The mere size of the Crazy Horse mountain carving in South Dakota’s Black Hills is impressive. The size and scope of an ambitious project to pay tribute to Native Americans by educating the general public, as well as generations of young Native Americans, may be the bigger story behind the massive memorial to the Lakota warrior.
Most people know Crazy Horse best as key in defeating United States troops at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in Montana, but more than a million tourists visiting the Crazy Horse Memorial may be most familiar with the idealized vision of the warrior conceived by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski.
Ziolkowski’s vision began taking shape after a letter from Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear reacting to the carving of Mount Rushmore by expressing the desire to remind “the white man”…that…“the red man has great heroes, also.”
Ziolkowski worked at Mount Rushmore, so he understood the work involved with such a large mountainside carving. He also understood that the project as he envisioned it would require unusual dedication and decided to focus the reminder of his life to it.
The sculptor began work on the memorial on June 3, 1948 using hand tools and drills. He drew up detailed instructions for the project, knowing he would not live to see its completion.
Ziolkowski died in 1982. Today, his widow Ruth and seven of his 10 adult children continue work on the memorial more than 60 years after he began work on it.
Even inspired by a desire to honor Native American values and heroes, the memorial still inspires some controversy. Critics question whether defacing the Black Hills, seen as sacred ground by Native Americans, and disturbing the natural landscape is the best way to honor Crazy Horse and Native peoples.
There is also this question: how much does the likeness actually resemble Crazy Horse? No one knows for sure because the Lakota warrior avoided cameras and family purposely buried him in an undisclosed location after his early and violent death.
Proponents of the project see the memorial more as a metaphorical vision honoring Native American values like bravery, respect, generosity, wisdom and loyalty. It also honors the battles of those like Crazy Horse to protect their lands and treaties.
Another amazing aspect of the project is the funding. Ziolkowski reportedly twice declined millions in government grants, wanting to remain free of government control that he felt might compromise or curtail long-range cultural and educational goals beyond the actual carving.
This explains the $10 per person admission we paid to visit the memorial, although there is a price break for families, active military personnel, Scout groups, those arriving other than by car and area residents.
A national fund drive during 2006 raised more than $26 million for carving and expanding the memorial’s cultural and educational programs like a college scholarship fund for Native American students.
Even as fundraising for the world’s largest mountain carving and the memorial’s even larger cultural and educational ambitions continue, when does it end? Again, no one knows for sure.
Workers completed carving Crazy Horse’s face in 1998, the 50th anniversary of the project’s start. Crazy Horse’s 87.5 foot high head and flowing hair cover enough area to fit all four of the Mount Rushmore presidents’ heads. Plans call for a completed carving 641 feet long and 563 feet high, as well as a university and medical training center for Native Americans.
We felt the most worthwhile part of our visit was seeing the museums and collections of Native American art and artifacts from native cultures across the continent.
The Crazy Horse Memorial site FAQ suggests that many visitors need at least 2 to 4 hours at the site for watching a 20-minute orientation DVD, “contemplating” the mountain carving and seeing the Indian Museum of North America.
We found that, even with a couple of hours, we didn’t have nearly enough time to see everything—especially at the museums.
We visited on a clear day and had a good view of the carving from the viewing deck, although from just one vantage point. The site offers bus rides to the foot of the mountain for additional fees, weather and blast schedule permitting.
I especially enjoyed shopping in the gift store (and anyone who knows me knows that I am not a huge shopper), because my difficult-to-shop-for father always liked Crazy Horse and finding Christmas gifts for him that year was a snap with a Crazy Horse belt buckle and money clip. The store also stocked plenty of beautiful Native American art and jewelry by craftspeople working at the memorial.
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© Dominique King 2009
We visited there last summer and loved the museums and interpretive center. The Natives are constructing this on their own land, their own way, hence declining the federal funds. The film in the interpretive center explained it nicely. There is no timetable for completion apparently. I do recommend it though
Steve
Posted by: Steve Davis | March 11, 2009 at 06:22 AM
Steve-The museums were definitely a must-see at the site. I wish I'd had more time to really enjoy watching some of the craftspeople at work while we were there. I also wish I'd had the space at home or the money to bring home some of the beautiful quilts, rugs and jewelry available at the shop.
The idea that they're doing the entire project without federal funds is pretty fascinating.
We enjoyed our days in, and around, Custer. We're hoping to get back and spend more time in the Dakotas in the next few years as we were only able to squeeze a couple of extra days for them on the way to and from a longer trip to Wyoming and Montana.
Posted by: Dominique | March 11, 2009 at 08:32 AM
A very informative article. I need to travel through the region the next time I'm down south. It would great to see this work in progress and visit all the museums.
Posted by: Alan Sorum | March 11, 2009 at 09:28 AM
Alan-We didn't realized we'd enjoy both South and North Dakota as much as we did. Our original plan was to go back and just do those two states on a longer trip in summer 2010, but a lot will depend on the job and school situation here.
Posted by: Dominique | March 13, 2009 at 07:43 AM