LAKOTA
Monument of Native American Hero “Crazy Horse” Slowly Taking Shape in South Dakota Have you heard about the Crazy Horse sculpture in South Dakota? It is a monument, that once completed, should be larger than Mount Rushmore and is being constructed without any governmental funding. The sculpture is located 17 miles from Mount Rushmore and it is a monument dedicated to the most iconic Native American hero. The constructions for it have been on-going for 70 years and the monument is finally starting to take shape. The story of Crazy Horse dated back to the mid-1800s, being a freedom fighter and a Lakota war leader. The sculpture was commissioned in 1939 by Lakota Chief Standing Bear, but it seemed to be an impossible work at the time as it was planned to be larger than Mount Rushmore and come to life without any money from the government. It seems the Polish-American sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski was the right man for the job, as he believed that as long as you work hard, you can do anything. The works on the monument began in 1948 and in 1982 Ziolkowski died, but his wife and 7 children took and committed to completing the statue. Although the project seems to be taking shape, it is still not known when it will be finished since there are still so many details to be added. Tickets are already being sold for visitors to see the statue’s completed face and the money will be used to finance the final stages of the construction.
