Where the Lightning Strkes

[Diane Merkel]

Where the Lightning Strikes: The Lives of American Indian Sacred Places By Peter Nabokov

In 1982, managers at South Dakota's Bear Butte Park in the Black Hills refused to allow Indians to pray and fast on this sacred ground unless they first obtained a government permit. Claiming a violation of the free exercise of their religion, the Lakota and Cheyenne sued in federal court. Their attempts to legally prove the sacred nature of the Black Hills fell on skeptical ears, especially when weighed against "important" interests such as recreation. The court upheld the restrictions imposed by the park managers. Nabokov also explores a number of similar cases, such as how Navajo sacred places in Arizona have been subjected to petroleum exploration and coal mining.

Nabokov's method in this book is simple and quite effective. He travels to 16 sacred places and describes each as the Indians view it, stressing how these places have been threatened and how Indians have responded to these threats. Nabokov points out that whites have not always been adversaries. He chronicles how philosopher Henry David Thoreau wrote lovingly about the Penobscots of Maine. When Thoreau died in 1862, he was working on a monumental book about the Penobscots, and his dying word was "Indian."

For the full review: sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/29/RVG3NGPRGF1.DTL&type=books