CRAZY HORSE

BIRTH/DEATH

• Born in 1849
• Died on September 5, 1877 at Fort Robinson, Nebraska
• His cause of death was a bayonet wound
• Birth name was Cha-O-Ha meaning "In the Wilderness" or "Among the Trees"

CRAZY HORSE HAD MANY SPOUSES

• Black Shawl (mother of his only child)
• First marriage was to a Cheyenne woman
• Etc.

CLOSE FAMILY

• Father: Crazy Horse or Waglula meaning "Worm"
• Mother: Rattling Blanket Woman
• Brother: Little Hawk
• Sister: Laughing One
• Daughter: They Are Afraid Of Her

HIS MOTHER

• Died when Crazy Horse was only 4 years old
• Gave him two nicknames: Curly and Light Hair
• Was a Miniconjou Lakota Sioux

HIS FATHER

• After Crazy Horse matured and showed his strength his father gave him his name and took on the name Waglula
• Was an Oglala Lakota Sioux
• Had many wives three of them being Corn’s, who was head man of a Miniconjou Lakota village, daughters: Iron Between Horns (age 18), Kills Enemy (age 17) and Red Leggins (age 15)

GRATTAN MASSACRE

• Lieutenant John Lawrence Grattan and 29 other U.S. troopers, who intended to arrest a Miniconjou man for stealing a cow, entered the camp. The cow had wandered into the camp, and after a short time someone butchered it and passed the meat out among the people. When the soldiers fatally shot Chief Conquering Bear, the Lakota returned fire, killing all 30 soldiers and a civilian in what was later called the Grattan Massacre.

CONQUERING BEAR’S DEATH

• After his death Crazy Horse began having visions so he went on a vision quest and saw a warrior riding a horse with arrows being shot at them, but neither one was hit.
• Waglula interpreted the vision and said that Crazy Horse was the warrior in his vision.

FATHER AND SON GO ON A VISION QUEST

• He was shown his "face paint" for battle (a yellow lightning bolt down the left side of his face). His face paint was similar to that of his father, who used a red lightning strike down the right side of his face. Crazy Horse put no make-up on his forehead and did not wear a war bonnet.
• He was also told that he would be the protector of his people.

ONE WITH IS HORSE

• Woptura, a medicine man, gave him a black stone to protect his horse. He also received a sacred stone that protected him from bullets, and he was never wounded by a bullet. Crazy Horse and his horse would be one in battle.

PERSONALITY

• “...he was a queer man and would go about the village without noticing people or saying anything. In his own teepee he would joke, and when he was on the warpath with a small party, he would joke to make his warriors feel good. But around the village he hardly ever noticed anybody, except little children. All the Lakotas like to dance and sing; but he never joined a dance, and they say nobody ever heard him sing. But everybody liked him, and they would do anything he wanted or go anywhere he said.”

EARLY WARRIOR LIFE

• He stole horses from the Crow before he was 13 years old. He also led a war party before turning 20 years old.
• Was said to be extremely ferocious in battle.

CRAZY HORSE MONUMENT

• The Crazy Horse Memorial is located in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Building began in 1948, the gigantic sculpture is an ongoing project, carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, and is about 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. It is set to be part of a museum honoring Native Americans.

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DEATH OF CRAZY HORSE

• After the death of Custer the U.S. Army attacked the Lakota with everything they had. Taking out village after village. While Sitting Bull led his followers into Canada to escape the wrath of the Army, Crazy Horse continued to fight. With food supplies shortening, his followers abandoned him and on May 6, 1877, he rode to Fort Robinson in Nebraska and surrendered. He was later involved in a small fight with some soldiers and was stabbed in the kidneys by a bayonet.

FUN FACTS

• Crazy Horse refused to be photographed.
• Crazy Horse teamed up with Sitting Bull to kill Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer and his cavalry in the Battle of the Little Bighorn.