The Lakota consider the Black Hills to be a sacred enclosure that contains within it their most sacred sites. Among these are Harney Peak, Devils Tower, and Bear Butte. Encircling the Hills, but contained within the sacred enclosure, is a red clay valley known to the Lakota as the Racetrack (okiinyanke or ki inyanka ocanku).
Countless stories have gathered around the Black Hills, or He Sapa as it is known in Lakota. The Hills were not only sacred to the Lakota but other Plains tribes, such as the Cheyenne, the Arapaho and the Kiowa. The Lakota's emergence story, narrated above, is believed by many to have centered upon Wind Cave, in the Black Hills. Indeed, many elders speak of the Black Hills as being the centre of the universe, the springboard of Lakota life and the central axis from which the Lakota radiated outwards to visit all four directions of the continent.
Frequently - usually annually and during the summer - the various bands of the Lakota would gather in the region of the Black Hills to hold a grand, or multiband council and to perform various ceremonies. But humans were not the only species to gather regularly at the Black Hills. Lakota tradition states that animals and birds also held their council meetings there. Describing the functions of the Crow-owners Society, Eagle Shield told Densmore:
"The crow is always the first to arrive at the gathering of the animals in the Black Hills. The reason why the Black Hills were so long unknown to the white man was that Wakan'tanka created them as a meeting place for the animals. The Indians had always known this and regarded the law of Wakan'tanka concerning it. By this law they were forbidden to kill any of the animals during their great gatherings. In the Black Hills there is a ridge of land around which is a smooth, grassy place called the 'race course.' This is where the animals have the races, during their gatherings. Even small animals like the turtle are there. The crow is always first the arrive, and the other birds come before the animals, while insects and creatures like the frog travel slowly and arrive last. Sometimes it takes 10 years for all the animals to arrive, as they come from long distances and camp wherever winter overtakes them" (1918: 319).1
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