Crazy Horse Memorial
Crazy Horse: A cultural education destination
World travelers come to South Dakota’s southern Black Hills to see the world’s largest carving taking shape at Crazy Horse Memorial.
The million-plus visitors a year learn that the Memorial, which is dedicated to honoring North America’s Indian people, is much more than the monumental sculpture.
Chief Henry Standing Bear and other Lakota leaders saw Mount Rushmore develop and invited sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski (core JOCK Jewel CUFF ski) to create the epic statue. The American Indian elders wanted to show that “red men have great heroes also.”
In 1947, Korczak, a self-taught artist from Boston, stood in a virtual wilderness. While he had high hopes, he had almost no money. However, Korczak banked on his belief that you can do anything if you work hard and never quit.
Before he died in 1982, Korczak had blocked out the rough contours of the carving, 641 feet long and 563 feet high, depicting legendary Lakota leader Crazy Horse (Tasunke Witko) astride his horse and pointing to his ancestral lands.
Korczak also began a museum and started a scholarship fund for American Indian students. And he had inspired his wife, Ruth, and seven of their 10 children to carry on the Memorial’s mission with the nonprofit Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation.
The family of Korczak and their supporters dedicated the carving’s giant 90-foot face in 1998. They started the Memorial’s university courses in 1996, enlarged the museum into a 40,000-square-foot visitor complex in 2000, and they opened the Indian University of North America and its first student Living and Learning Center in 2010. The continually expanding Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation Scholarship Fund has awarded more than $1.5 million since Korczak’s first $250 grant in 1978.
All of the accomplishments are funded with visitor admissions and donations.
More mountain carving details are about to emerge. Ruth Ziolkowski, the Memorial’s president and chief executive officer, says work this season will begin detailing Crazy Horse’s wrist and hand resting atop the horse’s mane.
The sculpture is three-fourths of a mile from the visitor center. For $4, tourists can take an optional guided bus ride to the foot of the mountain.
During the first weekend each June, visitors can walk up to the arm during the 10K (6.2-mile roundtrip) Crazy Horse Volksmarch. This is the only time the public is allowed to hike to the mountain.
For additional details, visit www.crazyhorsememorial.org, call 605-673-4681, e-mail memorial@crazyhorse.org or write to Crazy Horse Memorial, 12151 Ave. of the Chiefs, Crazy Horse, SD 5770-8900.
