South Dakota is home to 13 state parks. It’s little wonder each has a unique story developed as they have been on the traditional lands of Native peoples, the mountain slope sites of gold rushes and the prairies of settlers’ triumphs and travails. This January, SDPB’s new documentary Images of the Past: A Century of South Dakota State Parks tracks the development of South Dakota’s state park system, in conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the opening of Custer State Park. It’s been a century since South Dakota’s first state park was established on a large parcel of land featuring forests, rock outcroppings, and grasslands in the southern Black Hills. Custer State Park opened in 1919 and essentially created its own history from then on. Governor and senator Peter Norbeck foresaw economic development and conservation in establishing both a wildlife refuge and a destination for hunters. Twisting and scenic
roads were built through the area’s most rugged terrain, but it was also intended to be a place where people could get out and walk in the singular scenery of the Black Hills. The story of Bear Butte (Lakota: Mato Paha, “Bear Mountain”) can be traced back thousands of years, and the story is still unfolding. People from several Native American tribes come to Bear Butte to dwell for a time in a sacred place and make a spiritual connection.
SDPB Staff Profile: Brian Gevik SDPB’s Brian Gevik is multitalented in the media world. Not only does he research, write, shoot and edit content for the multi-platform series Images of the Past, he helps maintain SDPB’s websites. He’s produced 12 hour and half-hour TV documentaries for SDPB and countless Dakota Life segments and digital shorts. “Well before you hit 30-plus years in TV production and broadcasting, you kind of quit counting,” says Gevik. Born in Sioux Falls and a graduate of Washington High School (“when it was still downtown”) and USD, Gevik has been a videographer and producer for SDPB, KELO and regional media outlets for over 30 years. He started with SDPB’s Digital Services in 2008, working on SDPB’s website and assisting with high school activities coverage. Gevik’s skills and experience evolved with
time and technology. Now a Media Specialist, he contributes in multiple ways across all of SDPB’s broadcast and online platforms. “I’m not a hard news journalist, but I produce TV documentaries, mainly stories about South Dakota history.” He also does voice-overs for SDPB’s radio and TV promotions, as well as for other SDPB docs. “It’s difficult to pick a most memorable moment because I enjoy pretty much everything I get to do at SDPB,” says Gevik. “Every now and again, when I’m on the job, I think about how much fun I’m having. If I had to pick, it’d be the experience of shooting video while biking the Mickelson Trail. The feeling that you are doing the job you were meant to be doing is extremely gratifying.” When he’s not shooting or writing documentaries, Gevik enjoys bicycling, sailing, horseback riding
Sica Hollow (“Sica” pronounced see cha, Lakota for unpleasant, of poor quality, or serious) is a rugged woodland park 15 miles northwest of Sisseton with a rich history and miles of horse-riding and hiking trails. Good Earth Park at Blood Run is South Dakota’s most recently established state park. Just southeast of Sioux Falls on the Big Sioux River, it is one of the oldest sites of long-term human habitation in the United States and continues to be a place for traditional and living Indigenous culture. A new state park is being proposed at Little Spearfish Canyon. We’ll explore the area as well as the process required to establish a state park. Photos and historical films will reveal the beginnings of traditions that continue today, from feeding the burros on the Custer State Park wildlife loop road to stopping for a photo at the Needles Eye to hiking the state’s forests and plains. A Century of South Dakota State Parks premieres Thursday, January 3, at 8:30pm (7:30 MT) on SDPB1.
and fishing. He and his wife, Liz, a USD professor of speech and language pathology, live on a farm near Wakonda.
January 2019
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