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Crazy Horse
Memorial
The memorial consists of the
mountain carving, the Indian Museum of North America, and the Native
American Cultural center. The monument is being carved out of
Thunderhead Mountain on land considered sacred by some Native
Americans, between Custer and Hill City, roughly 8 miles (13 km)
away from Mount Rushmore. The sculpture's final dimensions will be
641 feet wide and 563 feet (172 m) high. By comparison, the heads of
Mt. Rushmore are 60 feet high; the head of Crazy Horse will be 87
feet high.
It was begun in 1948 by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who had worked
on Mt. Rushmore under Gutzon Borglum. In 1939, Mr. Ziolkowski
received a letter from Chief Henry Standing Bear, which stated in
part "My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know that
the red man has great heroes, too." The sculpture portrays the
warrior Crazy Horse, who led the Lakota at the Battle of the Little
Bighorn in 1876.
As a non-profit undertaking, the memorial receives no federal or
state funding. Ziolkowski was offered $10 million from the
federal government on two occasions, but he turned the offers down.
Mr. Ziolkowski felt the project was more than just a mountain
carving, and he feared that his plans for the broader educational
and cultural goals for the memorial would be left behind with
federal involvement.
The Foundation sponsors Native-American cultural events and
educational programs. Annually in June, the Memorial hosts a
Volksmarch, which is the only time that the public is permitted onto
the mountain. Attendance has grown to as many as 15,000.
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