News Release

Devils Tower Hosts Ethnobotany Series

Silver Sage

National Park Service

News Release Date: September 20, 2018

Contact: Nancy Stimson, 307 467 5283

Devils Tower, WY

Devils Tower National Monument kicks off a fall ethnobotany guest series with representatives from the Oglala Sioux Tribe, the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and the Sicangu Lakota Tribe. Ethnobotany, the study of the relationships between people, the lifeforms surrounding them, and the environment in which they live in the past or present
 
On Sunday, September 23 at 1 pm, Richard Sherman will lead a presentation at the visitor center on indigenous usage of plants that grow in the monument and the surrounding prairie and Black Hills area. After the presentation, he will lead a plant-identification walk on the Red Beds Trail. Sherman, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, is former director and lead biologist of the Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation Association, and is a former Lead Interpretive Ranger at the Badlands National Park White River Visitor Center. Sherman co-authored Indigenous Peoples and the Collaborative Stewardship of Nature: Knowledge Binds and Institutional Conflicts, which received the John Mulvaney Book Award for significant contributions to the field of archaeology.

On Sunday, October 14 at 1 pm, ethnobotanist Linwood Tall Bull will present at the visitor center on traditional use of indigenous plants. Tall Bull will display a collection of preserved plants, offering visitors a hands-on experience in plant identification and use. Tall Bull, a member and respected elder of the Northern Cheyenne Nation, is an instructor of Ethnobotany, Indian Healing, and Tribal History at the Chief Dull Knife College in Lame Deer, Montana. Tall Bull is a co-author of We, The Northern Cheyenne People: Our Land, Our History, Our Culture.

On Sunday, November 4 at 1pm, Lolita Attack Him will lead a presentation at the visitor center on traditional use of indigenous plants. Attack Him, an Oglala and Sicangu Lakota, is a teacher at American Horse School and an instructor of ethnobotany and Lakota Studies at Oglala Lakota College. She will present preserved plants and give a presentation with her husband, Steve Dubray, a Lakota chief and medicine man from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  He is a key resource in the preservation of the Lakota spirituality and medicinal practices.

Participants should bring water and wear sturdy walking shoes. All programs begin at 1pm, are free of charge and require no pre-registration to attend. Normal park entrance fees apply. Program times may change due to inclement weather. For more information call the visitor center 9 am – 4 pm at [phone] ex. 635.

To learn more about Devils Tower National Monument visit www.nps.gov/deto or www.facebook.com/Devils-Tower-National-Monument-Official-NPS-Site or twitter.com@DevilsTowerNM or Instagram at #devilstowernps
 

~NPS~

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