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King of Kings - by Lewis Lavoie
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| Wikipedia: Crazy Horse (Lakota: Thašuŋka Witko, literally "His-Horse-is-Crazy") was a respected war leader of the Oglala Lakota, who fought against the U.S. federal government in an effort to preserve the traditions and values of the Lakota way of life. He is most generally known for his participation in the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June, 1876. Crazy Horse's vision first took him to the South, where in Lakota spirituality you go when you die. He was brought back and was taken to the west in the direction of the wakiyans, or thunder beings, and was given a medicine bundle which contained medicines that would protect him for life. One of his animal protectors would be the white owl, which according to Lakota spirituality would give extended life. He was also shown his face paint, which consisted of a yellow lightning bolt down the left side of his face, and white powder, which he would wet and with three fingers put marks over his vulnerable areas that when dried resembled hailstones. His face paint was similar to his father's, except his father used a red lightning strike down the right side of his face and three red hailstones on his forehead. Crazy Horse put no makeup on his forehead and did not wear a war bonnet. He was also given a sacred song that is still sung today, and was told he would be a protector of his people. Crazy Horse is currently being commemorated with the Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills of South Dakota — a monument carved into a mountain, in the tradition of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial (on which Korczak Ziółkowski had worked). The sculpture was begun by Ziółkowski in 1948. When completed, it will be 641 feet (195 m) wide and 563 feet (172 m) high. Though still incomplete because of funding constraints, the sculpture has been criticized by some Native American activists (most notably Russell Means) as exploitative of Lakota culture and Crazy Horse's memory as well as desecrating sacred ground |
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