Celebrating 20 years of reconciliation at Crazy Horse Memorial

The nation’s oldest state-sponsored Native Americans’ Day holiday ceremony will be held Monday, Oct. 12, at Crazy Horse Memorial.

The 20th annual event will be held regardless of weather. Snow spotted but did not stop the first program in 1990.

About 1,000 people watched as a dozen state and tribal officials circled spiritual leader Arvol Looking Horse, 19th generation keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe of the Dakota, Lakota and Nakota (Sioux) nation, as he prayed to the four directions and blessed the gathering.

A unanimous 1989 Legislature established Native Americans’ Day, officially replacing Columbus Day in South Dakota. Lawmakers said they did so for “the remembrance of the great Native American leaders who contributed so much to the history of our state.”

At the initial state holiday ceremony, the crowd applauded when Gov. George Mickelson said in Lakota, “Today I stand before you and shake your hand with a happy heart.”

Oglala Sioux Tribal Chairman Harold Salway reciprocated. “We must all live together. We must all survive together, so we must learn to live among each other and cherish each other.”

The “Year of Reconciliation” spirit endures at Crazy Horse. The private, nonprofit memorial honors all North American Indians everyday, but Native Americans’ Day is special, said memorial president and chief executive Ruth Ziolkowski.

“Gov. Mickelson at the first ceremony said while governments must work to resolve legal issues, ‘tolerance and understanding must come from the individual heart.’ On the holiday, busloads of school children come for the educational programs and get to meet our wonderful Native American artists and learn firsthand about their culture. Adults get to see and hear the amazing Native dancers and speakers. Then they all can get together at the free buffalo stew lunch for more conversation,” she said.
“This is what the memorial is all about: being a meeting place where learning — reconciliation if you will — happens on a person-to-person basis. The visitors can find out about the traditions and the historic heroes, like Crazy Horse, and see that the Native American culture is alive and vibrant and has contemporary leaders. That’s one reason why we think it is so important to recognize the annual Crazy Horse Educator of the Year.”

The seventh award winner will be named during a program that also features a Native American children’s dance troupe and drum and singing group from Rapid City Area Schools. Festivities get under way at 10 a.m.

A blast on the mountain carving is set for 11 a.m., weather permitting. Afterward, representatives of the Pink Shawl Project and South Dakota Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation will provide information about cancer awareness programs. Tests will be available at a mobile examination unit at the memorial.

Throughout the day, activities for students will include making miniature tipis, beading and simulated digs for historic artifacts.

Located on Crazy Horse Memorial Highway (U.S. 16/385 between Hill City and Custer), Crazy Horse is 17 miles southwest of Mount Rushmore. For more information about Crazy Horse and Native Americans’ Day, please call 673-4681.

Fast facts:

– There are 2.5 million Native Americans in the U.S.
– November is Native American Awareness Month or American Indian Heritage Month.
– South Dakota has the third highest proportion of Natives (behind Alaska and New Mexico), and the 8th largest Native population among states (Oklahoma leads with 179,524 tribal members.)
– South Dakota’s other holidays recognizing Native Americans are Little Big Horn Recognition Day on June 25, commemorating the 1876 battle, and Wounded Knee Day of Reflection on Dec. 29, commemorating the 1890 massacre.
– California Gov. Ronald Reagan signed a resolution in 1968 establishing the fourth Friday in September as American Indian Day, but the California Assembly didn’t approve the statewide California Native American Day holiday until 1998. Berkeley, Calif., substituted Indigenous Peoples Day for Columbus Day in 1992.
– Alabama observes Monday, Oct. 12, as Columbus Day, Fraternal Day and American Indian Heritage Day.
– Maryland observes American Indian Heritage Day on the fourth Friday in November.
– Nevada observes Native American Day as a working holiday on the fourth Friday in September.
– The 2004 Utah legislature established November as American Indian Heritage Month in the state and Indigenous People Day on the Monday before Thanksgiving.