Devils Tower - Sacred To Many People Reservation Life:

On the Pine Ridge Reservation, as an example, there is a lack of almost every component of life which most believe constitute modern amenities, down-right civilization. Lack of access to health care is, for the Board of Devils Tower Sacred To Many People, Inc., of primary concern. There is a soundly-built medical clinic which has neither doctor nor physicians assistant and, on many days, a lack of even ibuprophen but not of caring, concern and willingness to heal.

The Porcupine Clinic is in need of basic health care supplies; even more, they are in need of a physician or nurse who is willing to care for the community. The schools are a key to change in this environment and yet they lack the most basic of materials, including textbooks. Life on the Reservation is bleak.

If one pays any attention at all, one knows this, and while a large part of our mission statement is education and enlightenment, a greater portion of it is to facilitate solutions. Given the quality of life on the Reservation, attitudes toward the use of the Tower have the potential to become volatile. It is, in many respects, the symbol of what has been taken from the Natives and what has replaced it. Many who come to climb the Tower are unaware of its history, cultural significance and religious importance. They simply come to climb one of the world's premier locations of crack climbing. Almost all come with a sense of awe and respect for this natural wonder and a willingness to assist their fellow man. Sacred to Many, Inc. is an educational forum and a fund-raising medium by which a connection can be made between those who are looking at the same object from different points of view. Most are able to appreciate the reverence of the other once understanding has been achieved.

Tribes in the Area:

· Assiniboine and Lakota of Montana
· Blackfeet
· Blood (Canada)
· Crow
· Cheyenne River Sioux
· Crow Creek Lakota
· Devil's Lake Lakota
· Eastern Shoshone
· Flandreau Santee Lakota
· Kootenai and Salish
· Lower Brule Lakota
· Northern Arapaho
· Northern Cheyenne
· Oglala Lakota
· Pigeon (Canada)
· Rosebud Lakota
· Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux
· Southern Arapaho
· Southern Cheyenne
· Standing Rock Sioux

Three Affiliated Tribes:

· Turtle Mountain Chippewa
· Yankton Lakota