules, ones full of life, history, and natural resources. Our history is engraved in these monuments and parks through trails, ruins, and gravestones. And yet although it is important to herald these parks as a monumental breakthrough in American history, it is also important to understand what they mean to those who came before the Europeans found a land inhabited and called it the wild. The Black Hill Mountain range in South Dakota covers numerous landmarks. It includes Windy Cave National Park, state forests, and the thing that we will be talking about today and perhaps the most famous, Mount Rushmore. Mount Rushmore has become a symbol of America, a shining beacon of civilization carved into the mountains. A sign of liberty and democracy and its unweathering strength. But these things are generalizations of a much deeper topic, and as polarization between political parties continues to happen, we see this monument become a contention point.  

As all of America is stolen land, Mount Rushmore for many sits like a reminder to a wound that won’t heal. The Black Hills mountains are sacred lands to what is known as the Sioux Nation. The Sioux Nation is a group of different Native American tribes united by three languages. There are The Lakota, The Dakota, and The Nakota. Their land once stretched across the American Plains and mountains. When white settlers began to move west, they were pushed towards the Black Hill mountains, already sacred land in their eyes. After many battles, a treaty was signed between the Sioux Nation and the United States government in 1868. In this treaty the Black Hills Mountain Range was given to them as part of their territory, although this would not last. As hints of gold began to be found through the region the treaty was broken and so began the gold rush of the 1870s. This was another broken treaty, one that piled on top of the others, and as white men viewed these tribes as wild people who needed saving, the Sioux Nation fought to keep alive the culture and way of life that had belonged to them for thousands of years.  

President Ulysses S. Grant is famously quoted stating that he favored a non-violent way to assimilate the Native Americans into Western culture. “Under the benign influences of education and civilization. It is either this or war of extermination.” As many in the nation refused, the government would try harder to push these tribes away. Many famous battles would occur including the Battle of Little Bighorn in which General Custer would be killed, but in the end, it would not be the Sioux Nation that would emerge victorious. Carving of Mount Rushmore began in 1927, the granite mountain would later depict the faces of four American Presidents that to many represent American Values. The faces of George Washington, Abraham Lincolcn, Thomas Jefferson, and Theadore Rosevelt now sit on a monument that is sometimes referred to as a, “Shrine of Democracy.” 

This shrine to many including those who live in the Sioux Nation view it as a desecration of sacred land that was given and then stolen. And while I truly love the National Park System, I do not see this monument as anything other than a monument to the way America was truly built: on the backs of other people forced away from their homes and cultures into the western world that has built a powerful but unimaginable society today. This is important for many reasons because it has become a contentious issue between the political parties of the Democrats and the Republicans. Last July 4th, the first during the COVID-19 Pandemic, Donald Trump held an in-person rally there. Fireworks and no masks called for outrage from many. The dangers of the virus spreading, the dangers of forest fires, and the disrespect felt by Native Americans culminated in protests and outcry.  

The Governor of South Dakota, Republican Kristi Noem, sent a request to the National Park Service to once again have fireworks at the monument on the 4th of July. This request was shot down by the NPS, but many Republicans shot back in anger. Many called the decision biased and political rather than one made by reason and evidence, but looking past the headlines at why this monument means so much to so many people is important. As many continue to glorify America’s history, its values, and its status in this world, the history behind the massacres that built this country are important to remember. Preserving this land is not just important for Americans, but it is important for the Sioux Nation and its important for the Planet. While I do not have any solutions to this problem, I fear that these symbols of liberty to those who worship a false notion in this country will be a breaking point for many. As we look towards a future of healing and hopefully change for the better, we must bring the past to those who refuse to look into it themselves.  

For many we are a great nation, but for many we are not. We are a nation of war, violence, and supremacy. We are a nation of oppression and corruption. The statement, “We the People,” has not always been the same for everyone, and people have had to fight to be a part of that. Recognizing the cultures that were nearly destroyed can be a key to the future of sustainability as well. And as Mount Rushmore continues to show presidents who represent freedom to many, it will continue to represent a culture that does no respect another. Mount Rushmore is a mountain of liberty and it is a monument to pain, a scar on the face of a nation struggling today.  

Citations: 

History.com Editors. “Mount Rushmore.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 16 Dec. 2009, www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/mount-rushmore-1.  

“Native Americans and Mount Rushmore.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/rushmore-sioux/.  

Papenfuss, Mary. “National Park Service Shoots Down South Dakota Request For Mount Rushmore Fireworks.” HuffPost, HuffPost, 13 Mar. 2021, www.huffpost.com/entry/park-service-rejects-south-dakota-july-4th-fireworks-mount-rushmore_n_604c42c8c5b60e0725f74885.  

says:, Steve Schingler, et al. Legends of America, www.legendsofamerica.com/na-sioux/.