Gerald Maclennon's Blog - Posts Tagged "bison"
Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas by Mari Sandoz
Young, inquisitive Mari Sandoz made it her business to keep council with elders of the Oglalas. She knew she had been born into the overlap of transitional times and it was her good fortune to earn the trust and friendship of the wise among the Lakota people. She also knew when these dear friends died, they would take with them their history, especially of the period Wasichu's (whites) call the 19th century after Christ. She gathered their oral stories and set them to pen and paper. They were especially proud to tell Sandoz of the warrior they called Enchanted Horse and whom Wasichu's erroneously called Crazy Horse. They knew Enchanted Horse was a special gift to their people from the grandfather spirit, Wakan Tonka.
For you, the reader, knowing such things guarantees the unparalleled authenticity of Sandoz' book, Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglala. She was raised from childhood in the Sandhills of northwest Nebraska. Her father's homestead lay close to Pine Ridge Reservation. In nearby towns, Indians were a common sight as they participated in holiday festivals and of course made purchases in stores selling fire water. Transitional times indeed, the glory of their old days was swiftly becoming a faded memory. Sandoz vowed it wouldn't be forgotten. It would be preserved in her writings as time marched on and the white man's world increased throughout the American West.
This non-conformist among the Oglala called Crazy Horse refused any headdress, any war paint, any amulets, beads or charms. He had long, flowing hair of a reddish cast... was a loving husband and doting father to his little girl. He believed Mother Earth belonged to all and that the most important visions lie in the outstretched arms of Father Sky. When Wasichu's threatened to take away his freedom and the mobility of his tribe, he resisted. As white men massacred the sacred buffalo into near extinction, Crazy Horse and his people weakened to the point of starvation. It was only then in brutal winter cold that he would admit defeat and surrender to the soldier chief at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The story of Crazy Horse (Enchanted Horse) is, in many ways, the story of all indigenous people on the North American continent.
I highly recommend this book.
Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas
For you, the reader, knowing such things guarantees the unparalleled authenticity of Sandoz' book, Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglala. She was raised from childhood in the Sandhills of northwest Nebraska. Her father's homestead lay close to Pine Ridge Reservation. In nearby towns, Indians were a common sight as they participated in holiday festivals and of course made purchases in stores selling fire water. Transitional times indeed, the glory of their old days was swiftly becoming a faded memory. Sandoz vowed it wouldn't be forgotten. It would be preserved in her writings as time marched on and the white man's world increased throughout the American West.
This non-conformist among the Oglala called Crazy Horse refused any headdress, any war paint, any amulets, beads or charms. He had long, flowing hair of a reddish cast... was a loving husband and doting father to his little girl. He believed Mother Earth belonged to all and that the most important visions lie in the outstretched arms of Father Sky. When Wasichu's threatened to take away his freedom and the mobility of his tribe, he resisted. As white men massacred the sacred buffalo into near extinction, Crazy Horse and his people weakened to the point of starvation. It was only then in brutal winter cold that he would admit defeat and surrender to the soldier chief at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The story of Crazy Horse (Enchanted Horse) is, in many ways, the story of all indigenous people on the North American continent.
I highly recommend this book.
Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas
