Tashunka Witco was a fearless Sioux Indian Chief. Better known as Crazy Horse, Tashunka was known for fighting against Indian removal. How he got the name Crazy Horse is disputed. However, most say that he inherited the name from his father who granted him the name after Tashunka demonstrated his skills as a warrior.
Crazy Horse was born around the 1840’s and grew up committed to protecting the Indian way of life. Physically, Crazy Horse was quite different looking than many of the other boys around his own age. He was fair skinned with brown curly hair. As Crazy Horse grew up, life for the Lakota Indians began to change dramatically as settlers were encouraged to move west. Native Americans already distrusted settlers and were anything but welcome. Eventually, conflict erupted with the Grattan Massacre where a group of white men entered a Sioux campground looking to take prisoner men who had killed a migrants cow. Chief Conquering Bear refused to give in to the demands of the white men and violence quickly ensued. In the end, Conquering Bear was shot and killed and in response, the rest of the tribe’s warriors fought back and killed the 30 white men in the group. Still, at a young age, the Grattan Massacre forever tainted Crazy Horse and lead him to greatly distrust white settlers.
Crazy Horse was a hero in many of the key battles between the Lakota Indians and the United States. Seemingly to avoid injury and death, Crazy Horse refused to get his photograph taken and never signed any formal documents. He was fighting to return his people to the life he knew as a child, a life where Native Americans had full access to the Great Plains and the buffalo that roamed the area by the thousands. Crazy Horse would never see this dream a reality.
After the United States finally decided to push Indians onto reservations, Crazy Horse refused. Crazy Horse and Chief Sitting Bull worked together and essentially decimated the revered General George Armstrong Custer in the Battle of Little Bighorn. This victory was one of the biggest victories for Native Americans over the United States.
Even today, Crazy Horse has impacted Native Americans living on reservations. According to the Atlantic, 19-year-old Jacob Rosales a recent graduate of Red Cloud Indian School, Rosales wants the rest of the world to understand life on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Crazy Horse allegedly prophesied that the Seventh Generation of Native Americans would include individuals who would “spearhead the economic, spiritual and social renewal”. Undoubtedly, Crazy horse even today continues to be revered as a hero and is an inspiration for many young Native Americans seeking justice.
Cite: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/08/the-real-legacy-of-crazy-horse/534924/
https://www.biography.com/people/crazy-horse-9261082
I found the backstory to Crazy Horse interesting, and didn't know he had seen firsthand violence with white settlers as a young person. I think that his impact from fighting for Native Americans land and rights still resonating today shows how much importance and bravery Crazy Horse had at a time where Native Americans were being completely stripped of their ways of life, and how even today he a seen as figure of justice. Another article to check out would be: https://indiancountrymedianetwork.com/history/sacred-places/whats-going-on-with-the-crazy-horse-memorial/-This is another example of how Crazy Horse still resonates with the people today, for they are making a huge sculpture of him in memorial.
ReplyDeleteClaire, I found your article on the life of Crazy Horse very interesting. He is one of the most iconic Native American generals of all time, and that is even present in today's media. I think that something interest to be examined would be the circumstances under his death. Crazy Horse, after failed negotiations, was escorted to Fort Robinson. However, a man of great honor, Crazy Horse was outraged when he realized he was being imprisoned. He drew his knife and began to struggle with the guards/officers. Crazy Horse was partly held back by one of his friends, Little Big Man. However, a guard killed Crazy Horse with a bayonet, and he died on September 5, 1877. Another theory is that Little Big Man was the one who killed him. The tragic circumstances in which he was killed, by US men, sparked outrage among Natives. This solidified his status as not only a hero, but as a martyr, which explains why his legend has stood the test of time.
ReplyDeletehttps://crazyhorsememorial.org/crazy-horse-the-man.html