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
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