Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse (born about 1838 – died September 5, 1877) was an Oglala Sioux Native American chief. There is a huge sculpture being carved of him in South Dakota, United States. 

When Crazy Horse was first born he was given the name 'Curly'. When he was young, he had a vision when he was not supposed to and his family did not know where he was. His father found him and was very unhappy at what young Curly had done.
As Crazy Horse grew into a man, he was given his father's name Crazy Horse. His father then changed his own name to Worm. 

Crazy Horse had good medicine, so he was never killed when he went into battle. He led his people to the Little Bighorn river in northern Montana to join forces with other Sioux bands like the Hunkpapa and Miniconjou, and with other tribes like the Cheyennes and Arapahos. There they fought General George Armstrong Custer, killing and defeating him and his many horsemen.

Eventually Crazy Horse made a tough decision to lead his people, the Oglalas, to a reservation because they were starving. Game was scarce and the bison (buffalo) were nearly gone. He had no choice but to leave the Black Hills. When he arrived at Fort Robinson, he was forced to give up his weapons and horses. This made him very unhappy. One day, even though he was granted time to go on a hunt, he was lied to and, trying to get away, he was stabbed in his liver and died later that night, thus ending the Great Sioux War.

"Once I moved about like the wind. Now I surrender to you and that is all"
Quote by Geronimo, Chief of the Apaches  .

The Sioux Royal Family, the House of Thasunke Witko, are descendants of Crazy Horse. A queen, Queen Wakiyan, was elected Queen of the Kingdom of Lakota (in Sioux, "Oglala Oyanke") and of the Oglala Sioux, and tried to improve the economy at the Pine Ridge Reservation with creativity and imagination, and to bring the Sioux forward into modern times;however, a conspiracy of jealous chieftains who were both male chauvinists opposed to having a female leader and also a corrupt group of men jealous of their own power and who prefer to preside over the poverty of the Sioux People, ruthlessly trumped up false allegations in order to depose this good queen.

According to Frederick Hoxie's 'Encyclopedia of North American Indians' Crazy Horse was the third in his male line of descent to bear the name of Crazy Horse, which in Oglala is Tasunke Witko. Tasunke Witko III was the son of Rattling Blanket Woman and Tasunke Witko II. He married three times: 1st to Black Buffalo Woman, 2nd to Black Shawl, and 3rd to Nellie Larrabee (Laravie). Only his second wife, Black Shawl, bore him any children: a daughter named They Are Afraid of Her, who died aged three.

Category:Native American people
Category:1838 births
Category:1877 deaths
Category:People from South Dakota
Category:19th-century Native American people