"Our nation is made the richer by the American Indian names given to places and adopted by the settlers who came after. Wyoming, Dakota, Missouri, Minnesota, Nebraska, Cheyenne, Omaha, and many thousands more are all colorful, unique, enriching names that recognize and honor the Indians who were here first.

There would be no end to the arguments of what to call places, if we start down the road of renaming things to recognize their cultural significance to one group of people while trying to keep other groups of people happy.

It takes more than a name to recognize different cultural viewpoints. The Park Service does a very good job of including Native American culture into its activities and interpretation of the site. Indians are allowed to practice religious ceremonies at Devils Tower and a voluntary climbing ban is in place during the June peak period for these ceremonies."

Get the Story:
Editorial: A tower by any other name (The Rapid City Journal 4/12)

Relevant Links:
Devils Tower National Monument - http://www.nps.gov/deto

Related Stories:
NPS won't designate Devils Tower as sacred site (4/11)
Public meeting set on changes at Devils Tower (4/8)
No-climbing policy at Devils Tower to be reviewed (3/28)
Cubin bill blocks recognition of monument as sacred site (03/09)
Sacred site policy at Rainbow Bridge to stand (02/23)
Group's challenge to sacred site policy rejected (03/31)