Synopsis
A simple biography of the Oglala Sioux chief who fought for the rights of Native American people and who led the defeat of General Custer at the Little Big Horn in 1876.
Patricia Dole - Children's Literature
This excellent biography uses many primary sources, such as quotations from 1930 interviews with his contemporaries Short Buffalo and He Dog, to flesh out the character of the great Lakota Sioux warrior who led the forces which decimated the U.S. Calvary at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the culmination of Native American resistance against the white invaders. Crazy Horse and another chief, Red Cloud also masterminded victories in the wars over the Bozeman Trail, which the government, in violation of a treaty, cut through Indian lands to accommodate a gold rush. Born in the Black Hills of present day South Dakota around 1838, Crazy Horse was always a solitary, stalwart man, whose vision quest told him to be humble and devote his life to protecting and feeding his people. Despite their successes in battle, however, the Lakotas and their Cheyenne allies, suffering from starvation, were ultimately forced to surrender. In 1877 Crazy Horse was stabbed to death by U.S. soldiers. The unjust, often cruel treatment of Native American peoples is a strong secondary theme in the book. The text is straightforward and authoritative, and the color and black and white illustrations well reproduced and interesting. Crazy Horse never allowed his picture to be taken, but the vintage photographs show other chiefs, U.S. Army generals, bison hunters, and gold miners. He does appear in several paintings, however. A timeline, glossary, index, and reading and video list are included. The series is "Raintree Biographies." 2002, Raintree/Steck-Vaughan,
Editorials
Children's Literature
This excellent biography uses many primary sources, such as quotations from 1930 interviews with his contemporaries Short Buffalo and He Dog, to flesh out the character of the great Lakota Sioux warrior who led the forces which decimated the U.S. Calvary at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the culmination of Native American resistance against the white invaders. Crazy Horse and another chief, Red Cloud also masterminded victories in the wars over the Bozeman Trail, which the government, in violation of a treaty, cut through Indian lands to accommodate a gold rush. Born in the Black Hills of present day South Dakota around 1838, Crazy Horse was always a solitary, stalwart man, whose vision quest told him to be humble and devote his life to protecting and feeding his people. Despite their successes in battle, however, the Lakotas and their Cheyenne allies, suffering from starvation, were ultimately forced to surrender. In 1877 Crazy Horse was stabbed to death by U.S. soldiers. The unjust, often cruel treatment of Native American peoples is a strong secondary theme in the book. The text is straightforward and authoritative, and the color and black and white illustrations well reproduced and interesting. Crazy Horse never allowed his picture to be taken, but the vintage photographs show other chiefs, U.S. Army generals, bison hunters, and gold miners. He does appear in several paintings, however. A timeline, glossary, index, and reading and video list are included. The series is "Raintree Biographies." 2002, Raintree/Steck-Vaughan,— Patricia Dole