"Never forget your dreams..."

"The pose used was purposeful. It is Chief Crazy Horse, sitting on his horse, with his hand stretched to the horizon."

A bit over four decades ago, my wife and I visited the Crazy Horse Monument. Back then, it looked more like a big rock than anything else. We learned about this man, this Polish immigrant named Korczak Ziolkowski, who was asked by some local Indian Chiefs to carve a sculpture into a mountain in the Black Hills. This was about the time that Mount Rushmore was being created. The Chiefs who wrote the letter to Ziolkowski, specially wanted a white man to carve a monument honoring red men. Why? Because as the chiefs said, "The red man have heroes also." It was important that the white men knew that also.

We made a return visit to that monument yesterday. It had changed quite a bit in forty years. The monument does not take a penny of federal or state money. It is all private donations. A dollar here, a dollar there. Part of the proceeds from gifts, food and parking on location go directly into the monument. 

It is starting to take shape, although it has a long, long way to go. When Korczak Ziolkowski started this adventure, he knew it would take more than one generation to complete. Maybe more than two. The face is done now, and it looks wonderful. The rest of it - well, there are decades left to carve and sculpt.

The pose used on the monument was purposeful. It is Chief Crazy Horse, sitting on his horse, with a hand stretched to the horizon. As the story goes, when a white men asked Crazy Horse where his land now lies, after it appeared the Indians were going to lose much it, Crazy Horse gave a famous response. (If I may paraphrase), "My land is there, where the hearts of my people are buried."

At the memorial, we found out something interesting. There was nothing more special about Crazy Horse than many of the other chiefs. Except one thing. He never signed a treaty with the government. He knew better. For that reason and others, he was chosen to represent a special time for a special people.

Many of the chiefs in their later years agreed to have portraits made of them combined with a bit of their story. To see their portraits, to read their stories, was meaningful and often times sad. In their day, these Chiefs were such great leaders, heading up many tribes in a great Indian Nation, living and surviving in this great country.

I have said this many times in the past. The more I learn about the Native Americans, how they lived, about their culture, I gain more understanding and respect for them. To pass by any of the reservations that the decedents of these brave warriors now have to live on, is beyond tragic. 

Korczak Ziolkowski is quoted as saying "Never forget your dreams" while building this monument. I think those wise words could apply to all of us. If I could add one thing to augment this wise quote it would be, "Never forget your history". History is there to teach us as well as inform us. And the Crazy Horse Memorial is a great place to learn more very of this very important history.