After the construction of Mt. Rushmore National Memorial, the chief of the Lakota tribe, Standing Bear, asked one of the sculptors who worked on the landmark to make another memorial, one for the Native Americans. “(..) because the whitemen have to know that the redmen have heroes too”.
Crazy Horse Memorial is currently the world’s largest mountain carving and it’s enormous indeed. Sculptor Korzcak Ziolkowski – from Polish descent – promised Standing Bear to take the job and started the carving a couple of years later in 1948 – spending the rest of his life on the memorial.
Since it wasn’t possible to buy the mountain itself from the government, Ziolkowski bought all of its surrounding land, trading it in a later phase with the government for the mountain. To his surprise it turned out that the colour beneath the outer layer of the mountain was actually a bit reddish. Nobody knew beforehand.
With the pledge made to Standing Bear’s , Ziolkowski not only changed the course for his entire life, but also his entire family. His wife worked along his side for decades and currently his sons and grandsons are working at the construction site. As long as the family will be having offspring, this piece of private land will be secured for this project. Currently a team of fourteen people works five days a week to finish the native American memorial bit by bit.
Apart from the memorial, Ziolkowski had a bigger vision too. While sculpturing the mountain, he also founded the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, created a large visitor center which he filled up with native American artefacts and built a Native American educational centre. All with the intention to protect and preserve the culture, tradition and living heritage of the North American Indians.
Now I’d never heard of this memorial, so when we drove up to it I came in with low expectations. But it was just amazing to see what a piece of work is being created in here. The memorial is depicting the Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota named Crazy Horse on his – well – horse. After 70 years of work the Ziolkowski family managed to carve Crazy Horse’s head ‘out of’ the mountain. Expectations are that another 50 year will be needed to carve out the horse he rides. It’s a work in slow progress.
To get an idea of how big it is: it is said that Mt. Rushmore could more or less fit in the head of Crazy Horse.
The admission price for the visitor center is a little steep at $24,- USD. Per car that is. With more than two persons per car you pay $30,- USD in total. On top of that you have to pay an additional $4,- USD per person to take the bus that brings you closer to the monument. And you might want to do that, as the visitor center is still some 3/4 miles away from the memorial. That makes sense, after all the memorial is still very much under construction.
Just your money has a great cause, as it’s been pouring into something spectacular and educational.
If you’re planning to visit Mt. Rushmore on the same day, as we did, you’ll see that the difference between the memorials is quite substantial. Mt. Rushmore is a very official kind of place, with an almost solemn outlook to its visitor. Crazy Horse Memorial is way more raw, if only because operations are still in full swing.
Apart from the amazing sight upon the Crazy Horse Memorial, the best reason to visit the area is because of the visitor center. The building felt brand-new and had an enormous collection of Native American artefacts. Personally I especially liked the many historical photographs, that really added to the many Native American stories described.
The only thing lacking was a bit more information about Crazy Horse himself. There were some scenes devoted to him in the movie which you can see upon arrival in the visitor center, but I wish there would be more stories throughout the visitor center about him. Regardless of that, all in all I did learn a great deal about Native American culture, traditions and values.
I truly hope I can still see it finished in my lifetime.
Here’s where to find that crazy memorial! ↓
