Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Lakota tribe. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people, including leading a war party to victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876. He ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members and is commemorated by the Crazy Horse Memorial, which is the world’s largest mountain sculpture being built at South Dakota, USA. It was started by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear on June 3, 1948.
Though Korczak died on October 20, 1982, at age 74—after nearly 36 years of working on the mountain—his children and grandchildren continue to carry on Korczak’s work with complete dedication, determination, and courage. The photo shows the model of the sculpture in the foreground with the continually changing mountain in the background. As you can see, the horse’s head—painted on the mountain—is waiting to be carved.
