Crazy Horse Memorialism

o memorialize is a human thing to do. It is an attempt to create a semblance of permanence and meaning that will outlast our brief existence. Yet, one has to wonder if it is actually proper to memorialize the dead by casting them forever in stone or bronze.

In 2010, the Express Times in Lehigh Valley published a photo of a statue of Christopher Columbus in the town’s Riverside Park. For some, this statue represents bravery; the intrepid spirit of the American people. For the informed individual however, the statue transforms into a monument to brutality and genocide. Columbus earns a good deal of undeserved credit for the discovery of America, leading many to praise him as some sort of hero. Yet people forget that Columbus’ "discovery"

For example, take Korczak Ziolkowski’s personal monument to Crazy Horse. Crazy Horse was the chief of the Lakota tribe in South Dakota who fought against encroachments by white settlers. His resistance and bravery in the face of insurmountable opposition has made him into a well-known and revered symbol of hope in the face of oppression. The problem here lies not in Ziolkowski 's motive for the memorial, but rather in the fact that he intends to honor Crazy Horse in the most ironically tone-deaf way possible. Ziolkowski has chosen to carve Crazy Horse’s likeness into the side of a mountain in the Black Hills, similar in the manner that white settlers carved the faces of old presidents into the face of Mount Rushmore. The monument, though, well meaning, misses the point by defacing an ancient formation that the Chief would have seen as sacred. Ziolkowski is right to honor Crazy Horse, but the way he intends to honors him, by carving up a sacred mountain formation, is an affront to Crazy Horse 's memory. It 's a well meaning gesture, but it 's so off-base, it comes off as a bad

Memorials are a risky business. But for an example of how to create a good memorial, look no further than Maya Lin’s Vietnam Wall. The Wall is tasteful and elegant in its design. It doesn’t disrupt or domineer its landscape, and it flows naturally with its environment. Moreover, the Wall doesn’t honor any one person or people, as it does the idea of sacrifice, of giving your life for the greater good. It honors those who die so young in service of their country. Instead of being a marvel meant to awe you into wonder, the Wall acts as a place of mourning, a funeral home, where those who lost sons, fathers, and husbands in the War can go and remember them. The Wall is for the living, not the