Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation

Here's your chance to be part of something Monumental! Crazy Horse Memorial® and The Indian University of North America® are currently hiring! Head over to our website to learn more! https://lnkd.in/g6aQgjkk

Crazy Horse Memorial® to host Tourism Forum with South Dakota Native Tourism Alliance Crazy Horse Memorial® is partnering with South Dakota Native Tourism Alliance (SDNTA), to host a tourism forum at the Memorial on November 13, 2024. The summit, titled Tourism Beyond Borders, will focus attendees on contemplating how all tourism organizations and professionals within South Dakota can be stronger partners with one another. The day of events will feature networking opportunities, roundtable discussions, and presentations from regional tourism professionals, SDNTA representatives, and Crazy Horse Memorial staff. A working lunch will be provided to attendees and the event is planned from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. Attendance to the summit is free and public are encouraged to attend, but an RSVP is required. Potential attendees can RSVP by calling Crazy Horse Memorial at 605-673-4681 or emailing tourism@crazyhorse.org. The summit will take place after a quarterly SDNTA Board meeting, part of which is also open to the public and will be hosted at the Memorial on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. More information about the quarterly Board meeting can be found at https://lnkd.in/gYZrtDWD. 

Crazy Horse Memorial® is #hiring!

The Indian University of North America® (IUNA) team spent last week in Palm Springs, CA at the 2024 National Indian Education Association Conference, making connections, recruiting prospective applicants, and sharing space with educators and scholars from across the country. Pictured are IUNA Director Angel Lee, IUNA Outreach Coordinator Julissa Fillmore, and IUNA Manager of Resident Life Madison Mendoza, with staff from our partner Native American Jump Start Program. Missing from the photo but also in attendance was IUNA Associate Director Ceclie Sailer, and Crazy Horse Memorial® Human Resources Director Megan Sams.

Crazy Horse Memorial® will host its annual Native Americans’ Day celebrations on Monday, October 14th, 2024. The all-day event features a Native Americans’ Day Program, guest speakers, hands-on activities, and performances by nationally acclaimed performance group, Native Pride Productions. The Native Americans’ Day Program begins at 10:00 am and will feature speaker NBA Award Winner Shawn Martinez, who has made an impact in his NBA career for 22 seasons through various Native American initiatives. Beyond basketball, Martinez regularly mentors Native youth and shares his Indigenous roots and career journey at various events across the country. In 2022, Shawn performed at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian to celebrate Native veterans and the official dedication of the National Native American Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. As one of Nike N7's Official DJs, he has performed coast to coast at some of sports and entertainment's biggest events. As always, free Tatanka stew will be available for lunch to all visitors while supplies last, courtesy of Laughing Water Restaurant® and Custer State Park. Hands on activities for all ages will be presented throughout the day. These activities will be guided by regional Native American artists and CHMF staff and volunteers. Native Pride Productions will take to the Veranda Stage in the afternoon for two 45-minute performances at 12:30 and 2:30. Native Pride Productions works with champion dancers from throughout the United States and will feature the most famous dance styles. All crafts, programs, and performances are included at no additional cost when you visit the Memorial. The first Native Americans’ Day observance in South Dakota was held at Crazy Horse Memorial® and more than 1,200 people attended the event on October 8, 1990. “We can’t turn back the clock,” Gov. Mickelson said, “we can only turn to the future together. What we can do as leaders, both Native American and white, is teach others that we can change attitudes.” South Dakota was the first state to officially celebrate Native Americans’ Day on the second Monday of October annually since 1990. The South Dakota Legislature established the Native Americans’ Day holiday at the urging of Gov. George S. Mickelson, then governor of South Dakota. The transformed holiday was a direct result of correspondence between the editor of Indian Country Today, Tim Giago, and Governor Mickelson. Giago, an Oglala Lakota hailing from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, had written a column in the Lakota Times expressing the need for change. In addition to the newly created holiday, Mickelson further declared 1990 as a “Year of Reconciliation” in observance of the 100th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre. (Photo: Shawn Martinez (Diné), keynote speaker)

Hope to see you Monday for our Native Americans' Day Celebration!

The Indian University of North America® of Crazy Horse Memorial® is #hiring

Our Chief Development Officer, Mary Murtala, recently sat down with KOTA News to discuss the upcoming inaugural Honoring the Tatanka (Buffalo) Day, September 28th, at Crazy Horse Memorial®. https://lnkd.in/gupRR4JY

Today marks the conclusion of the Native Sun News series, shedding light on the history of Chief Henry Standing Bear, the Original Dreamer, and his vision for Crazy Horse Memorial®. Today is "Day of Remembrance: Visionary Leadership" at the Memorial, which commemorates both the 1877 passing of Crazy Horse and the 1908 birth of sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski. Dedication of Crazy Horse Memorial ~ June 3, 1948 Clouds loomed, but they could not dampen the spirits of the day's five-hundred attendees. They wondered at Korczak's two-foot marble scale model of what would eventually become the world’s largest mountain carving in progress. The model was set upon wood scaffold in the foreground, while the large granite mountain stood waiting to be carved in the background.  Sensing the crowds wonderment, Korczak shared with reporters, “A lot of people think I’m trying to fly to the moon by even dreaming of the project.”  In the planning that led up to the dedication, Korczak had voiced his thoughts about possibly locating the memorial elsewhere, fearing that the close proximity to Rushmore would not be looked on favorably; however, Standing Bear and his fellow Lakota leaders insisted that the Black Hills was the only place for such a memorial. Ultimately, the Lakota prevailed in their insistence and Standing Bear and Korczak worked together to bring the project to fruition. On June 3rd, 1948, after years of correspondence between the two friends and delays in starting the project due to sickness, war, and planning, dedication day for Crazy Horse Memorial arrived. The two men stood in front of a curious crowd and shared their dream. That day was one of dedication, not just of the Memorial, but of the mission to honor the heritage and cultures of American Indians. To show their support for the project, five survivors of the 1876 Battle of Little Big Horn (the Battle of Greasy Grass) attended the dedication. James Comes Again, Joseph High Eagle, Iron Hawk, Henry Little Soldier, and Pemmican all looked on in anticipation of the beginning of a memorial to Crazy Horse. In total, about forty Lakota tribal members showed their support by attending the dedication. Also in attendance was South Dakota Governor, George Mickelson, who told the crowd, “The memorial will serve to remind us of the debt we owe to these first Americans.” Mickelson’s son, then seven, was so impacted by the event that he would grow to also become a South Dakota Governor. In keeping with his father's philosophy, he would become known for leading a reconciliation within the state, going as far as renaming what had been long recognized as “Columbus Day” to “Native Americans’ Day.” Though rain eventually chased away most of the crowd, the historic nature of the event was evident. Looking back, Korczak referred to dedication day as “an American chronicle.” As the first blast rang out, the real work on carving the mountain had begun. Photo: Ziolkowski and Standing Bear at the 1948 dedication.

This is the third installment to commemorate this Friday's "Day of Remembrance: Visionary Leadership" at Crazy Horse Memorial®. In a statement, which is addressed to W.O. Roberts, Superintendent of the Pine Ridge Agency and dated June 28th, 1943, Henry Standing Bear explains how he, relatives of Crazy Horse, and fellow tribal leaders decided on both the subject and location of the planned memorial: “This memorial is to be an image of the head and face of the great chief carved on a rock. The location of the memorial should more properly be in the Black Hills of South Dakota...certain relatives of Crazy Horse and also the head chiefs of the tribes forming a group are back of me in promoting this project.” Ultimately, it was his dedication and devotion to serving his people and to preserving their valued culture that led Lakota leaders and family members of Crazy Horse to choose him as the subject of a memorial. Crazy Horse was a formidable warrior and brilliant military strategist – often using decoy in order to defeat superior numbered forces. However, not only was he chosen because of his skill in battle, but also because of his strong character, humble ways, and enduring loyalty. Accordingly, Crazy Horse is remembered for how he cared for the elderly, the ill, the widowed, and the children. Paha Sapa, the Black Hills, has long been and continues to be sacred to the Lakota people. A place of family, ceremony, and narrative tradition, the Black Hills was the only place for such a memorial, as Standing Bear explains in a March 9th, 1942, letter to Korczak Ziolkowski, “there could not be any other place so appropriate as it is in the Black Hills.” While the two men discussed different locations, Standing Bear was adamant about locating a memorial to Crazy Horse in the Black Hills. His passion was not lost on Korczak whom Standing Bear trusted a great deal as he admits to the sculptor in that very same letter, “I know you understand me so well.” After Standing Bear and his fellow leaders chose Crazy Horse as the subject, the Black Hills as the location, and Korczak as the sculptor, Korczak began to talk with Standing Bear and others who knew many stories of Crazy Horse and his deeds. At the same time, Korczak continued to work on multiple models of the planned carving – models which he never intended to represent a lineal likeness of Crazy Horse, whom he knew had never sat for a photograph. Instead, Ziolkowski often explained, “Crazy Horse is being carved not so much as a lineal likeness but more as a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse — to his people.” Not long after Lakota leaders decided on the subject and general location of the project and after Korczak created a scale model and shared this with Standing Bear, the two friends began detailed planning of the memorial . . . Photo: Thunder Mountain before the first blast to begin carving, with the 300th scale model in the foreground.