The Black Hills are a mountain range in present-day South Dakota and protruding into Wyoming. Today, they hold contain Custer State Park, which is a bit ironic, and more famously, Mount Rushmore. However, to the Native Americans, namely the Lakota tribe, they were considered sacred and thought to be where the great spirit resided. Crazy Horse, a supposedly invincible war chief of the time, was said to have been blessed by the Black Hills, which was why no arrow nor bullet could harm him. It was also part of the land prescribed to the Native Americans in the Laramie Treaty, as there was no way the Natives would give up something as beholden and precious as the Black Hills without dying for it first. Eventually, however, after years of gradual assimilation and encroachment by the whites, the Black Hills was taken by settlers and the Natives were forced into special reservations.
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When natives returned from their time in the sacred forest, they were both mentally and physically stronger. The Great Spirit was said to enlighten and give mental clarity to visitors of the Black Hills. Also, according to The United States Department of Agriculture, the Black Hills are home to various species of deer, elk, bison, prairie dogs, foxes, mountain goats, mountain lions, fish, coyotes, big horn sheep, and wild turkeys. In addition, there are 1500 plant species found in the Black Hills. This sacred area and resource was truly stolen from the Native Americans and, in my opinion, it is unjust that it was named after Custer.
I wholeheartedly agree with Ava's comment as renaming the Black Hills as a tribute to Custer is yet another blow to the Native American culture that he attempted to erase. As more than just a plentiful resource, the Black Hills served as a cultural apex, a sacred land for the Lakota people. Custer and the American army's attack on not only the Black Hills but the Native American altogether do not warrant the sacred site to be named after him.
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