Crazy Horse
The European settlement of North America met its fiercest opponent, the Lakota also known as the Western Sioux, who inhabited most of the Great Plains. The Oglala tribe, a branch of the Sioux nation were key in the resistance against the white man. At the heart of their resistance stood crazy horse, a warrior that had no equal. Crazy Horse fought for the traditions of his people, until those same people wearied of war and in some cases, turned against him. Chief Crazy Horse led an extraordinary life and will always be remembered. Crazy Horse was born in the fall of 1841 to the Hunkpatila band of the Oglala tribe of the Sioux Nation. At the time of his birth, his band was camped near a stream called Rapid Creek in the
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He brought the horse back to his tribe and his father gave him a new name of "Horse Looking," (Hook 15) but this new name did not stick.
In 1854 Curly visited the Brules' camp with his tribe. There he was introduced to the Brule Chief Conquering Bear. While visiting, a young Brule warrior shot an old near death cow belonging to a man from a Mormon wagon train. The Mormon was furious and demanded the warrior be turned over. Conquering Bear refused and soon Second Leuteneant John Grattan, 29 soldiers, two Howitzer cannons, and an interpreter were sent to retrieve the young Indian. Conquering Bear still refused to turn him over. During all of this Curly is watching atop a cliff. The soldiers began firing into the Brule camp. Conquering Bear fell to the ground mortally wounded (McMurtry 48-62). This scene deeply affected Curly and made him decide that it was time to have his vision quest. Without performing any of the customary preparations Curly sets off to a sacred hill overlooking Platte River. By mid-afternoon on the third day curly still has not seen anything and returns thinking he has failed. Dizzy and fatigued from not sleeping or eating for three days he trips and stumbles, but as he falls he feels the spirits lifting him up. His eyes open and his vision is exceptionally sharp. He sees a warrior that tells him to disregard most Sioux traditions such as wearing a war bonnet, painting his horse, and tying the horses tail
Most of the time Crazy Horse always found a way to confuse enemies when they attacked. He came up with ideas or plans that created some of the things we use today. For example, He created a plan where the tribe would make dummies or decoys to confuse his opponent. When anyone caused a problem for the tribe, Crazy Horse stepped up as chief and always tried to handle the situation.
In the book Journey of Crazy Horse written by Joseph. M. Marshall III, we learn about a man who draws on a Native American oral tradition to carefully unfold the life of Crazy Horse as a storyteller would. The result is a vivid biography that acknowledges the author's boyhood hero. With more than 300 pages, you learn a lot about Crazy Horse in this book. You can learn about Crazy Horse, the man who "reluctantly answered the call to serve".
John Grady is not your average cowboy. All the Pretty Horses is not your typical coming-of-age story. This is an honest tale. Cormac McCarthy follows John Grady as he embarks on his journey of self-discovery across the border. Armed with a few pesos in his pocket, a strong horse and a friend at his side, John Grady thinks he’s ready to take on the Wild West of Mexico. At their final steps in America, a stranger, aged thirteen, joins our heroes. This unexpected variable named Blevins challenges John Grady, testing his character and pushing him to uncomfortable limits. The dynamic of their relationship reveals John Grady’s capacity to care for others as he shelters this kid from the hardships of reality and the
The Lakota and Northern Cheyenne Indians along with a few other defiant tribes, joined forces under the Lakota holy man, Sitting Bull, in an active resistance to U.S. expansion (Gregory, 2016). In 1876, federal troops were dispatched to force the noncompliant Indians onto their reservations and to pacify the Great Plains (Powers, 2010).
“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” Adversity implies difficulties, trouble and misfortune as it tests the potential of man and strengthens his spirit of self confidence. In the novel Indian Horse written by Richard Wagamese there are many circumstances where the main character Saul is forced to overcome the adversity in which once shattered his human spirit and made him feel worthless. The ideas of adversity such as being beaten at residential schools and the racism he faced while playing hockey, demonstrates Saul’s constant inner struggle and his desire to become a
In 1939 John Ford masterminded a classical western film by the name of Stagecoach. This film has the integrity of a fine work of art. Being that it could be considered a work of art, the impression left on a viewing audience could differ relying on the audience's demographics. However, it is conceivable to all audiences that Ford delivers a cast of characters that are built on stereotypes and perceptions conjured from 'B' westerns that preceded this film's time. Each character is introduced to the audience in a stereotypical genre, as the film progresses, these stereotypes are broken down and the characters become more humanized. This is apparent with a handful of characters being
European Americans have commonly failed to recognize the plurality of American Indian groups, as they have classified all Indians as being in the same group of “natural beings” that wear feathers and ride on horses. However, there are many different American Indian groups and communities, and some groups had further divisions, such as the Lakota. The Lakota were made of seven tribes, the Oglalas, Brulés, Minneconjous, Hunkpapas, Two Kettles, Sihasapas, and Sans Arcs (7). Out of these, the Oglalas and the Brulés got the most attention, as they spent the most time in the Black Hills out of the tribes; however, the other tribes were definitely affected by United States policy too as the Europeans set up forts all over their territory (13).
Black Elk was born in 1863 in Wyoming (“Black Elk”). He would later become the Oglala Lakota holy man (“Black Elk – 1863-1950”). Chief Crazy Horse led a group of Sioux Native Americans in government resistance. Being Black Elk’s second cousin, Black Elk was able to closely see the actions of the government towards the Native Americans. In May of 1877, Chief
John Grady Cole, the last in a long line of west Texas ranchers, is, at sixteen, poised on the sorrowful, painful edge of manhood. When he realizes the only life he has ever known is disappearing into the past and that cowboys are as doomed as the Comanche who came before them, he leaves on a dangerous and harrowing journey into the beautiful and utterly foreign world that is Mexico. In the guise of a classic Western, All the Pretty Horses is at its heart a lyrical and elegiac coming-of-age story about love, friendship, and loyalty that will leave John Grady, and the reader, changed forever. When his mother decides to sell the cattle ranch he has grown up working, John Grady Cole and his friend Lacey Rawlins
With the whites moving in on the Black Hills in search for gold, they wanted to buy it from the Lakota people. Crazy Horse moved and set up camp around the area and led raids on the miners. With these attacks, the whites decided to build more forts in the Lakota area, and force all of the Lakota people into agencies. Crazy Horse and the people who had followed him believed that they had to drive out the whites, and that the buffalo would return.
One way the Indians demonstrated their resistance to changing in the ways of the white man was at the Battle of Little
While they were leaving, the tribe attacked, and rescued Dances with Wolves. He knew the army would be after him, so, he knew he had to leave the tribe, for when the army found him, they would kill the tribe also.
Crazy Horse was brutally murdered and the Sioux surrendered (“Battle”). In 1890 the government learned that the Native Americans were doing the Ghost Dance (Cayton 265). The Ghost Dance was a ritual in which people join hands and twirled in a circle (Cayton 265). When the government saw the Ghost Dance, they thought the Native Americans were crazy and trying to rebel, so they tried to arrest Sitting Bull (Cayton 265). In this conflict that came to be known as the Battle of Wounded Knee, soldiers killed Sitting Bull, 120 men, and 230 women and children (Cayton 265). These battles pushed Native Americans onto reservations and took away their basic human rights.
The Red Pony by author John Steinbeck is a very notable book for young adults. The central and recurring theme of the four stories told within this short novel is life and death. The stories also deal with conflict between old and new. Unlike most novels for young adults this book is different because John Steinbeck does not try to soften or hide old age and death, but instead presents these themes as they are in reality. The stories tell how the main character, Jody Tiflin, becomes more responsible as he deals with the disappointments and sadness, as well as the successes of real life.
In 1985, a movie was made that displayed the attitudes and fears that Americans had of the former Soviet Union. Although the