Crazy Horse - Paperback: The Lakota Warrior's Life & Legacy

I traveled to this SD area and this was a very rich book about the people and culture. It gave me new meaning to Indian culture and the plight of just who was Crazy Horse.

Great paperback version of very satisfying read.

Much has been written and put in film about the famous Lakota warrior Crazy Horse, who led the defeat of General Custer at Little Big Horn in 1876. In this unique telling, the descendants in the Crazy Horse family relate a series of stories that were passed as oral tradition for generations. Matson, whose father had abiding interest in Native Americans, passed this charge onto his son. It took Matson many years to gain the family's trust and compile their stories. They shared their history in order to preserve the stories in the most accurate form, and honor this hero who gave his life to maintain Lakota ways. Told in the words of many family members, the book has the ring of authenticity. They describe events as recalled and passed on, weaving these with Lakota beliefs and lifestyles. It is a touching yet harsh account, a simple recounting of how life was and how it changed. Their immense strength of endurance and persistence shines through, as the Lakota people faced lies and deceptions, brutality and misunderstanding, and ultimately confinement to reservations without sustainable lifestyles. One must admire the matter-of-fact ways they dealt with unbelievable adversity. Now the tribes are reclaiming their heritage and preserving what they can of their traditions. The Clown family and their Lakota people deserve our greatest respect and gratitude for bringing this remarkable account into print.

I loved that this was told from oral history and the detail was incredible. It was inspiring yet tragic and reading it i shed many tears and at times had to read in small chunks as it affected me so much emotionally. Reading this you will gain so much respect for the Lakota people and their allies. You understand the deep family and environmental connection they had and still have. We have so much to learn from them. Crazy Horse was a great man in every sense of the word without any of the faults that can come with greatness A very beautiful spiritual being who would be one of the figures from history I would most like to meet.

I have always been interested in history, and especially Indian history. I have been to the Crazy Horse monument 4 times, the first in1966.

I will not be able to say enough good things about this book. When you read this book it is not like reading a book it is more like you are listening to the family telling your their story. I felt as if I could really hear them. The more I read this book the more angry I got as there were a lot of bad things done by our country to Crazy Horse and his family. It was all hateful and very unnecessary. I am very happy that I read this book and hope everyone takes the time to read it. Today I go the chance to meet Floyd Clown and William Matson. They came to my town and gave a lecture, which was very informative and interesting. When the lecture was over I got the chance to talk to both of them and found out that Floyd Clown is also a grandson of War Eagle who was a big name where I am from. My only wish was that I could have had more time to visit with them. I would love to hear more stories about Floyd and Crazy Horse's family. One of the best books I have read this year.

While the history of Crazy Horse is great,the additional history and family information should be the true selling point. The history adjacent to the LBH is very informative. Reservation treatment would be eye opening to the ill informed. An early example the inner city projects. Both ill conceived and poorly executed, in many ways dehumanizing to the people who have been subjected to these programs. Congress is still screwing the pooch.Again a great and should read book

I am grateful to the Crazy Horse descendants for putting their oral history into print. As well as Crazy Horse's genealogy we get the Lakota version of significant events in the Plains Wars. There is also a fair amount of revealing information on the Lakota Politics around the creation of the agencies that led to the Reservations. The conflict Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull had with Red Cloud and Spotted Tail is well reported. So good a story I purchased a copy for a friend within days of completing the book.

Very interesting book. I highly recommend reading this.

The Lakota Sioux Warrior who protected his peoples in their time of need is breathtaking

Excellent detail throughout. Lots of little gems obviously only known to family. Having just visited "greasy grass" I thought it was a super read.

Excellent

This is a terrific read, so glad this story lives on.