Crow Sacred Landscape
A Video
A day in the Pryor Mountains with Crow Elder Burton Pretty On Top
Burton Pretty On Top in the Pryors (Dick Walton photos)
“We get permission from the Little People ... from the animals. We get permission from them to come into their home."
“The vision quest is something very, very important, something very sacred...”
“This place we consider as our church, our sacred place, for prayer."
“And we had hoped that our non-Indian brothers and sisters ... come with the reverence and respect that the Apsáalooke have when they come into these mountains."
“We want to keep [the Pryor Mountains] sacred and holy so that [the] next seven generations can use this in a sacred way.”
Burton Pretty On Top at “Where They Saw the Rope” (Dryhead Vista).
Filming in the Pryors. Burton, Andrew, Mark, Rita, and Susan.
Below the video is divided into five separate video chapters to allow easily watching individual segments of interest.
Excerpts from a 2007 letter to Custer National Forest from George Reed Jr., Chairman, Cultural Committee, Crow Tribe.
"This monument established by the Little People has been disturbed, destroyed and desecrated ...."
"... Apsaalooke (Crow) who traveled by this sacred mountain were to add to the monument and make spiritual offerings at the rock where His Arrows Are Sacred shot an arrow into solid rock. We are told as long as the monument stood the Apsaalooke (Crow) Nation would thrive."
"The whole Pryor, Arrow Shot Into Rock, Mountain is sacred because nobody knows where the Little People dwelled since they were forced out of their home known as the Home of the Keepers of The Earth. The Pryor, Arrow Shot Into Rock is a sanctuary for individuals who venture off on fasting quests...."
Click to read George Reed's Letter to Custer National Forest
Archeological evidence shows extensive human occupation of the PryorMountains for more than 10,000 years. Early native American use of the Pryors continues with modern native Americans who consider the "Arrow Shot Into Rock" Mountains to be sacred.
Video Part I: Introduction, and Asking Permission to Enter (3:21)
Video Part III: The Little People and Please Respect Our Land (3:20)
Video Part V: Sacred for Seven Generations, and Video Credits (4:07)
Video Part II: Burton Pretty On Top, Crow Spiritual Leader, and Crow Sacred Land (4:19)
Video Part IV: Remembering Grandfather: Otto Bear Ground (4:43)