Native Americans played an important role in Wyoming’s history and culture. Throughout Wyoming there are holy places situated mostly in high and remote areas. Here are some sacred sites in Wyoming that everyone should visit at least once. Learn the significance of these amazing Wyoming Native American sites and then go visit someday – you’ll learn a lot!
Do you know of any other sacred sites in Wyoming? Please be very respectful of these areas. Remember: they are still considered sacred to Native Americans, and the land is still theirs.
U.S. Forest Service/Wikimedia
The Bighorn Medicine Wheel is located high up on a peak in the Big Horn Mountains. The wheel consists of a circle with 28 spokes. The Crow, Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho and Shoshone, consider the Medicine Wheel to be a sacred site for vision quests, peace talks and offerings of thanks.
Bighorn Medicine Wheel, Lovell, WY 82431, USA
Wikipedia/Public Domain
According to the Lakota, Crow, Blackfeet and Arapahoe, a bear chased seven girls who were playing in the woods so the girls sought refuge on a rock that grew into the sky. The bear clawed the rock trying to get to the girls. The girls then became a cluster of seven stars known as the Pleiades. Devils Tower is a sacred site for sun dances, vision quests, sweat lodge rituals and as a place to leave prayer bundles and offerings.
Devils Tower, WY 82714, USA
Inyan Kara Mountain is part of the Black Hills in northeast Wyoming. It’s considered sacred by the Lakota, especially for mothers during childbirth.
Inyan Kara Mountain, Wyoming 82729, USA
Epsota24/Wikimedia
Jenny Lake in Grand Teton National Park is also sacred ground for Native Americans. This was a sacred ceremonial area where the Shoshone traditionally held Sun Dances.
Jenny Lake, Wyoming 83414, USA
Flickr/Bureau of Reclamation
Areas with pictographs are also sacred to Native Americans. Dinwoody Canyon, located on the Wind River Reservation, is one such place. Some of the pictographs here represent Water Ghost Beings and Rock Ghost Beings.
Dinwoody Glacier, Wyoming 82513, USA
Wikipedia/Stripey the crab
Crowheart Butte is a spiritual place for the Shoshone. This area is considered to have lots of guardian spirits here.
Crowheart Butte, Wyoming 82516, USA
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The OIYS Visitor Center
Wyoming Native American Sites May 25, 2022 Tori Jane What are some sacred Native American sites in Wyoming? Wyoming was home to many tribes of native people long before colonialization ever occurred. There are places that were considered sacred to these tribes – different places for different reasons – and there are many that still are. It is imperative to remember that many of these sites are STILL sacred to different peoples for different reasons, and to treat them with the utmost respect. Some sacred Native American sites in Wyoming include the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, nestled within the Bighorn Mountains and was a place of meeting, spirit quests, and more for no less than five local tribes. Another sacred place in Wyoming is Devil’s Tower, which, according to lore from the Arapahoe, Lakota, Crow, and and Blackfeet people, where sacred dances, meetings, quests, and more occurred. Where are all the Wyoming sacred places? Wyoming is a fairly large state with multiple sacred places to multiple Native tribes scattered all over. Even more so are the places that may not have been sacred, per se, but were still notable and poignant to the people who lived nearby. For example, the Thermopolis Hot Springs were significant to the Shoshone and the Arapaho. The rivers running through the state, including the Bighorn, Little Bighorn, Wind, North Platte, Tongue, Little Missouri, and many more had plenty of significance – sacred and non – to Native persons as well. We encourage our readers to learn about these people and the significance of these places before they visit. How many Native American communities in Wyoming are there? Originally, there were 18 native tribes to what would eventually become Wyoming. Only two of those tribes remain today. Those tribes are the Shoshone and Arapaho; tribes that no longer exist in the region include the Cheyenne, the Crow, and the Ute. Some tribes only wandered Wisconsin to hunt (the Dakotas), and others merely passed through and didn’t stay (the Pawnee). The Kiowa and the Kiowa Apache lived in and around the Black Hills for a while and then migrated south. The list goes on, but you get the idea. Wyoming was once a bustling place for Native American peoples!
The OIYS Visitor Center
Wyoming Native American Sites
May 25, 2022
Tori Jane
What are some sacred Native American sites in Wyoming? Wyoming was home to many tribes of native people long before colonialization ever occurred. There are places that were considered sacred to these tribes – different places for different reasons – and there are many that still are. It is imperative to remember that many of these sites are STILL sacred to different peoples for different reasons, and to treat them with the utmost respect. Some sacred Native American sites in Wyoming include the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, nestled within the Bighorn Mountains and was a place of meeting, spirit quests, and more for no less than five local tribes. Another sacred place in Wyoming is Devil’s Tower, which, according to lore from the Arapahoe, Lakota, Crow, and and Blackfeet people, where sacred dances, meetings, quests, and more occurred. Where are all the Wyoming sacred places? Wyoming is a fairly large state with multiple sacred places to multiple Native tribes scattered all over. Even more so are the places that may not have been sacred, per se, but were still notable and poignant to the people who lived nearby. For example, the Thermopolis Hot Springs were significant to the Shoshone and the Arapaho. The rivers running through the state, including the Bighorn, Little Bighorn, Wind, North Platte, Tongue, Little Missouri, and many more had plenty of significance – sacred and non – to Native persons as well. We encourage our readers to learn about these people and the significance of these places before they visit. How many Native American communities in Wyoming are there? Originally, there were 18 native tribes to what would eventually become Wyoming. Only two of those tribes remain today. Those tribes are the Shoshone and Arapaho; tribes that no longer exist in the region include the Cheyenne, the Crow, and the Ute. Some tribes only wandered Wisconsin to hunt (the Dakotas), and others merely passed through and didn’t stay (the Pawnee). The Kiowa and the Kiowa Apache lived in and around the Black Hills for a while and then migrated south. The list goes on, but you get the idea. Wyoming was once a bustling place for Native American peoples!
The OIYS Visitor Center
The OIYS Visitor Center
Wyoming was home to many tribes of native people long before colonialization ever occurred. There are places that were considered sacred to these tribes – different places for different reasons – and there are many that still are. It is imperative to remember that many of these sites are STILL sacred to different peoples for different reasons, and to treat them with the utmost respect. Some sacred Native American sites in Wyoming include the Bighorn Medicine Wheel, nestled within the Bighorn Mountains and was a place of meeting, spirit quests, and more for no less than five local tribes. Another sacred place in Wyoming is Devil’s Tower, which, according to lore from the Arapahoe, Lakota, Crow, and and Blackfeet people, where sacred dances, meetings, quests, and more occurred.
Where are all the Wyoming sacred places?
Wyoming is a fairly large state with multiple sacred places to multiple Native tribes scattered all over. Even more so are the places that may not have been sacred, per se, but were still notable and poignant to the people who lived nearby. For example, the Thermopolis Hot Springs were significant to the Shoshone and the Arapaho. The rivers running through the state, including the Bighorn, Little Bighorn, Wind, North Platte, Tongue, Little Missouri, and many more had plenty of significance – sacred and non – to Native persons as well. We encourage our readers to learn about these people and the significance of these places before they visit.
How many Native American communities in Wyoming are there?
Originally, there were 18 native tribes to what would eventually become Wyoming. Only two of those tribes remain today. Those tribes are the Shoshone and Arapaho; tribes that no longer exist in the region include the Cheyenne, the Crow, and the Ute. Some tribes only wandered Wisconsin to hunt (the Dakotas), and others merely passed through and didn’t stay (the Pawnee). The Kiowa and the Kiowa Apache lived in and around the Black Hills for a while and then migrated south. The list goes on, but you get the idea. Wyoming was once a bustling place for Native American peoples!
