I have spoken a great deal on the immobility of the North Star, but due to its influence on northern cosmologies, I feel that the qualities of the star cannot be overstated. Seemingly at the center of the cosmos, the star maintains an eternal watch over the Earth and sky. For some, it was the northern terminus of a great World Axis. For others, it was a vigilant deity, a mercurial patron of emperors and clans, or, as in Lakota starlore, a loving partner in mourning. The story from Lakota canon concerns not only cosmological features but sacred geological sites, as well. Indeed, star maps and constellations mirror maps and landmarks of the Black Hills (1), particularly Mato Tipila, or “Bear Lodge” (this sacred butte is officially known as Devils Tower, an erroneous and offensive colonial translation) (2). This story of the North Star is primarily drawn from that told by Dr. Craig Howe of the Oglala Lakota Nation.
Generations ago, a young woman named Tapun Sa Win lived in a Lakota village. Her beauty was known far and wide, and for a time suitors would arrive from the other villages. One by one, they presented their case for her affection, and one by one, they were turned away. One clear night, a mysterious young man arrived in the city. No one knew him or where he had come from, but his body shimmered with luminescent light. He took Tapun Sa Win under his robe, as per customs, and as he presented his case he won her heart. They were to be married, and the village was overjoyed. However, the radiant man revealed that he was from the stars and hoped to take Tapun Sa Win back into the night sky with him. The village was saddened, but they wanted all the best for the couple. After the wedding ceremony, the man from the stars returned home with his wife. (3)
The couple was happy in the sky, and Tapun Sa Win soon became pregnant. She was unfamiliar with her new home, however, and she had to be careful. Plants grew and animals roamed the sky just as they did on Earth, and some resembled their terrestrial counterparts. Her husband warned Tapun Sa Win never to dig out any of the sky plants. He would then leave her every day to wander the night sky with the other stars. His constant absences caused loneliness to slowly grow within Tapun Sa Win’s heart. One day, while her husband was gone, she ignored his warning and dug up one of the sky plants. Where the roots had been there was now a hole looking down to the Earth. Tapun Sa Win saw her family and village far below her, and the loneliness became unbearable. Desperate to return to her home, she braided her blankets together with the roots of sky plants to create a long rope. She tied the rope to a rock and dropped it down the hole and began to climb towards the Earth, but when she reached the end she was still far above the ground. Losing hope, she clung to the rope until she tired. Tapun Sa Win lost her grip and fell to her death. (3)
The next day, the man from the stars returned to where he had left his wife, only to find her missing. He saw several blankets tied together and fastened to a nearby rock, and he followed the blankets to a hole in the sky. Far below him, he saw Tapun Wa Sin dead on the Earth. His heart was overcome with grief, and he sat atop the rock to look down through the hole for eternity. He no longer wanders the sky with the other stars. He is the only one that never moves, and he is known as Waziya Wicahpi, “Star of the North” (4). (3)
Miraculously, the son of Tapun Sa Win and Waziya Wicahpi survived and had been born after the fall. He was found by a couple of boys, who took him back to the Lakota village to be raised by the elders. He was named Wicahpi Hinhpaya, “Fallen Star.” He grew faster than any of the other children, reaching full adulthood in only a few years. He became known for his innumerable good deeds and for teaching the medicinal uses of plants. Wicahpi Hinhpaya was loved by the village, but one day he decided that he wanted to return to the home of his father among the stars. The village was again saddened, but he promised to return to help whenever they were in crisis. With that, he ascended into the sky, and life went on. (3)
Generations later, a group of seven girls wandered away from the village as they were playing. They were not paying attention, so they did not realize that they had stumbled onto a gigantic bear lodge. They were horrified when they realized that they were surrounded by several ferocious bears on all sides. As the bears closed in on them, the girls heard a voice from the sky say, “I will save you.” It was Wicahpi Hinhpaya, and he told the girls to huddle together on a nearby mound of dirt. He asked the mound to rise into the sky, and it did. (3)
The risen earth became Mato Tipila. As the ground shot up, the bears tried to climb their way to the top, but their claws dislodged the stone along the sides. The rubble buried the bears, and their claw marks remain on the sides of Mato Tipila to this day (5). Wicahpi Hinhpaya then asked the girls to pick their favorite birds, which arrived to carry them away to the safety of their village. The spirits of the seven girls, or their wanagi, were placed among the cosmos from where they had originated (6). They became seven brilliant stars of Wicincala Sakowin, “the seven girls,” or the Pleiades (1). Incredibly, seven women have been saved from danger and placed in the night sky as this famous star cluster in cosmologies across the world, but that is a story for another day. (3)
Waziya Wicahpi’s love for Tapun Sa Win has not waned. To this day, he sits atop the rock and mourns her death, never moving with the other stars. I can only imagine the emotional toll that centuries of grief and isolation in the sky have taken on his mind. I do hope that this weight has lifted as he has watched his son grow up. He should take pride in the person Wicahpi Hinhpaya has become and all the good he has done. Mato Tipila stands as a monumental reminder of his actions and his eternal promise to his people, both on Earth and among the stars.
References
Goodman, R. (1992). Lakota star knowledge: Studies in Lakota stellar theology.
https://www.visitrapidcity.com/blog/2020/10/spirit-season-story-devils-tower-national-monument
https://americanindian.si.edu/nk360/plains-belonging-homelands/oceti-sakowin.cshtml
https://www.nps.gov/deto/learn/historyculture/first-stories.htm
https://listen.sdpb.org/post/lakota-star-knowledge-milky-way-spirit-path
Figures
Goodman, R. (1992). Lakota star knowledge: Studies in Lakota stellar theology.
https://www.nps.gov/deto/planyourvisit/night-sky-viewing.htm
Davide De Martin & the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator
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