Thursday, August 27, 2015

Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota
August 21, 2015

Five miles north on Hwy 16 N between Custer City and Hill City lies Crazy Horse Memorial. It is NOT a federal or state project. When Mt. Rushmore was carved, Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear in 1939 asked sculptor Korezak Ziolkowski of Polish descent to come to the Black Hills and carve a mountain “letting white man know red man has great heroes also.” Ziolkowski accepted the invitation to carve Crazy Horse Mountain knowing the non-profit project would span several generations. Work began carving on the mountain in 1946. His family of 10 children and his wife Ruth have carried on the family legacy after his death in 1982 to see Ziolkowski’s work continues on sculpturing the world’s largest mountain carving in progress to honor Native Americans.

A 1/34th scaled white marble model display showed what the finished sculptured Mountain will look like when it is completed. The mission of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation as a non-profit organization establishes the site with several primary purposes in mind: completion of carving the mountain, operating the Indian Museum of North America and the Native American Educational and Cultural Center, and overseeing The Indian University of North America in the Black Hills. 
The display exhibits of Indian artwork, beadwork, regalia, etc were absolutely amazing.
Buffalo hides will sometimes be used to  relay a tribe's history or story through art designs on rawhide .
At the Crazy Horse Memorial Restaurant the two of us grabbed a buffalo burger for lunch. The meat was very lean with virtually no fat and tasted much like hamburger. 
A Lakota Indian in full beaded regalia spoke  outdoors and invited folks from the audience to come forward to join in a friendship dance known as The Snake Dance.  JR motioned for me to go forward and join the group. The Indian stepped down and took my hand as if he were Crazy Horse himself. The two of us led the line weaving in and out like a snake below the great carving underway on the mountain It was a good thing my dancing feet kept up to the rhythm of the drum beat behind him.