Dakota Life
Visions at Medicine Knoll
Clip | 4m 7sVideo has Closed Captions
In Central South Dakota, a petroform snake is a link to the past.
What do rock effigies tell us about collective knowledge of culturally significant places? Dr. Phil Deloria discusses a familial connection to the snake effigy on Medicine Knoll, near Blunt, South Dakota.
Dakota Life is a local public television program presented by SDPB
Support Dakota Life with a gift to the Friends of Public Broadcasting
Dakota Life
Visions at Medicine Knoll
Clip | 4m 7sVideo has Closed Captions
What do rock effigies tell us about collective knowledge of culturally significant places? Dr. Phil Deloria discusses a familial connection to the snake effigy on Medicine Knoll, near Blunt, South Dakota.
How to Watch Dakota Life
Dakota Life is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- [Phil] Saswe had this sort of period of time, as people often do before a vision or a vision quest, where, you know, he was hearing voices that were calling to him.
He knew that he was part of a kind of a spiritual encounter that was gonna happen at a certain point.
(spiritual music) They ended up camping at the Medicine Knoll up near Blunt, and he went up there to have his vision.
The way my grandfather was told it was that you could do a vision by standing and praying with the pipe, or you could do a vision in a somewhat different way by digging a kind of a hole with a kind of a little seat in it, and then you would put your head down, and you would wait.
And there's a tiny little other part of the story that also my dad tells in the book, which is that his cousin, Brown Bear, was sent up to check on him, to check on Saswe, and Brown Bear rode his horse up the Medicine Knoll and was stopped by all of these rattlesnakes.
And the snakes, you know, kind of would not let him pass, and he had to spur his way in this very, very, you know... Traumatic, I think, to sort of imagine this, right, these snakes, but you feel like you have to go, and he couldn't quite get there.
But he, you know, got to the point where he could see Saswe, he saw snakes crawling all over his body, and Brown Bear, at that point, you know, kind of turned and went down, you know, with his horse.
And he had been sort of forcing his horse to go and went back down into the camp and said, "Oh, you know, my cousin is dead up there," and that the people started mourning.
And at that point, Saswe, you know, in the middle of this morning practice, Saswe came down off the hill and, you know, and there he was.
(spiritual music) - Another thing about these effigies out of rocks, I mean, rocks are not just rocks in Lakota cosmology.
This idea of these rocks are from their origins from the beginning of time from a Lakota perspective.
This is a being.
This is, how to say that.
These rocks are evidence of this original being called Inyan, and he was what was here at the beginning, Inyan.
And eventually, Inyan, which I just love the phrase, he pulsated with the potentiality of the universe.
So this being, eventually, through processes that are in Lakota cosmology, that he bled out and went from this amorphous, powerful being to this hard brittle substance that we call rock today.
So any of these rocks are, in Lakota cosmology they're referencing Inyan, that original being.
So to use them to make a shape of anything can have these really strong cultural significance.
- [Phil] The people on this landscape, right, knew this landscape cold.
You know, I mean they knew everything about it.
They traveled all over it.
They understood it in great detail and, you know, these kinds of places, these medicine knolls and buttes.
And this feels to me like something that was knowledge that was held collectively by people for a really long time.
(spiritual music)
Video has Closed Captions
The demolition of the town's old senior center also means the loss of some unique artworks (6m 54s)
Enjoy a tour Bon Homme County’s unique heritage of chalkstone and fieldstone architecture. (4m 46s)
Researching red-bellied snakes of the Black Hills.
BHSU scientists are learning more about an isolated population of red-bellied snakes. (2m 44s)
Video has Closed Captions
The South Dakota state 4H Rodeo turns 50. (4m 14s)
Video has Closed Captions
A SDSU graduate student is looking into insect-friendly field management practices. (4m 15s)
Explore geologic wonders hidden among the rimrock of Spearfish Canyon. (6m 5s)
Video has Closed Captions
Sculptor Dale Lamphere and local artists showcase what healing means to them. (4m 3s)
Video has Closed Captions
After suffering a traumatic eye injury, Jacey Hupp is getting back in the saddle. (4m 45s)
Calving Season in Bison Country
Spring means peak calving season in the Southern Black Hills bison country. (2m 14s)
Rack City: Hunting Antler Sheds with the Pros
Your SDPB Outdoors correspondent joins the 605ers on a shed hunt. (2m 27s)
Leo Weber helped bring the magic to Aberdeen's Storybook Land in its early years. (3m 24s)
Lynn "Smokey" Hart: The Man Who Got in the Way
Talking Black History in South Dakota with Lynn "Smokey" Hart. (8m 28s)
Video has Closed Captions
A Sioux Falls man uses COVID-19 downtime learning to fly an unusual type of aircraft. (5m 11s)
Neighbors Celebrating Neighbors
Video has Closed Captions
National Night Out is a way for law enforcement to meet member in a community. (2m 12s)
The 2020 South Dakota Governor's Buffalo Roundup
Video has Closed Captions
One of the nation's largest buffalo herds is rounded up every September. (3m 22s)
Video has Closed Captions
The Sioux Falls non profit drum line canceled its performances this year due to COVID-19. (1m 59s)
Video has Closed Captions
Camp Remington is high up in the Black Hills, near the Black Elk Wilderness. (2m 2s)
Video has Closed Captions
Why some people hold onto a brand long after they leave the ranch life. (3m 47s)
Video has Closed Captions
To compete at South Dakota High School Rodeo Finals takes a lot of practice, grit & talent (5m 30s)
Having a Baby During COVID is Mostly the Same
Video has Closed Captions
What is it like to welcome a baby into the world during a pandemic? (5m 1s)
Video has Closed Captions
Glean4Good is a virtual farming experience where kids can learn about life on a farm. (4m 3s)
The Tupper Brothers Talk Cattle
Video has Closed Captions
Seth & Justin discuss the impact of the coronavirus on the livestock industry. (5m 6s)
Prairie Strut: Sage Grouse and Prairie Chicken Dances
In Spring, prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse put on a colorful, musical performance (1m 39s)
Now PlayingVideo has Closed Captions
In Central South Dakota, a petroform snake is a link to the past. (4m 7s)
Couple uses a bit of creativity to have friends and family with them on their special day. (4m 49s)
Video has Closed Captions
Hamlin School District teachers in a “we miss our students” parade. (4m 34s)
If the people stop praising, even the rocks will cry out.
The parking lot of the Preston Township Church on Sundays April 5th is jam-packed. (4m 58s)
South Dakota's Birds of Spring
Video has Closed Captions
A look at some of the birds migrating through or returning to South Dakota in spring, 2020 (5m 14s)
Eternal Flame? Custer Holds on to a New Tradition
If the mountain pine beetle epidemic is over, what will happen to Custer's Beetle Burn? (3m 16s)
For 70 years, Pride Neon has been lighting up the night on Sioux Falls' city streets. (3m 16s)
Trail of Governors Unveiling Ceremony 2017
Trail of Governors unveiling ceremony in Pierre, June 16, 2017 (1h 16m 11s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Dakota Life is a local public television program presented by SDPB
Support Dakota Life with a gift to the Friends of Public Broadcasting