The Wonders of Catholic South Dakota

Badlands National Park (photo courtesy of Travel South Dakota)

South Dakota is known for its vastness, natural beauty and rich Native American heritage. It is as far away as anywhere in America from typical big city attractions and the lure of the land is really a call to re-discover the beauty and bounty of God’s creation. The vast cliffs and valleys of the Badlands in a lunar-like setting – spanning 244,000 acres – is fascinating. It can be discovered through unforgettable hikes or a trip along the 39 mile Badlands Loop Road. In the Black Hill Mountains, a whole different type of adventure awaits, including the opportunity to ride an 1880 era steam train through the hills, tour Jewel Cave National Monument, the third longest cave in the world; the 60 foot carvings of four US Presidents etched in stone at Mount Rushmore; and Bear Country USA, a unique drive-through experience past grizzly and black bears attraction. In addition, there is the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, an active excavation site where you can see fossils from the Ice Age.

Mount Rushmore (photo courtesy of Travel South Dakota)

While the natural attractions are the primary draw to this part of western South Dakota, Rapid City itself offers some unique family attractions. One of the most entertaining things to do is tour the city to find the bronze statues of each of the U.S. Presidents scattered about; after all, this is why Rapid City is also known as the “City of the Presidents.”

Rapid City is known as the “City of Presidents,” lined with statues of every president including George W. Bush (photo courtesy ofTravel South Dakota)

Also in town is the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site, vintage aircraft at the free South Dakota Air and Space Museum, the Journey Museum and Learning Center – which covers everything from archeology, Native and pioneer culture, to space exploration; Dinosaur Park – with seven life size dinosaurs and panoramic views of the city; Big Thunder Gold Mine, an attraction rooted in the area’s gold mining past; and Storybook Island, which brings alive popular children’s fairy tales. You can even find a large section of the Berlin Wall in the city’s Memorial Park. In the heart of downtown is one of the oldest Catholic churches in the region, Immaculate Conception, which is operated by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and home to the Latin Mass community.

The Catholic Encounter with the Lakota and Nicholas Black Elk

While you may now be convinced that western South Dakota makes for an interesting and unconventional vacation destination, where does the Catholic connection arise?

The answer lies in the heart of Custer State Park, a wonderland for wildlife enthusiasts with its freely roaming buffalo herds, antelope, deer and mountain goats. Rising majestically within the 71,000 acre park is Black Elk Peak. At 7,200 feet, it is the highest mountain peak east of the Rocky Mountains and west of France’s Pyrenne Mountains. Taking Trail #9 to ascend to the peak, explorers can take in sweeping views of North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana.

The mountain is named after Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk, whose cause for canonization is rapidly advancing. Black Elk was a member of the Lakota tribe, who would hunt buffalo on the Dakota plains in the summer before retreating to this mountain range in the winter months; a mountain range they consider sacred. Black Elk was a visionary and one of the Lakota “medicine men,” practicing native spirituality until he had a life changing encounter with Christ in 1904 through Jesuit missionaries. From that point on, he fully embraced the Catholic faith and actually became a catechist for over 40 years, leading many Lakota to the truth of the Catholic faith and showing the considerable degrees of compatibility between traditional Lakota spirituality and Catholicism. He personally converted over 400 souls to the faith.

Returning to this mountain peak, it was named after Black Elk because it was here that the future saint often retreated in his youth and where he experienced many of his mystical visions that foreshadowed the vocation God was calling him to. This mystical journey to Christ was later captured in the famous book, Black Elk speaks.

“Then I was standing on the highest mountain of them all, and round about beneath me was the whole hoop of the world…And while I stood there I saw more than I can tell and I understood more than I saw; for I was seeing in a sacred manner the shapes of all things in the spirit, and the shape of all shapes as they must live together like one being.” – Black Elk, describing his first mystical vision on the mountain

The highest peak in South Dakota is now named Black Elk Peak, in honor of Servant of God Nicholas Black Elk (photo courtesy of Travel South Dakota)

About ninety minutes from Rapid City is the town of Manderson on the Pine Ridge Reservation. Pilgrims can pray at Black Elk’s grave in St. Agnes Cemetery.and also spend some time in prayer at the nearby St. Agnes Church. The church was built in 1905, one year after Black Elk’s baptism, in part to accommodate the growing number of faithful that he had converted. It is also where Black Elk regularly conducted many of his catechism classes. His wisdom was so insightful, and simple quotes such as the one below, are illustrative of how Christ worked through him to win the souls of the Lakota. As he wrote at Manderson in 1911: “Die to your old self , and live the new life Jesus gave you. That way you will receive help and there will be love. That is it.”

From Manderson, it is an easy drive across the reservation to the Red Cloud Indian School, where you can explore the Heritage Center museum which tells the story of the Lakota and take a tour of the historic Holy Rosary Church, which was the missionary church the Jesuits built when the Lakota Chief, Red Cloud, first invited them to minister to the Lakota, following their forced removal by the Government onto the reserve land.