11/4
In doing research for my presentation for class, I was surprised by how many varying stories I found surrounding the creation of Devils Tower in Wyoming.
Although they were all different, they all focused on the importance of spirituality in nature. In one legend the tower instantly rose up when the Great Spirit noticed they were in peril and felt the need to protect them. In another, little girls prayed to the rock to save them and it instantly began raising into the air. All the stories are like this, with different people being chased by a bear and either the Great Spirit that American Indians saw as the main god of the earth, or the spirit of the earth itself saved them. Their dedication and faith in nature and spirits resulted in their salvation.
I was young when I went to Devils Tower, probably about six. However, I remember the awe I felt standing in front of such a structure. I was so curious as to how to was created; why it had the columns and why it raised out of the ground straight like it did. In doing this research, I finally have my answers. The actual structure is thought to either be a volcanic neck or a monolithic igneous intrusion. A volcanic neck is created by the cooling of magma within the neck of the volcano. Through erosion (wind and rain) the outer shell would have fallen off, leaving us with the structure we see today: pure cooled magnum. If it is an igneous intrusion, than there was magma that began pushing up underneath the earth's crust, but never broke through, creating a bump underneath the earth.
Although there are scientific answers today to the creation of the monolith, the legends are and will always be most intriguing. The fact that many tribes from all different areas of the continent holds these myths gives strength to their argument. I find it extremely intriguing to learn about such legends and see the importance of their beliefs, those in the Great Spirit or in the spirit of all nature.
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