Crazy Horse

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Crazy Horse

The European settlement of North America met its fiercest opponent, the Lakota also known as the Western Sioux, who inhabited most of the Great Plains. The Oglala tribe, a branch of the Sioux nation were key in the resistance against the white man. At the heart of their resistance stood crazy horse, a warrior that had no equal. Crazy Horse fought for the traditions of his people, until those same people wearied of war and in some cases, turned against him. Chief Crazy Horse led an extraordinary life and will always be remembered.

Crazy Horse was born in the fall of 1841 to the Hunkpatila band of the Oglala tribe of the Sioux Nation. At the time of his birth, his band was camped near a stream called Rapid Creek in the Black Hills. Sioux babies were often given names based on their physical appearance. Later in life, they would receive a formal name after an act of bravery or a spiritual experience. Crazy Horse was affectionately called Curly Hair. Curly Hair looked Different from other Sioux children. He had a narrow face, light skin and soft curly light-brown hair. People said he got his light skin from his mother, a Brule who died when he was still young. The Brules were a tribe within the Sioux Nation. Crazy Horse, the boy's father, was the holy man of the Hunkpatila band, or subgroup, of the Oglala tribe. He was respected for his good advice and wisdom. It was common for a Sioux male to have two wives. When Curly Hairs mother died, Crazy Horse's second wife became his mother.

"When Curly was eleven years old, he killed his first buffalo [by shooting it] with four arrows while riding next to it in a fast chase," (Hook 13). When Curly was twelve, he and some other young Indians of his tribe went to chase horse...

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...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.

Works Cited

Ambrose, Stephen E. Crazy Horse ane Custer. Garden City, New York: Doubleday and Company, 1975.

Cunningham, Chet. Chief Crazy Horse. Minneapolis: Lerner, 2000.

DeWall, Robb. Carving a Dream. New York: Crazy Horse Foundation, 2002.

Hook, Jason. American Indian Warrior Chiefs. New York: Firebird, 1989.

McMurtry, Larry. Crazy Horse, a Penguin Life. New York: Penguin, 1999.

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