Almost 10,000 feet up on the western peak of Medicine Mountain in Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest is the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, an important Indian spiritual site constructed between 300-800 years ago. We were moved and reminded of its importance upon meeting someone on his way up to the site (as we were descending) who was going to say a prayer and tie an offering to the perimeter fence for fellow Indians fighting the pipeline in N. Dakota. He asked us if we had any tobacco which he wanted to burn – tobacco is a sacred item for Plains Indians. He had neglected to bring some. The Medicine Wheel is difficult to access, in the middle of nowhere, high up in the mountains and snow covered most of the year (including on our visit). It is 80 feet in diameter, a wheel-like rock formation with a cairn (pile of stones) in the center, 28 spokes also made of stones, and 6 more smaller stone cairns toward the perimeter. Its spiritual significance derives from its representation of the cosmos in four sacred directions. It is part of a large complex of other historic sacred sites around Medicine Mountain, including sweat lodges, sites for vision quests and medicinal plant gathering areas. Astronomers have studied it and published studies about it. It is sacred to four Plains Indian nations, the Cheyenne, Lakota, Arapaho and Shoshone. It is now a National Historic Landmark.
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