My mother told me, Every part of this earth is sacred to our people. Every pine needle. Every sandy shore. Every mist in the dark woods. Every meadow and humming insect. All are holy in the memory of our people. ... The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky erests, the meadows, the ponies - all belong to the same family.

... When the last Red Man and Woman have vanished with their wilderness, and their memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will the shores and forest still be here? Will there be any of the spirit of my people left? My ancestors said to me, This we know: The earth does not belong to us. We belong to the earth. Teach your children what you have been taught. The earth is our mother. What befalls the earth befalls all sons and daughters of the earth.

This we know: All things are connected like the blood that unites us. We did not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. (Chief Seattle, c. 1854)

In the summer of 1999, I was incredibly lucky to be part of a three week journey. The journey went throughout the heart of the well known indian country. Different people from all over, who were interested in learning more about the Native Americans, gathered together for a 4,000 mile adventure. The journey originated and ended in Rapid City, SD ,which is near by the holy Black Hills. On our journey from South Dakota via Wyoming to Montana, we had many opportunities to come into closer contact with the sacred country of the plains tribes. If you ever experienced such an imposing landscapes like Yellowstone, or if you have ever watched a herd of bisons on the Badlands, or if you ever walked once over sacred ground like the Black Hills, you will understand why this land is sacred for the Native Americans!
You can find the visited places on different maps			BG-Sound: "Chief's Honoring Song", Sioux; (6) You can minimize the map windows to have always a view of the visited places.