The décor is done with Lakota artwork and symbolism to represent the culture and spirituality of the Lakota people. It’s all been designed with great thought and planning. The end result is that it successfully blends the two worlds of the Lakota people and the Anglo, which is exactly what the owners had in mind.

Owners Bat and Patty Pourier have been in business for the past 12 years in Pine Ridge. They also own Big Bat’s in Chadron, Nebraska and Big Bat’s at two locations in Hot Springs South Dakota.

"We opened our first station and store here on May 14, 1990 and haven’t been closed for even one day during all that time until March 5, 2001 when the fire happened, " Patty said.

Fire broke out from an underground propane leak and destroyed all of their equipment and most of the building. No one was injured. The owners were very grateful for that miracle.

They knew they wanted to rebuild and make it into something special for the people of the area because their customers are very important to them.

And, the new Big Bat’s is certainly something special…
a new creation from the ashes of the fire…it’s a place where the people of the community can gather and socialize in addition to purchasing necessary items like gas and quick convenience food or have a meal in the spacious dining area.

When you enter the store there are large, heavy and thick floor mats placed at each entrance. The mats have artist, Don Montileaux’s "buffalo in a circle" design that match the shield on the wall above the cashier area and also a light fixture hanging in the center at one end of the large interior of the store.

Don Montileaux , a Lakota artist, was hired to do all of the artwork for the new building. He consulted with Ed Young Man Afraid of His Horses of Kyle about all of the designs before anything was done.

"We wanted to make sure each thing we did was the true Lakota way…in the Lakota belief and tradition... and so we also talked with a lot of Elders to make sure and reconfirm we were doing it proper, " Montileaux said.

One of the first things that gets your attention is the large, oval shape design on the floor at the east end of the store. It was designed by Montileaux to represent the inside of a tipi.

The Seven Lakota Values are embedded in the floor in brass plates. They start at the entrance of the tipi to the east and go clock-wise with the first value of Respect, followed by Honesty, Fortitude, Generosity, Courage, Responsibility and last is Wisdom. The words are printed in both Lakota and English.

Montileaux explained that the tipi was more of a teardrop shaped oval instead of round and that it was proper to always move to the left upon entering a tipi. He also said that in most tribes, a man spoke of the tipi as “mine” but that it actually was the domain of the woman.

"The tipi is a sacred place for the woman. She made it, erected it and took care of it. The cover of the tipi represents the man. He was the protector. And, the poles in the center of the tipi are vortex. It is a Lakota belief that what is mirrored in heaven is mirrored on earth and what is on earth is mirrored in heaven," Montileaux said.

If you stand and look up in the middle of the tipi, you will see the design from the floor is mirrored in it.

The design in the center of the tipi floor represents the four directions and colors of the Lakota.

East is yellow which symbolizes the rising sun and it is the beginning; north is red, for the red road…people want to walk on that road, west is black for the setting sun, signifying death, the end of our life and south is white, to represent when we complete the circle of life, we go to the Spirit World. Blue is for the sky and green is for the Mother Earth.

The four colors of yellow, red, black and white also represent the four races and by using them together, they symbolize a unity of all people.

Montileaux was on hand throughout the Grand Opening to do narratives of the wall murals and explain the floor designs to small groups who gathered to learn more about the Lakota culture.

The murals were done in eight-foot sections and tell several stories in the traditional Lakota way. Long ago, they had no written language, so storytelling was the way the traditions were passed on from one generation to the next.

Pictured in the murals are the stories of "Buffalo Calf Woman," "The Twins," "The Horse Story" and the "Pow-wow."

Montileaux said that the Medicine Wheel today contains both the cross and the hoop, which includes Christianity and the Lakota Spirituality…to symbolize the "light skin" and the "dark skin" are one and together.

"I regard myself as having a mission and that is to portray the Lakota, the Native American, in an honest way. To illustrate them as people who were not always at battle , but as people who hunted buffalo, made love, raised children, cooked meals and lived," he said.

Another inlaid work of art on the floor is near the north entrance of the store. It’s a large circle with the following inscribed:

"…I seek strength not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy
…myself…"

In regards to their new store, Bat said with enthusiasm, "It’s a new experience…and a good one I hope!"

Bat pointed out that the large ceiling beams were also part of the artwork they installed. They represent the four directions, have the four colors and also have animals on each one for symbolism, including the eagle, elk, buffalo and thunderbird.

"The store is kind of an education for our young people with all the Lakota design. We want to make them proud of our culture and take pride in who they are," Bat said.

To help the people learn about their history is why they have displayed two walls of old photos in the new store.

"The pictures tell a story about our people’s history. What we have so far tells about the events that led up to the Wounded Knee Massacre and what happened afterwards," Bat said.

He explained that the government cut the people’s rations and attempted to starve them. There are photos showing the people lined up for food, a village of tipis, the Ghost Dance, the Wounded Knee Massacre, the troops after Wounded Knee with their expressions of strength and dominance over the Indians and the doctor who cared for the few survivors, including one of a young woman who was only skin and bones.

"We have about 30-40 more pictures we want to get but it takes time because we get most of them from the Smithsonian and it just takes a long time to acquire them," Bat said.