Maka Oniye

Maka Oniye – where earth is breathing

Yesterday after a stop at Mount Rushmore, I visited the Memorial. Neither had necessarily been on my itinerary, but is any trip to the Black Hills complete without them?

I’ve used Mount Rushmore as a sermon illustration more than once and it was amazing to stand in the sculptor’s studio and see the model and the outcome together.

I had been there before as a child, complete with green hair from the chlorine at the pool. I remember seeing it, but not much else. This time, I could appreciate in a different way the scope of the project… But also have a keener sense of the history of this place, also known as Six Grandfathers to the Lakota Sioux.

I had far less of an understanding of the Crazy Horse Memorial, other than that someone had decided to build it. Watching the film on site gave me a deeper appreciation of what Chief Sitting Bull was trying to accomplish… that there were others on this land who had heroes, too. It was envisioned with the same spirit as Mount Rushmore… to draw people in from around the country and the world to see… But also to learn and understand more of this history of so many native tribes.

The rest of my day was at Wind Cave. The natural opening to the cave is known as Maka Oniye to our native siblings and is part of the Lakota emergence story. The cave itself “breathes” in and out with changes in the atmospheric pressure. I was able to tour just a portion of this amazing structure, so carefully maintained by preserving that natural in and out of the air. And then I walked along the surface, the rolling prairies and edge of the Black Hills.

Today, I head home… But not before some time on the balcony of the place I’m staying. The air is cool and crisp. The sun is just coming over the mountains. And the creek below me is gently flowing. I am breathing in and breathing out. I’m taking it all out and letting it fill me.

In the Lakota emergence story, the people were lured out by a trickster. They were promised food and riches and clothing and abundance, but as soon as the first winter came they realized they had nothing to sustain them over the cold months. When they tried to return to Wind Cave they found that they were no longer the same form as when they had left and could not do so. They cried out to the Creator who provided for them transforming them with warm coats and sturdy legs and horns to protect themselves… the creation of the buffalo.

I’m going home today, and I think unlike the Lakota story, what I have discovered here will sustain me through the hard days of ministry that will lie ahead. It has been a reminder to pay attention and slow down, a reminder to keep breathing and taking care of myself, but also through it all there has been a thread that keeps calling me back home. I’ve been checking in frequently with my spouse and every stop think about how much I’d love to bring my niblings or siblings or friends back to explore more together. I’ve been filing away little moments as sermon illustrations and I’m starting to wonder about how this might impact my day to day work… Although I’m trying to not think about that too deeply yet.

This was not about escaping what was to find something better. It was simply about taking some time to stand where the Earth breathes. It was about remembering that every step on this earth is a gift… But so is every person, creature, and creation that crosses our path.