Native American Sacred Places

For tens of thousands of years, the sky and Nature, the mountains and the Plains, served as a vast sheltering cathedral for Native Americans' spiritual worship. There are literally thousands of sacred places across our continent that were and are regarded as sacred by different tribes.

The video below is eight minutes long and gives some very interesting background information and beautiful images of ten of North America's most recognized sacred Native American sites. It's worth watching the entire video, if you have the time.

Unfortunately, this video does not list any sacred places East of the Mississippi, so below we have provided a partial list of Native American sacred places across the United States.

Have you visited any of these places? Are there any near your home?

Sacred Sites of the United States

Alaska

Mt. McKinley (Denali); Mt. St. Elias: Sacred mountain of Yakutat Tlingit Indians

Arizona

Mount Graham; Dzil Nchaa Si, Apache sacred mountain; Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument; I’ito (Montezuma’s Head) & ‘Oks Daha (Old Woman Sitting); Mt. Humphreys: Doko O Sliid, Navaho sacred mountain of the west; Canyon de Chelly: Navaho sacred site; Mt. Baboquivari: Tohono O’odham sacred mountain; Meteor Crater; Black Mesa Superstition Mountains; Zuni Lake: Sacred to Zuni, Acoma, Laguna, Hopi and Taos Indians

California

Mt. Shasta; Mt Tamalpais; Mt. Diablo; Mt. San Jacinto: Sacred mountain of Cahuilla Indians; Mt. Lassen; Joshua Tree; Tecate Peak Soldier mountain; Simolaki mountain, Sacred to Ajumawi Indians; Conception Point: Chumash sacred site

Colorado

Garden of the GodsCave of the WindsGreat Sand DunesBlanca Peak: Sisnajini, Navajo sacred mountain of the eastSpanish PeaksMt. Hesperus: Dibe’ Nitsaa, Navajo sacred mountain of the northIsland Lake

Florida

Crystal River Mounds; Panther Mound; Mount Royal Mounds; Lake Jackson Mounds

Georgia

Stone Mountain; Ocmulgee Park; Etowah Mounds

Hawaii

Mt. Haleakala; Maui Mauna Kea; Hawaii Piilanihale Heiau temple; Maui Moku’ula; MauiIao Valley; MauiMo’ okini Luakini Heiau, Hawaii; Pu’ uhonua O Honaunau, Hawaii; Mt. Kilauea, Hawaii: Birthplace of Pele, goddess of volcanoes; Kaulu Paoa Heiau, Kauia Island

Idaho

Nez Perce Historical National Park

Illinois

Monks mound; Kincaid mounds

Indiana

Mounds State Park; Angel mounds

Iowa

Effigy mounds

Louisiana

Poverty Point mounds; Tchefuncte mounds; Marksville mounds

Maine

Mt. Katahdin: Sacred mountain of Penobscot Indians

Michigan

Michigan mounds; Sleeping Bear Dunes

Minnesota

Pipestone Quarry: Sacred to the Dakota, Lakota, and other tribes of Native Americans; Jeffers Petroglyph site

Mississippi

Emerald mound, Tupelo

Montana

Medicine Tree site, Ravalli County; Chief Mountain; Mt. Ninaistakis, sacred mountain of Blackfeet Indians; Giant Springs, Great Falls; Sweetgrass hills

Nebraska

Pahuk Pawnee: Sacred to Pawnee Indians

Nevada

Cave Rock; Spirit Mountain (Newberry Peak): Yuman sacred mountain

New Hampshire

Mt. Washington; Mystery Hill, Salem

New Mexico

Mt. Taylor: Tsoodził, Sacred mountain of Navaho of south, Acoma, Laguna and Zuni people; Chaco Canyon; White Sands, Chimayo; Ute Mountain; Shiprock: Navaho sacred site (off limits to climbers); Mt. Huerfano: Dzil Na'oodilii, Navaho sacred mountain of the center; Governador Knob: Ch'oolii, Navaho sacred mountain east of center; Truchas Peaks: Ku Sehn Pin, Tewa sacred mountain; Chicoma Mountain: Sacred to Pueblo Indians; Mt. Conjilon: Tse Shu Pin, Tewa sacred mountain; Mt. Capitan: Mescalero Apache sacred mountain; Mt. San Augustin: Mescalero Apache sacred mountain; Mt. Salinas: Mescalero Apache sacred mountain; Hosta Butte (Ak’i Dah Nast’ani); Bandelier National Monument: Stone Lion shrines of Yapashi, near Running Eagle Falls; Petroglyphs National Monument; Sandia Crest: Oku Pin, Tewa sacred mountain

New York

Mt. Marcy; Balanced Rock; Auriesville: Shrine of Birthplace of Kateria Tekakwitha; Fonda: Shrine of Illumination of Kateria Tekakwitha

North Carolina

Mt. Richland-Balsam; Pilot Mountain

Ohio

Serpent Mound

Oklahoma

Antelope and Buffalo springs; Arbuckle mountains; Spiro Mounds State Park

Oregon

Wallowa Lake; Wizard Island; Crater Lake; Mt. Hood

South Dakota

Harney Peak; Wind Cave; Craven Canyon; Mt. Inyan Kara: Sacred mountain of Cheyenne and Sioux Lakota Indians; Bear Butte (Noaha-vose): Sacred mountain of Cheyenne and Sioux Lakota Indians; Bad Lands; Old Baldy

Texas

Enchanted Rock: Sacred to Tonkawa, Apache and Comanche Indians; Guadalupe Peak: Mescalero Apache sacred mountain

Utah

Hovenweep ruins; Mt. Zion

Washington

Mount Adams: Snoqualmie Falls; Mt. Ranier (Tacoma)

West Virginia

Moundsville

Wisconsin

Aztalan Mound:Blue Mound

Wyoming

Devil’s Tower: Sacred to Arapaho, Crow, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Lakota, and Shoshone Indians; Big Horn Medicine Wheel

See related post at NotesfromtheFrontier.com:

-Welcoming the New Year with Old Faithful

(c) 2020 NOTES FROM THE FRONTIER