America, "the land of the free and the brave," has many national monuments. Possibly none, though, so unabashedly celebrates American expansionism as the piece of sculpture 23 miles southwest of Rapid City, South Dakota. Completed in stages during the 1920s and 1930s, the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, which is visited by 40 million tourists annually, celebrates the spirit of America through huge carvings of the faces of four presidents: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. While the memorial was intended simply as a tribute to these great leaders, changes in the cultural climate have begun to alter its interpretation. Particularly through the influence of Native American groups, some Americans have begun to question just what kind of symbol this is for their nation. Such is the price for any landscape that attempts to serve as sacred for a number of different constituents.

As a sculpture...