Dear Friends, It is my pleasure to be able to welcome you to our website. We hope it is helpful in answering any questions you may have and that it encourages you to
visit us in person in the near future. Crazy Horse is truly a work in progress and we have a number of exciting initiatives underway. All aspects of the project continue
to grow due to the wonderful support received from friends throughout the country. We invite you to come and see first hand the progress being made on the mountain carving,
April 25, 2012
31 university students registered for summer No. 3
Students from as far as Maryland and Virginia are pre-registered for the third annual summer classes at the Indian University of North America at Crazy Horse Memorial.
The other enrollees live in Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. Twenty-five of the students are Native Americans and all 31 have high school diplomas, Memorial President-CEO Ruth Ziolkowski said.
Successful students earn college credits in English, math and American Indian studies. They also work in paid internships as visitor tour guides and ticket booth greeters at the Memorial during the eight-week program, June 9 to August 8.
An endowment established by Muffy and Paul Christen of Huron, S.D., funds the Crazy Horse university program. The University of South Dakota assists the Memorial in operating the accredited classes, hiring faculty and supervising the university’s Living and Learning Center.
Museum spotlights Fast Horse beading display
The original wing of the Indian Museum of North America at Crazy Horse Memorial now showcases a horse model adorned in intricately beaded items created by internationally known Oglala artist Douglas Fast Horse of Rapid City, S.D.
Fast Horse, 68, designs and develops his historic-based craft work in a converted bedroom studio. A student of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, he says his goal for each artistic piece is to replicate historic Lakota regalia as a way to honor his heritage and help tell the story of the Lakota oyate (people) and their ongoing traditions.
His nationally award-winning decorated bags, cradleboards, pipes and shirts have been featured in such magazines as American Indian Art, Smithsonian, South West Art and The New Yorker. His creations are in private collections throughout the West to Monaco and France, and shown in museums from Arizona to Chicago.
March 23, 2012
Season’s change brings visitation boost
The early thaw and spring semester break are seeing international media, regional group meetings, school field trips and tour bus groups returning to Crazy Horse Memorial. Visitation just for the first half of March was up 69 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
Recent visitors included Clyde Bellecourt, executive director of the American Indian Movement Interpretive Center in Minneapolis. The co-founder of the AIM civil rights group has visited with Ruth Ziolkowski many times and his family in 2003 presented Crazy Horse Memorial with an official AIM flag, which is displayed in the original wing of the museum.
A delegation of South Dakota-based horseback honor flag carriers called the Lakota Riders met with Memorial officials to discuss holding a ceremony for military veterans at Crazy Horse in July.
Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning comic actor Kelsey Grammer (“Cheers,” “Frasier,” “Boss”) and his wife, Kayte, made their first Crazy Horse visit. Meanwhile, retired pro basketball star Bill Russell returned for what is becoming at least a yearly stop on his travels.
