- Totem poles are monuments. According to ethnographers of the University of Washington Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, the cedar poles were first carved by the coastal Native peoples of southeast Alaska and British Columbia. They bear figures culturally important to their tribes. Traditionally, totem pole memorials can be freestanding or built into house interiors. Some of the figures on totem poles are crests that are similar to family crests. They identify the person to whom the pole is dedicated. The practice of carving the poles was revived in the mid-20th century and is now known among coastal tribes in Alaska, Washington and British Columbia, and some tribes further inland.
- One intentional monument to a Northwest Indian is the Crazy Horse Memorial dedicated to the spirit of Native Americans. Not unlike Mount Rushmore's carved faces of U.S. presidents, the memorial shows 19th-century Lakota chief Crazy Horse on horseback. Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski started the work in 1948. The project was commissioned by Native American leaders who chose Crazy Horse for his heroism and character. Though Ziolkowski did not complete it before he died, the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation was established to carry on the work with volunteer laborers and consultants. When it is completed, the mountain carving will be 641 feet long by 563 feet high. No date is set for completion.
- Snoqualmie Falls, on the Snoqualmie River, is a 268-foot waterfall listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is found in Washington. This waterfall appears in creation myths of the Snoqualmie people. It is said that Moon the Transformer created the falls. The site is associated with a powerful waterfall spirit and a place to go to acquire spirit power. According to contemporary Snoqualmie people, the Falls divides the spirits of the Snoqualmie into prairie and valley spirits who meet at the Falls. This is an example of a sacred site that has become a monument.
- Hovenweep National Monument in Utah is monument to six prehistoric, Puebloan-era villages. They run along the canyons and mesa tops for 20 miles. The preservation of the dwelling places, including towers with several stories, is a monument to ancient architecture.
- Nez Perce National Historical Park in Idaho is a monument to the Nez Perce people and their association with the American explorers Lewis and Clark. It also contains a monument to the August 9, 1877 attack by the U.S. military on the Nez Perce and the bloody battle that ensued, the Battle at Big Hole. A monument to another battle, the Battle of Little Big Horn, is in Montana. The contest between the U.S. Army and the Sioux and Cheyenne was one of the final armed battles between Native people and the United States.
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