Sacred Hills and the Shrine of Democracy Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, and the Struggle Over American Memory

Rising from the granite heart of the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore has long been celebrated as a monument to American ideals. The towering faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln gaze across the landscape as symbols of democracy, unity, and national ambition. Yet beneath this iconic image lies a deeper, more complicated story—one rooted in sacred land, b...