Crazy Horse (Teshunke Witko)
Shirt Wearer Chief of the Oglala-Lakota
Courageous Warrior, Visionary, and Hero
Tireless in his passion to thwart American military efforts intent on the confinement of the Lakota to reservations, the name Teshunke Witko remains a symbol of national pride and resistance among the Sioux people. A superb military tactician in his own right, Crazy Horse played a major role in the defeat of General George Custer at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. “My lands,” he said, “are where my people lie buried,” and “One does not sell the earth upon which the people walk.” Crazy Horse chose to continue fighting after other chiefs such as Red Cloud and American Horse had chosen to seek peace with the United States. He was fatally bayoneted by a U.S. soldier while resisting his own confinement. There are no authenticated photographs of Crazy Horse.
16/1351 Courtesy, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian.
