Friday, November 11, 2005

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse gets little media. It is a sculpture that is still being worked on about 20 miles from Mt. Rushmore.


11/2/05

At first, Crazy Horse was not that impressive. We could only see the profile of a face. Then, we learned more about it. A couple of Native Americans asked a famous sculptor to carve a tribute for the indians in the Black Hills. They wanted to show the white men that they have heroes too.

Crazy Horse was a famous Indian who was born on Rapid Creek in the Black Hills of South Dakota in about 1842. While at Fort Robinson, NE, under a flag of truce, he was stabbed in the back by an American soldier and died in 1877. The Indian was defending his people and their way of life. He was fighting because the Treaty of 1868 was broken. This treaty, signed by the President of the United Stated, said, in effect:
As long as rivers run and grass grows and trees bear leaves, Paha Sapa-the Black Hills of Dakota-will forever be the sacred land of the Sioux Indians.

Crazy Horse, as far as the sculpture is concerned, is to be carved not so much as a lineal likeness but more as a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse-to his people. With his left hand thrown out pointing in answer to the derisive question asked by a white man, "Where are your lands now?" he replied, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."

The sculptor, Korczock Ziolkowski, is of Polish descent, yet he took on this project as his life work. He's never received any money from the government. Therefore, it's a slow process. The determination and vision Korczak had was inspirational. He died in the '80's, but 7 out of his 10 children as well as his wife are still working on it. We saw bulldozers up there working when we visited.

It's nowhere near complete, but I have no doubt that this family will see it to the finish. The head itself is 9 stories high. You can fit all the heads of Mt. rushmore in the one head of Crazy Horse. When done, it will be the largest statue in the world!

0 comments: