The Crazy Horse monument is important to the United States not only for continuing the Native American Culture, sharing their beliefs, building pride within their Nations, but in supporting their communities. The Crazy Horse Memorial is not only a fascinating monument but an essential NDN (Native term for “Indian”) institution, in a time when it is needed most. The Crazy Horse Monument is privately funded by donations and revenue that the Monument has raised over the last 64 years, through the gift shops and included Museum. It gives NDN’s pride again in NDN’s socially, culturally, ethnically, as strong people, it educates and empowers. Sharing what it means to be NDN, not just in the Indian Nation communities, but with Anglo-Americans and the world.
The Crazy Horse Memorial began in 1948, by request of Chief Henry Standing Bear. “He wanted to carve a mountain to honor the heritage, tradition, and culture of North American Indians” (CHMRC: 2012). “Crazy Horse descendants feel the chief didn’t have the right to ask that such a thing be done” (Staff: 2012). Crazy Horse descendent, Elaine Quiver, was quoted saying how in Lakota culture consensus is required with the family, yet no one asked his descendants (Staff:2012). Buffy Turner, states “It feels like the whole community, including his descendants, should decide how to celebrate and teach his story. I don't feel like I should have any say ... it sounds crude and ugly, to desecrate the Paha Sapa,(Black Hills) in an imitation of white culture's grandiosity” (Turner, email:2013). Lance an NDN, adds a different perspective on this issue of descendants he states “Crazy Horse had no children that had lived only uncles and aunts and nephews and nieces, so there are no descendants, t...
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...andmonuments/crazyhorsememorial/ accessed November 20, 2013.
David Wolf, personal community, November 29, 2013.
Edwin Robbins, personal community, December 5, 2013
Lance, interviewed by Arorasky Apaha He Wicahpi, December 3, 2013.
Ray, Charles Michael “The Slow Carving of the Crazy Horse Monument” NPR January 01, 2013. http://www.npr.org/2013/01/01/167988928/the-slow-carving-of-the-crazy-horse-monument accessed November 20, 2013.
Staff, Ictmn “What’s going on With the Crazy Horse Memorial?” Indian Country Today Media Network. November 8, 2012 http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/11/08/whats-going-crazy-horse-memorial-144833 accessed November 20, 2013.
Timeline Black Hills expedition. Web. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/custer-timeline/ accessed December 5, 2013.
Wakiem Parker, personal community, November 24, 2013
In the introduction, Hämäläinen introduces how Plains Indians horse culture is so often romanticized in the image of the “mounted warrior,” and how this romanticized image is frequently juxtaposed with the hardships of disease, death, and destruction brought on by the Europeans. It is also mentioned that many historians depict Plains Indians equestrianism as a typical success story, usually because such a depiction is an appealing story to use in textbooks. However, Plains Indians equestrianism is far from a basic story of success. Plains equestrianism was a double-edged sword: it both helped tribes complete their quotidian tasks more efficiently, but also gave rise to social issues, weakened the customary political system, created problems between other tribes, and was detrimental to the environment.
Crazy Horse was a warrior and took part in many wars and battles between the Native Americans and the Americans during the westward expansion. In the wars he led his warriors who decoyed Captain Fetterman and 80 soldiers out of Fort Phil Kearny to their deaths in 1866. He led the thousand warriors who fought General George Crook and his thousand soldiers to a bloody draw on Rosebud Creek in June of 1876. Anf he led the warriors in the charge up the hill that outflanked Colonel George A. Custer at the Little Bighorn just a week after the fight on the Rosebud. Custer and more than 200 of his men were killed. It was the greatest Native American victory, but it was also their greatest disaster because the Americans decided the Natives should no
A monument is used to memorialize events or people, whether it is used to honor moments of great achievement or to pay tribute to deep sacrifice. Several factors are considered when creating a monument or a memorial; materials, design, and location. Each factor needs to be carefully considered to make a monument memorable and intriguing.
It is important for more people to become aware of how inaccurate the common perception of Native American Indians is. It leads to racism and negative connotations in individuals, when every culture should be celebrated. Native American Indian authors are able to write about their experiences and allow more people to become conscious of their culture. They first handedly share their personal stories giving more individuals insight on what it’s truly like to be a Native American Indian. The more people who are aware of how false the stereotypical image is, the less issues exist of
Oral history teaches the Navajo be aware of changes in the land and to protect Navajo synecdoche by avoiding ominous threats like rodents (35). But more significantly, oral history, as taught by the elders, requires the Navajo to respect their ceremonial dances, winter shoe games, and spiritual artifacts by refusing to sell their culture for capital (39). Navajo leaders used this 1993 illness to evaluate ignored cultural values and use ceremonies to strengthen “familiar ties and relationships” (40). By neglecting their traditions, the Navajo were bringing destruction upon themselves. Elders also sharply pointed out that “physical changes in the land reflect a break down in the proper relationship between Navajo and mother Earth” (39). The destruction of the Navajo exists in the uranium mining pits, road and water projects and dumping sites, unless prescribed healing ceremonies and future obedience can redeem their relationship with the land and the Holy People.
...s of Mt Rushmore could fit inside the head of Crazy Horse. The memorial depicts Crazy Horse on his horse with his arm extended in the direction he is looking. This is a reference to when he was asked where his lands are. His response as he pointed out was "my lands are where my dead lie buried" (DeWall 4). The piece is being built without any government funding all money is brought in by donations. The new generations of Sioux Indian volunteer to help create this monument.
Today, memorials are built with the purpose of remembering and connecting with the past. Although memorials and monuments are unique landscapes, it must be noted that memorials are often dedicated to those who have been victimized, while monuments offer a celebration or remembrance of a specific person or event. However, both do not fail in shaping the world as it is today. People remember, people learn, and people move on. In memorializing an event and in creating a monument, one should consider its location, cost, and meaning. Failing to do so might provoke controversy among those who are innocent and those who are against it.
I was immediately impressed by the landscape of the Heritage center. On the grounds there were various monument that were dedicated to people or events that were important to the Chickasaw’s history. One of the first things that you can see is a plaque marking a time capsule that contain photos, poems, genealogy records, letters to future generations, and pieces of art. This made me think about how important preserving history is to the Chickasaw’s. Another monument was a replica of the leaning pole. I was excited to see it and I was able to recall the legend behind it. The third monument was an eternal flame. This was made to be a representation of a sacred flame that was lit annually by the Chickasaw ancestors to celebrate the green corn ceremony.
This monument is intended to honor all the people that do nothing but good for this world and are treated unfairly because of what they look like or how they think. These people should be remembered because they were treated poorly and even though they were treated badly they continued to do nothing but good for the world and no matter how hard times got they continued to stay strong without using any form of violence, but only peace to get their ideas across. We owe it to them because they help us every day without us thanking them or even recognizing it. The fact is that we need those kinds of people, the kind that helps their neighbors without asking for any pay, the kind that selflessly put themselves in danger for the sake of others, and
Both are tributes to greatness. One is a federal monument and national icon, the other a solitary dream.” The impact of the statue to millions of people around the country would mean little to nothing if it was not near the site in which so many battles were fought, including the Battle of Little Bighorn. The cultural importance of this architecture lives on through the lives of the American people it has taught.
It was approaching dusk as the conspicuous line of dark vans entered the reservation. These vehicles served the purpose of furnishing transportation for about 30 members of a Cleveland area youth group, whose mission was “to bring good news to the badlands';. In short, the group was ministering to the Indian children of the Pine Ridge Reservation, which was in close vicinity to the natural wonder found in the foothills of “the badlands';. The trip became a tradition for my church and I traveled there on three separate occasions. Each year, the team received a welcoming that could be described as anything but inviting. In fact, the first year the trip fell on the Fourth of July and as we drove in, our vehicles were bombarded with fireworks. I could never really grasp why we were so despised. After all, our intentions were commendable. The matter became clearer after I read Zitkala-sa’s “American Indian Stories';. Within this text, a Native American expresses her beliefs that actions similar to ours serve merely in altering culture.
Living in South Dakota my whole life, I can’t even count the number of times I have visited Mount Rushmore. It seems as though every summer my family plans a trip to go see something that has not changed since 1941. The enormous faces are still the same, the cluster of rocks at the bottom still there, and the curious crowd standing before the exceptional sculpture remains. Although nothing about Mount Rushmore has changed,
Horses, Indians and Cowboys have been around for many of years. Imagine the West without horses- no swift ponies, cavalry steeds, or stagecoach teams. No spirit guides, wild mustangs, racers, or rodeo broncos. Actually Spanish conquistadors brought horses to North America as late as the mid-1500’s. Horse culture dominated the West until the arrival of trains and automobiles in the twentieth century. In the art of the West, the always popular horse is a timeless icon. Native Americans are also a favorite in western art. Often they have been portrayed as mythical figures- sometimes as primitive people living in an undisturbed wilderness, at other times
He was then invited by Chief Henry Standing Bear of the Oglala Lakota tribe to come to South Dakota to carve a memorial to Chief Crazy Horse. Chief Standing Bear wrote to Korczak saying “My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know the red man has great heroes too.” Korczak would accept the invitation and arrived on May 3rd, 1947 to meet with the chiefs. He then began researching and planning the sculpture. Korczak believed that the most suitable mountain for the sculpture was in Wyoming, however the chiefs insisted it be sculpted in the Black Hills. On June 3rd, 1948 a year later the first blast of dynamite rang out through the Black Hills, and the mountain was officially dedicated to the Native American people. Korczak pledged at that time that the project would remain a non-profit, educational, and cultural project financed through private donations to the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. He made it very clear to everyone that he did not want the government involved with the project. He even turned down two offers of ten million dollars from the United States government to help fund the project. Ziolkowski also refused to take a salary and worked free of charge. In 1950 Korczak would marry Ruth Ross, a volunteer on the Crazy Horse project, who he had met when he moved to the Black Hills. The two of them would go on to have ten children who all
Contemporary artists of Native American descent do not recoil from these stereotypes. In contrast, they draw upon these characterizations and combine it with their first hand experience to convey a truly significant piece of historical and artistic perspective. The contemporary artist’s versions are not as theatrical in appearance as the mainstream depiction.