2022/10/10

The 'Circle of Sacred Smoke' sculpture by Junkyu Muto frames Devils Tower in Wyoming

© Nagel Photography/Shutterstock

We're celebrating Indigenous Peoples' Day by peering through the sculpture called 'Circle of Sacred Smoke' aka 'Wind Circle' or 'Circle Wind' at Devils Tower, one of the most famous rock monoliths in the US. The 'Circle,' sculpted by Japanese artist Junkyu Muto and installed in 2008, is the third of seven 'peace sculptures' placed around the world. Twelve feet high and made of white marble, it's intended to evoke a puff of smoke from a Native American ceremonial pipe. Devils Tower is a majestic Wyoming butte considered sacred by Indigenous tribes of the Great Plains like the Cheyenne, Crow, Lakota, and Kiowa. In myth, Devils Tower is associated not with the devil but with a great bear: Crow and Cheyenne names for it translate to Bear's House, Bear's Lodge, or Bear's Lair. The vertical grooves in the tower are said to be the bear's claw marks.