WEBVTT

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- We will actually jump to a video

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so we can learn about the
rich, cultural heritage

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of the native indigenous
peoples of this land

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and how caves relate to their culture.

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So how about the video?

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- Hi, I'm Christopher Koeppel

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Now the Forest Service,
we have lots of lands

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that we manage, and most of those lands,

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if not all of those lands,
were once ancestral lands

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to Native Americans.

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Native Americans have
been here on our continent

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for at least 15,000-17,000
years, maybe even older.

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They've been managing,
and using, and enjoying

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the resources of this
great nation for millennia

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and many of those lands,
of course, are managed

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by the Forest Service.

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Now, we also have other resources that

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other people like to enjoy,
so we need to balance

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our commitment to the American public

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but also to our Native American partners.

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And in finding that balance,
we have to find a way

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that we can be respectful
of Native Americans

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spiritual beliefs and religious beliefs,

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as well as let people come
to our forests and recreate.

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Now I'm not Native American.

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I work for the office of
Tribal Relations and so

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when I speak to you today
about the sacredness of caves

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what I'm doing is I'm
imparting the messages that

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Native American tribes
have partnered with us

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have asked that we remember.

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Some caves and their
relationship to Native Americans

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go back millennia and for
many Native Americans today

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caves are sacred spaces.

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In the Dakotas, along the
Black Hills, are many caves

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one in particular called Wind Cave,

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that for the Lakota
people is their origin.

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It is the place that they
have told the Forest Service

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they come from millennia ago.

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There are caves that have been
explored by Native Americans.

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You may have heard of
Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.

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Well, Native Americans have been exploring

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Mammoth Cave and getting resources
for at least 6,000 years.

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That's a very very long time ago.

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Ancient Native Americans
have put rock art in caves.

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This could be pictographs, this could be

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forms of animals, ancestral
images, plants, anything

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that's spiritually significant
to those people at that time.

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And even though that was
done a very long time ago

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it is still significant
to Native Americans today.

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For some Native Americans,
caves can be origin places

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for others they can be places
where ancestors are resting.

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For others they can play an important part

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in their oral history
and the tales that elders

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impart to children.

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So caves have been an
important part spiritually

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and physically of Native American culture.

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In the past, certainly, and
we've talked about a lot

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of the ancient uses of caves, but they're

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also sacred places today.

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They're part of a living,
holistic larger sacred landscape

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that is significant to
Native American tribes

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and our partners who are tribal nations.

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At the Forest Service we
try and find a balance

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and work with our tribal partners

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to make sure that we
respect that sacredness

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and respect and balance the many uses

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that people come to our forest to enjoy.