The Journey of Crazy Horse: A Lakota History

Book Review by Lydia Whirlwind Soldier The Journey of Crazy Horse by Joseph M. Marshall III Published by the Penguin Group 2004 The Journey of Crazy Horse is written by Joseph Marshall III, a Sicangu Lakota. Joseph Marshall has been praised as an historian, educator and story teller. He grew up on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota with his extended family and his first language is Lakota. He has written six books, all of which I would recommend In the 127 years since the murder of Crazy Horse many stories and books have been written about him by Euro-Americans. It is important to recognize that the stories written about Crazy Horse by non-Indians have only touched the surface of the true life of this great Lakota leader. While the story told by Marshall has been passed down from one Lakota generation to the next, it has not been shared in detail to the out-side world. This story confirms in many ways the fact that Crazy Horse struggled valiantly against injustice and persistent forces that fragmented the Lakota Nation. Joseph Marshall's portrayal of Crazy Horse's life unfolds the tragic circumstances in which peace with the Lakota Nation was dictated rather than negotiated. Under enormous odds the Lakota under the leadership of Crazy Horse and other great Lakota leaders were able to withstand the onslaught of the United States for many decades. In the end, under the guise of treaties making, the powers that be shamelessly used divide and conquer tactics to establish apartheid types of control. They essentially used these controls to create a reservation system very much like a concentration camp to isolated, control and steal the territory belonging to the Lakota people. There are several ways to look at the injustice and understand the immorality of the war waged against the Lakota. Marshall describes and traces the tactics of deviation, trickery and atrocities used against the Lakota to help the reader understand and acknowledge the right of the Lakota to defend their homes, families and property. It is difficult to overstate the importance of this book. This may be the first time that oral tradition has been accepted by publishers as authoritative and worthy of being believed. Up to this time, oral tradition was sometimes described as legend or myth and not given the credibility that these stories deserve. While, in turn most of us who heard the stories of our history from our relatives read the historical accounts written by non-Indians with doubt and sometimes even disbelief and were skeptical of their interpretation. Marshall, growing up as a Lakota is able to capture the nuances of the Lakota lifestyle, philosophy and culture that only those living this lifestyle will understand and could articulate to the public so thoroughly. There is no question that Joseph Marshall captures the essence of this great Lakota leader, Crazy Horse. It is a story of a loving son, a family man, and brilliant and daring warrior and tactician, a man that we could easily and closely identify with as a tribal member. In any event, this tragic, yet amazing story about Crazy Horse and the Lakota Nation is described eloquently by Marshall. This is a story I would recommend to all. This story is about a true and great Lakota hero, Crazy Horse who represents the pride and honor of the Lakota people. It is a story about a man who bravely protected his people, gave his life and who has become an inspiration in the eyes of people throughout the world.

This book is a real gem. But some things must be kept in mind while reading it. 1) This is the story of the last "wild" Lakota leader told from the oral tradition of the Ogallala Lakota. 2) The author is an Ogallala himself with the utmost respect and admiration for Crazy Horse. 3) The story is told from the Lakota point of view with all the prejudices and bias that brings and thus is set against the prejudices and bias of the white sources on Crazy Horse. 4) Beyond Crazy Horse himself, This is the story of the end of the "wild" Lakota way of life, told with a sadness and a lingering sense of remorse by a full blood Lakota. . Mr. Marshall tells the story of the life of Crazy Horse from his birth to his death. We see how the Lakota Spirituality, Mores and Customs were critical in the development of the Man, Crazy Horse. We see Crazy Horse, not as a legendary hero, but as a man. The leader, Crazy Horse, is well presented. We see his anguish with losing a way of life. We see his successes. We see his failures. We follow his heart and spirit through his life. Mr. Marshall does an excellent job of bringing this all to life. The story is well told, as befits a story teller author from a story telling tradition. The writing is clear and strong. The detail is amazing, but the oral tradition it comes from is even more amazing. The book reads well, but requires some background in Native American Traditions and Lore to fully comprehend, or at least an open mind to listen to another culture's viewpoints and characteristics. This is the stuff of epics, with echos in Beowolf, Alexander the Great, Romulas, The Iliad, The Odyssey, and the other great epics. The difference is that the hero of this epic was on the losing side. We hear this epic from the Heart of Crazy Horse, its last leader. The story is sad and celebrates a way of life condemned by changes beyond his control. Mr. Marshall puts all this in perspective very well. Read this way, not as a white history of a warrior, but as the epic of losing a culture and a way of life, this book is truly outstanding.

The research that has gone into this book is outstanding. It got me in halfway down the first page and held me to the finish. Not much more can be said - its a great and informative read.

Mir gefällt diese Version der Darstellung des Lebens von Crazy Horse fast noch besser als die auch sehr einfühlsame Erzählung von Mari Sandoz oder auch das sehr gut und ausführlich recherchierte Buch von Kingsley M. Bray. Der Autor bemüht sich sehr, auch mögliche Hintergründe und Motivationen der Handlungen dieses bemerkenswerten Mannes darzustellen. Er sieht und beschreibt ihn nicht nur als Krieger, sondern als vielschichtigen "normalen" Menschen mit Stärken und Schwächen. Crazy Horse wird als ein Führer präsentiert, der in erster Linie durch sein Beispiel führt und nicht kraft guter Rhetorik oder anderer nach außen gerichteter Qualitäten. Er ist bescheiden und zurückhaltend. Er lebt sein Leben als Thunder Dreamer im Dienst seines Volkes. Recht gut kommt auch die Gespaltenheit innerhalb der Lakota zum Ausdruck, die letztendlich ganz maßgeblich zum Tod von Crazy Horse beiträgt. Erwähnen muss ich auch noch die Abschlussgeschichte über den Bogenmacher, die wirklich gut erzählt ist. Alles in Allem ein nie langweiliges, immer stimmungsvolles Buch, das einen in die Welt der Indianer eintauchen und am Leben des Crazy Horse teilnehmen lässt.

as expected

By far the best book I have read about the American Lakota Indian, wrote by an educated ancestral Indian related to Crazy Horse, from the start to the death of Crazy this does in instances make you think and feel you are living with them, all the hard ships from the white man coming to take every thing from them, in this book you do in many instances live and shed the hardships dished out by the weather and the white man trying to make the Indian change their ways in an instant, one faulty treaty after another, just lies all the time, but Crazy Horse fort on and his Lakota people along with him, but Red Cloud shopped him, just kept signing peace treaties with the government and the army just to suit his own ends, leading the army to track Crazy Horse and his people down for capture, very jealous of Crazy Horse and the love his people had for him, they loved him from a little boy, always feeling that he was different some how, in the end only to be let down by Red Cloud and many others just to ware the army blue coat with three stripes, who was a Lakota Indian himself. Regards Don, Nearly 80 yrs old but I still love reading to learn

Great reading