America the Proud
...ps believe that the rock climbers who come to Devils Tower are taking away from the spiritual quality of the site by their presence. One Indian woman stated,”A group of elders would be telling the children about honor and respect, and we could hear the climbers being very loud, using real profane English, real vulgar language. And the children are looking up and saying, ’How come he gets to say things like that when you’re telling us to respect the tower?’” The Indians also believe that the bolts and pitons driven into the mountain to make rock climbing safer are disturbing the spirituality of the tower. The rock climbers who come to Devils tower, however, believe they are doing nothing wrong in their climbing practices. To the climbers, the tower is the best crack-climbing place in North America. Records indicate that six thousand climbers annual scale the tower. It has been described by many as a “spiritual experience”, and to the climbers this “spiritual experience” is just as important as the Indians claims on the spirituality of the tower. Climbers also point out that they economy of the region would be impacted if the tower was closed to ...