If you think Mt. Rushmore is something, you haven't seen anything! This is our second visit to the Crazyhorse Monument which is located on hwy 385 between Hill City and Custer. The Mt. Rushmore sculpture would fit inside the head and feathers of Crazyhorse. It is a work in progress begun in 1948 by the Boston born sculptor Karczak Ziolkowski. It is 563' high by 641' long. The three-dimentional sculpture is of the Warrior Crazyhorse on horseback pointing, in answer to the question posed by a white man asking the derisive question "Where are your lands now?" - It says, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."
The project is soley funded by private parties. No federal or state money is accepted. The Indian Museum of North America is but one of the buildings on site, and a wonderful place to spend an afternoon, or donate your native american pieces to. Here are a few of my favorite pieces.
The beadwork is incredibly beautiful, as are the weavings, painting...
The artwork comes from the native peoples themselves and is but a beautiful shadow of the native american people themselves.
Upon entering the museum, there is an orientation video explaining the history and reasons for the monument. The mission of the memorial foundation is to protet and preserve the future, tradition and living heritage of the North American Indians. The entire project is a work of love. Finally something given back for everything that was taken.
Laughing Waters Restaurant has wonderful food at competitive rates and the staff are all very friendly and helpful. The gift shop is a large artisan's shop with beautiful pottery, quilts, baskets, beadwork, jewelry, and music, along with books, beautiful t-shirts and too many other things to mention. There is a snack shop. The Sculptor's Log Studio Home and Workshop, the American Indian Cultural Center made from blast fragments, statuary, a Bronze Showroom, conference center, viewing veranda. A lazar light show is presented at dark nightly Memorial Day through Naive Americans' Day (weather permitting) It's so worth going to see. We'll make another trip out here for this. Admission is $10 for adults or $27 for a carload; 6 and under are free. It's open yearround.
Although Korczak passed on in 1983, his wife Ruth and 7 of their 10 children are still devoting their lives to the project. It is a testiment in faith and dedication. This has real meaning. After seeing what has become of Deadwood since we were last here @13 years ago, Crazyhorse Monument has only gotten better, while greed seems to have destroyed Deadwood. We won't bother stopping there again. It isn't even a shadow of what it once was. In fact, it is unrecognizable, and not in a good way.
The Indian University of North America and Medical Training center are future plans for the memorial. This was the first year summer classes for credit were completed, so this plan is coming into being as you read this.
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