Connie Huskey

What Are the Black Hills of South Dakota?



Posted: Wednesday, March 03, 2010

by Connie Huskey
Connies Jewelry and Gifts

The Black Hills of South Dakota are a mountain range covered by coniferous trees that extend from the western part of South Dakota to the state of Wyoming. The Black Hills are primarily composed of granite rock, and get their name from the dark appearance the trees give the mountains, from a distance. The Black Hills are the natural habitat of many birds, such as bald eagles and hawks, as well as many land animals, including beavers, porcupines, coyotes and bobcats. The Black Hills of South Dakota are also the home of the Lakota Native American nation, and they were also inhabited by the Cheyenne, Kiowa, Arapaho, Crow and Pawnee nations. Today, it features the Black Hills National Forest.

Identification

  • The Black Hills have been a sacred site of the Lakota nation for many generations. The land and the burial grounds are considered sacred by the Lakota, and it was frequently visited by other tribes for religious purification and ceremonies. It was also regarded during times of war between Native American nations as neutral territory where truces and treaties were drafted and conflicts were resolved.

    Controversy

  • The Black Hills have been the site of many controversies for more than 100 years. The area was explored and exploited for its resources by European fur traders and hunters in the mid-1800s. By the 1870s, General George Custer, his army and European settlers moved in to claim their piece of the rumored gold rush, even though this move was in violation of the 1868 treaty recognizing the Black Hills as solely the territory of the Lakota.

    War

  • As the Lakota sought resolution to the violation of their treaty rights to the Black Hills, both by the chiefs Red Cloud and Spotted Tail from within the reservation, as well as Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, who were not settled on the Sioux reservation, they were faced with opposition from the U.S. Government and its army. Tensions over the rights to the Black Hills eventually led to further aggression, takeovers and wars. In 1876, during the Great Sioux War, the United States forced the Lakota to leave the Black Hills, to live on reservations. This is the way the United States acquired the title to the Black Hills, along with the rights to use its natural resources.

    Preservation

  • In 1897, President Grover Cleveland titled the Black Hills as the Black Hills Forest Reserve. This was an attempt to preserve its natural landscape from fires and corruption in the lumber industry. Thereafter, lumber was then sold commercially and under regulations. By the early 1900s, the Black Hills were then named the Black Hills National Forest.

    • Connie Kay Huskey                                                                                                       

    Has been in the Jewelry Industry over 20 years.She writes about the process of making the Black Hills Gold Jewelry.Which the company has been selling over 20 years...the articles she writes are mostly to inform others that this Gold Jewelry comes from South Dakota right here in the USA.The fact that the gold is mined and manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota....and all the jewelry has several different steps that must meet federal mandate requirements.This is fastinating to the readers.There is so much information to be told about the different designs and the same process which started back in 1874.  

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