Blog Reflection Connecting Landscapes Of The Sacred To Our In-Class Discussions:

September 14th, 2022

One of the most fascinating in class discussions we have had was our discussion about Devils Tower. The story of Devils Tower is very unique, sacred, and historic. While reading one of the books for the class, Landscapes Of The Sacred, I found a connection between both the story of Devils tower and a section of the book. First off, Devils Tower is one of the most iconic natural structures in the United States. Located in Northeast Wyoming, It has become a hotspot for both tourists and rock climbers alike. However, there is much more meaningful and historical significance attached to the tower. For centuries, the tower had been used and was known as an extremely sacred place for Native Americans in that region. Thousands of Native Americans would make the sacred Pilgrimage to the tower, and it still happens to be a spot of great significance for Native Americans today. In Landscapes Of The Sacred, I saw this theme connect with a part of the book. On page 16, the author talks about a significant pilgrimage of his own. The author brings up how he goes to Pere Marquette State Park, which is along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers north of St Louis. When the author describes his situation, he brings up how he always plans on going to his favorite spot, but he can't because so many things come up that he only gets to go to Pere Marquette State Park months after he has planned his trip. He goes to see the scenery and to be with god, and I found a connection with this story and the story of Devils Tower. Both are extremely scary spots in the eyes of certain people, but they always have problems getting there. With Devils Tower, there are tourists and rock climbers that intervene and desecrate the Native Americans extremely sacred place. With the author and his sacred place at Pere Marquette State Park, there are always things in his life that interfere with him going to his sacred place. The connection that I found was that both the Native Americans and the author have a scared place, but there is difficulty either getting there or being there. This was a common theme that I found when reading the book, and it was very interesting connecting it with the sacred place we talked about in class.