Crazy Horse

Friday, July 12, Day 81 (cont'd)

A short distance away from Mt. Rushmore is the monument being built to Crazy Horse.  The sculpture was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear in 1929, to show the Indians had heroes, too.  The sculptor was Korcyak Ziolkowski.  

When I first saw this, I wondered why it wasn't further along.     The sculpture was began in 1948, will stand 641 feet  wide, 563 feet high with a head measuring 87 feet.  The piece currently being worked on is the horses head.  

The sculpture had worked with Borglum on Mt. Rushmore.  He and his wife lived nearby and raised ten children, seven of whom work on the sculpture and an adjacent Indian Museum and Cultural Center. Some large donations have been made both for work on the sculpture and to complete an Indian Medical Center.  All of this work is being done with private donations.

Native Americans performed ceremonial dances in the courtyard of the museum.

The Museum and Cultural Center were large and pretty impressive.  There are tours you can take to the

flat area by the head.  Ironically, Crazy Horse never had his picture taken, so the head represents the sculptors image based on oral descriptions.  

One of the daughters who is the sculptor in charge, is modifying the image somewhat. For example, there will not be as large a space under the arm due to weak rock structure.

Once again, the sculpture is not without controversy.  Many Native Americans object to the idea that Henry Elder Bear commissioned the sculpture without any consultation with the tribes.  Many feel that the land is sacred and should not be desecrated by blowing up huge amounts of it.  And, the idea of the pointing finger is anathema to their culture.

"They don't respect our culture because we didn't give permission for someone to carve the sacred Black Hills where our burial grounds are. They were there for us to enjoy and they were there for us to pray. But it wasn't meant to be carved into images, which is very wrong for all of us. The more I think about it, the more it's a desecration of our Indian culture. Not just Crazy Horse, but all of us."^[9]

Whether the family will complete the monument is up to speculation.  But, they do have an impressive complex.  There is also a light show here, but the clouds are gathering, it is going to rain, and we need to find a campground for the night.  We crammed a lot into this day!