Critter lover
![The peak that would later be known as Mount Rushmore is situated in the Black Hills, which has been inhabited by numerous indigenous groups over the centuries. The Ponca, Arikara, and Mandan were among the earliest recorded inhabitants, and were later displaced by the Kiowa, Plains Apache, and Shoshone. By 1800 those groups were supplanted by the Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Lakota Sioux, with the Lakota becoming the majority in the area by
1850. 181[19] The Lakota call the Black Hills Pahá Sápa and consider the entire region to be sacred ground, referring to the hills as wamakaognaka e'cante, "the heart of everything that is".!19J120] The Cheyenne, Arapaho, and other Native groups of the Northern Plains also recognize particular sites within the Black Hills as having sacred significance. 19||21|22]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:z3qudzjjxbysqprh3xuoiqkt/bafkreidigbnh52i6vj3p46tlbfrnmxpbrjhvtkldbibwicg5iychaoex5u)
Critter lover