Lawrence Downes 'Treatment Of Native Americans In Waiting For Crazy Horse'

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It is true that most monuments honor historical moments, however, the way that these memorials are placed can affect certain groups of people. For instance, in an article from The New York Times titled “Waiting for Crazy Horse,” Lawrence Downes rises the issues regarding location, not only with the Crazy Horse memorial, but also with Mount Rushmore. Downs first explains his position on the placement of Mount Rushmore: “I have to admit: Mount Rushmore bothers me. It was bad enough that white men drove the Sioux from the hills they still hold sacred; did they have to crave faces all over them too?” Most people can agree that the treatment of Native Americans in this country is certainly not the best, but Downes does make a good point that not only is it disrespectful that a group of people were forced off land that held important to them, but that the faces that represent the people who caused them an immense amount of suffering are “graffitied” on their land. While most might think since there is a monument honoring the Sioux leader Crazy Horse on what was once Siouxland that the Native American people would be happy, however that is not the case.