{Devil’s Tower originally posted by usinterior} Matȟó Thípila or Mato Tipila to the Lakota, Dabicha Asow to the Crow, Woox-niii-non in Arapaho, and Na Kovea in Cheyenne, what is known by the park service as Devil’s Tower has many indigenous names and stories attached to it. The names above all mean “Bear’s Home” or “Bear’s Lodge.” In the story, sometimes a hunter or somethings a group of children are out in the woods when they begin to be pursued by a great bear. As they run, they pray to Creator for help. In response, the ground beneath them begins to rise until they are on top of an immense butte. The bear relentlessly tries to reach them, clawing at the butte and leaving the deep marks along the side of Mato Tipila we see today. What happens next varies as well, but sometimes this is the same bear that later came to rest at Mato Paha, or Bear Mountain, in the Black Hills.

There have been many proposals from Lakota people, like a 2015 one from Arvol Looking Horse, but these have been blocked because the “branding” of Devil’s Tower is apparently too important to tourism. If you visit Mato Tipila, support this effort by using a geotag with an indigenous name or even writing the board on geographic names to say you support the use of indigenous names.