Post by Greg C. on Sept 4, 2007 10:17:42 GMT -5
The available evidence suggests that Crazy Horse was born in the fall of 1840. According to He Dog, a close friend, he and Crazy Horse "were both born in the same year and at the same season of the year", which census records and other interviews place at about 1840. Chips, an Oglala medicine man and spiritual adviser to the Oglala war leader, reported that Crazy Horse was born in the fall "in the year in which the band to which he belonged, the Oglala, stole One Hundred Horses, and in the fall of the year", a reference to the annual Lakota calendar or winter count. Among the Oglala wintercounts, the stealing of one hundred horses is noted by Cloud Shield, and possibly by American Horse and Red Horse owner, equivalent to the year 1840-41. Oral history accounts from relatives on the Cheyenne River Reservation place his birth in the spring of 1840. Probably the most credible source, however, is Crazy Horse's own father. On the evening of his son's death, the elderly man told Lieutenant H. R. Lemly that his son "would soon have been thirty-seven, having been born on the South Cheyenne river in the fall of 1840."
Crazy Horse was born with the name 'In The Wilderness' or 'Among the Trees' (in Lakota the name is phonetically pronounced as Cha-O-Ha) meaning he was one with nature. His nickname was Curly. He had the same light curly hair of his mother.
Family
Crazy Horse's father, a Lakota who was also named Crazy Horse (born 1810), passed the name to his son, taking the new name of Worm for himself thereafter. The mother of the younger Crazy Horse was Rattling Blanket Woman (born 1814), a Lakota as well. Rattling Blanket Woman was the daughter of Black Buffalo and White Cow (also known as Iron Cane). Black Buffalo is the one who stopped Lewis and Clark on the Bad River. She was the younger sister of One Horn (born 1794) and Lone Horn (born between 1790 and 1795, and died in 1875). She also had an older sister named Good Looking Woman (born 1810) and a younger sister named Looks At It (born 1815), later given the name They Are Afraid of Her.
Looks At It had a much bigger build than her two older sisters. She got her second name because she had married a man named Stands Up For Him. They had a child and when the child died of a disease, he tried to take her south away from her family. A fight ensued. She defeated him and thus the name They Are Afraid Of Her was bestowed on her.Rattling Blanket Woman also had another older half-brother named Hump who was born in 1811. Hump's mother was Good Voice Woman and Black Buffalo's second wife.Hump and Waglula became best friends. When Waglula began to court Hump's half sister, he presented three horses to the family head Lone Horn (the older sibling One Horn had died earlier after being gored by a buffalo, making Lone Horn the oldest male and head man of the family. Their father, Black Buffalo, had died in about 1820 near Devil's Tower (Lakota called it Grey Horn Butte) of sickness. In return for the three horses he hoped he could take Rattling Blanket Woman as his wife as was the custom. But the family's women wanted eight horses, and so Hump volunteered to go on a raiding party with Waglula to obtain more horses; they brought back 16 horses, four loaded with meat they had captured from a Crow hunting party and presented it to the family.
In 1844 Waglula (Worm) went on a buffalo hunt. He came across a Lakota village under attack by Crow warriors. He led his small contingent in and rescued the village. Corn who was the head man of the village (the famed painter, George Catlin painted his picture while visiting the tribe in 1832 entitled "Corn, Miniconjou Warrior") had lost his wife in the raid. In gratitude he gave Waglula his two eldest daughters Iron Between Horns (age 18) and Kills Enemy (age 17) as wives. Corn's youngest daughter, Red Leggins, who was 15 at the time requested to go with her sisters and all would become Waglula's wives.When he got back to his village and his wife, Rattling Blanket Woman, found out about his new wives she became distraught. She and Waglula had been attempting to conceive another child, but had failed. The arrival of the new wives made her think she had lost favor with Waglula because she could not get pregnant. At the time they were camped along the White River. Without discussing it with Waglula she went out and hung herself from a cottonwood tree. Waglula mourned her death for four years and was celibate during that time. Upon hearing what had happened to her sister, Good Looking Woman, who also found she could not conceive, left her husband and came to Waglula to offer herself as a replacement wife for her sister. Waglula turned her down as a wife, but relented in allowing her to raise her sister's son, Crazy Horse. Later, Crazy Horse's other aunt They Are Afraid of Her helped in the raising of Crazy Horse. She helped teach him to hunt and take care of himself.
Visions
Crazy Horse lived in the Lakota camp with his younger brother, High Horse (son of Iron Between Horns and Waglula) and his cousin who he grew up with, Little Hawk (Little Hawk was actually the nephew of his maternal step grandfather, Corn), when it was attacked by Lt. Grattan and 28 other troopers during the Grattan massacre. After witnessing the death of Lakota leader Conquering Bear, Crazy Horse began to get trance visions. His father Waglula (Worm) took him to what today is Sylvan Lake where they both sat to hemblecha (vision quest). A red-tailed hawk led them to their respective spots in the hills as the trees are tall in the Black Hills and they could not always see where they were going. Crazy Horse sat in between two humps that were at the top of a hill just a bit north and to the east of the lake.Waglula sat just a little south of Harney Peak but north of his son.
Crazy Horse's vision first took him to the South where in Lakota spirituality you go when you die. He was brought back and was taken to the west in the direction of the wakiyans or thunder beings and was given a medicine bundle which contained medicines that would protect him for life. One of his animal protectors would be the white owl, which according to Lakota spirituality would give extended life. He was also shown his face paint, which consisted of a yellow lightning strike down the left side of his face and white powder he would wet and with three fingers put marks over his vulnerable areas that when they dried resembled hail stones. His face paint was similar to his father's except his father used a red lightning strike down the right side of his face and three red hailstones on his forehead. Crazy Horse wore a yellow lightning strike down the left side of his face but put no make up on his forehead and did not wear a war bonnet. He was also given a sacred song that is still sung today and told he would be a protector of his people.
Crazy Horse also received a black stone from a medicine man named Horn Chips to protect his horse, a black and white paint he had named 'Inyan' meaning rock or stone. He placed the stone behind the horse's ear so that the medicine he received from his visionquest and the medicine that Horn Chips had given him would combine to make his horse and himself to be as one in battle.
Crazy Horse was born with the name 'In The Wilderness' or 'Among the Trees' (in Lakota the name is phonetically pronounced as Cha-O-Ha) meaning he was one with nature. His nickname was Curly. He had the same light curly hair of his mother.
Family
Crazy Horse's father, a Lakota who was also named Crazy Horse (born 1810), passed the name to his son, taking the new name of Worm for himself thereafter. The mother of the younger Crazy Horse was Rattling Blanket Woman (born 1814), a Lakota as well. Rattling Blanket Woman was the daughter of Black Buffalo and White Cow (also known as Iron Cane). Black Buffalo is the one who stopped Lewis and Clark on the Bad River. She was the younger sister of One Horn (born 1794) and Lone Horn (born between 1790 and 1795, and died in 1875). She also had an older sister named Good Looking Woman (born 1810) and a younger sister named Looks At It (born 1815), later given the name They Are Afraid of Her.
Looks At It had a much bigger build than her two older sisters. She got her second name because she had married a man named Stands Up For Him. They had a child and when the child died of a disease, he tried to take her south away from her family. A fight ensued. She defeated him and thus the name They Are Afraid Of Her was bestowed on her.Rattling Blanket Woman also had another older half-brother named Hump who was born in 1811. Hump's mother was Good Voice Woman and Black Buffalo's second wife.Hump and Waglula became best friends. When Waglula began to court Hump's half sister, he presented three horses to the family head Lone Horn (the older sibling One Horn had died earlier after being gored by a buffalo, making Lone Horn the oldest male and head man of the family. Their father, Black Buffalo, had died in about 1820 near Devil's Tower (Lakota called it Grey Horn Butte) of sickness. In return for the three horses he hoped he could take Rattling Blanket Woman as his wife as was the custom. But the family's women wanted eight horses, and so Hump volunteered to go on a raiding party with Waglula to obtain more horses; they brought back 16 horses, four loaded with meat they had captured from a Crow hunting party and presented it to the family.
In 1844 Waglula (Worm) went on a buffalo hunt. He came across a Lakota village under attack by Crow warriors. He led his small contingent in and rescued the village. Corn who was the head man of the village (the famed painter, George Catlin painted his picture while visiting the tribe in 1832 entitled "Corn, Miniconjou Warrior") had lost his wife in the raid. In gratitude he gave Waglula his two eldest daughters Iron Between Horns (age 18) and Kills Enemy (age 17) as wives. Corn's youngest daughter, Red Leggins, who was 15 at the time requested to go with her sisters and all would become Waglula's wives.When he got back to his village and his wife, Rattling Blanket Woman, found out about his new wives she became distraught. She and Waglula had been attempting to conceive another child, but had failed. The arrival of the new wives made her think she had lost favor with Waglula because she could not get pregnant. At the time they were camped along the White River. Without discussing it with Waglula she went out and hung herself from a cottonwood tree. Waglula mourned her death for four years and was celibate during that time. Upon hearing what had happened to her sister, Good Looking Woman, who also found she could not conceive, left her husband and came to Waglula to offer herself as a replacement wife for her sister. Waglula turned her down as a wife, but relented in allowing her to raise her sister's son, Crazy Horse. Later, Crazy Horse's other aunt They Are Afraid of Her helped in the raising of Crazy Horse. She helped teach him to hunt and take care of himself.
Visions
Crazy Horse lived in the Lakota camp with his younger brother, High Horse (son of Iron Between Horns and Waglula) and his cousin who he grew up with, Little Hawk (Little Hawk was actually the nephew of his maternal step grandfather, Corn), when it was attacked by Lt. Grattan and 28 other troopers during the Grattan massacre. After witnessing the death of Lakota leader Conquering Bear, Crazy Horse began to get trance visions. His father Waglula (Worm) took him to what today is Sylvan Lake where they both sat to hemblecha (vision quest). A red-tailed hawk led them to their respective spots in the hills as the trees are tall in the Black Hills and they could not always see where they were going. Crazy Horse sat in between two humps that were at the top of a hill just a bit north and to the east of the lake.Waglula sat just a little south of Harney Peak but north of his son.
Crazy Horse's vision first took him to the South where in Lakota spirituality you go when you die. He was brought back and was taken to the west in the direction of the wakiyans or thunder beings and was given a medicine bundle which contained medicines that would protect him for life. One of his animal protectors would be the white owl, which according to Lakota spirituality would give extended life. He was also shown his face paint, which consisted of a yellow lightning strike down the left side of his face and white powder he would wet and with three fingers put marks over his vulnerable areas that when they dried resembled hail stones. His face paint was similar to his father's except his father used a red lightning strike down the right side of his face and three red hailstones on his forehead. Crazy Horse wore a yellow lightning strike down the left side of his face but put no make up on his forehead and did not wear a war bonnet. He was also given a sacred song that is still sung today and told he would be a protector of his people.
Crazy Horse also received a black stone from a medicine man named Horn Chips to protect his horse, a black and white paint he had named 'Inyan' meaning rock or stone. He placed the stone behind the horse's ear so that the medicine he received from his visionquest and the medicine that Horn Chips had given him would combine to make his horse and himself to be as one in battle.
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