One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. Or so the saying goes, but often we don’t get to hear from both sides of the label.

Statues and symbols are powerful representations of historical events. Depending on which side of the story you are on, a statue can represent great feats or political oppression. 

One of the best motorcycle trips my husband and I took was to South Dakota. The Black Hills are beautiful. Known to the Lakota people as ‘the heart of all things’ the area had, and continues to have, strong spiritual importance to the Native Lakota people. Yet, carved into the middle of all this natural beauty is Mount Rushmore. Neither my husband nor myself had any interest in seeing great white faces etched into the face of a mountain. We bypassed and rode on instead to see the monument to Crazy Horse.

Before we left on our trip, I had read a book that was written as the oral history of Crazy Horse had been told through the generations; The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History, by Joseph M. Marshall III.

The book provides a wonderfully complete picture of not just who Crazy Horse was as a man, but also of his people and how they struggled to make sense of the problems white men were bringing to their way of life. How do you solve such a problem when you can’t see all the pieces? We know how the story ends so I will just get to the point here and tell you about the monument.

The tribute to Crazy Horse, like Mount Rushmore, is being carved into the side of a mountain. It is stunning. It is enormous. It is an incomplete work-in-progress, but still beautiful. The funding for the work rests solely on private donations and the profits from the Native owned businesses surrounding the worksite. Even though in recent years government money has been offered, the Lakota people have refused it. 

More than just a tribute to one man, the monument provides a balance to the history of The Black Hills. Long after historical events are passed, it’s often still a one sided story. There is so much more to learn from hearing both sides. 

Chief Standing Bear said it all, 

“My fellow chiefs and I would like the white man to know that the red man has great heroes also.”

Stay safe everyone.

Anne Milne is an every Sunday blogger.  Facebook or Twitter.