The Crazy Horse Memorial

· 2/5 stars ·

The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain carving currently under construction in the Black Hills of South Dakota, commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota chief, carved by Korczak Ziolkowski, and operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. It depicts Crazy Horse, a Lakota warrior, on Thunderhead mountain pointing to Native land. Once the memorial is completed, and Crazy Horse’s horse is sculpted, it will be the world’s second-largest statue.

My opinion on this memorial is mixed. I like the idea and sentiment of the monument, but the execution of it thus far has been poor. The vision for this monument is beautiful, but it has been under construction since 1948, which is 74 years. Mount Rushmore was carved about 20 years before Crazy Horse but only took 15 years to complete. Although The Crazy Horse Memorial is much larger than Mount Rushmore, I would generally give them a bit of grace, but not for 74 years. At this point, The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation is dragging out construction for profit. They are completely taking advantage of the life and legacy of Crazy Horse and so many other natives, as well as disrespecting the land that they have designated to the memorial. The Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation has continually made almost twice the revenue than their expenses. In 2020, they collected 20 million dollars from admissions and donations and only spent 6 million of it. They could put the millions of dollars they make every single year back into work on the sculpture, but they won’t. They generate more profit if it remains under construction. Not to mention, both of the CEOs of the foundation have 6-figure salaries. I cannot look at it without seeing the hypocrisy of the foundation. Greed has tainted what could have been a wonderful monument. I know that plenty of others feel differently, and I do not have the same experiences as indigenous people to speak on its morality or ethics, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. With that being said, I do think they do a good job displaying indigenous culture, with performances and educational videos from the Native American Educational and Cultural Center, and especially with the Indian Museum of North America.

In my experience with the museum, I know that it at least does a good job of educating. The captions of the preserved artifacts were informative and interesting, and the interactive elements were incredibly moving. While the museum is not very large, you could spend at least a whole day there. The photo above was one of my favorite pieces in the entire museum; it is a quote placard from Red Cloud, a Lakota leader, that reads, “They made us many promises, more than I can remember – they never kept but one; they promised to take our land, and they took it!”