The truth about Crazy Horse

As everyone knows, Crazy Horse was one of several very famous Lakota warriors and many books and movies have been made about him, most not historically correct.

Before Crazy Horse took his name, as a young man, he was known as "Curly" and "The Light Haired One". This was because he was half white and also an orphan, who was adopted by the tribe. His hair was blond and curly as a child. He befriended another orphan known as Ptehe Woptura (pronounced Wope-tu-ha) who became his best friend and later in life became the most famous Wicasa Wakan (holy man) of the Lakota and taught many other holy men, not limited to Pete Catches, Frank Fools Crow, John Lame Deer and many others.

Before the Lakota were forced onto the various reservations in South Dakota, their home was the Teton Mountain Range.

The Cannupa (pronounced Cha-nu-pa), the sacred pipe, is extremely powerful and considered a very sacred item, such as the bible, cross, rosary, ark of the covenant, and holy books of other religions. The Cannupa is used as the backbone off all ceremonies so only good things happen and only the truth is spoken and prayers are immediately heard by the Tunkasila (grandfathers)/spirits. Anyone who smokes the Cannupa and makes promises or vows must take those very seriously and complete whatever task is promised to God (Wakan Tanka) Great Spirit by the person who smokes the cannupa in a sacred manner.

It is not mentioned in history books, but George Armstrong Custer during a ceremony, did smoke the sacred cannupa with the Lakota. The Wicasa Wakan said during this ceremony that spirit told him to tell Custer to never attack the Lakota, which he promised not to do and all were considered friends at that time. We all know how this ended for Custer and his men when that promise was broken.

Another known fact is that Sitting Bull, prior to the Little Big Horn battle gave 100 pieces of his flesh as an offering and went on Hanblecayape (pronounced Han-ble-che-ya-pay),Vision Quest. During this vision quest he saw the soldiers falling upside down and was told the Lakota would be victorious but spirit also told Sitting Bull to tell the warriors to NOT mutilate or touch any of the bodies of the dead soldiers, or future bad things will happen to the Indians. Sitting Bull told this to his warriors but they did NOT listen and mutilated the soldiers dead bodies setting future events, which were bad for the Lakota, in motion.

Anyway, back to Crazy Horse. Later in life he would get on any horse and when he did, his horse would get wild with him on top. Eventually he was given the name Tasunka Witko (pronounced TA-Shoon-ka Wit-ko) which means His Horse is Crazy. His Horse is Crazy is the real interpretation of his Lakota name.

Tasunka Witko's best friend's name was Ptehe Woptura (pronounced Pte-hey Wope-tu-ha). When all the Lakota were being registered on the reservation with the government agent, one by one, they were given an English translation of their name by the agent. It was hard to translate Woptura, since in Lakota it meant the "particles in the water". For example, if one scooped up water with a buffalo horn, there were particles floating in the water. The government agent didn't know how to translate this, thus Ptehe Woptura was given the name Horn Chips.

Woptura was extremely powerful and holy and came with the 4 powers. In front of many Lakota as witnesses, there was a Lakota warrior with a hole blown in his chest. Woptura took out a buffalo tail and started singing a sacred healing song and in front of everyone, in broad daylight, as he made a circle around the wound over and over again while he was singing, the wound began to heal and shrink in size until it completely disappeared. The wounded man got up and walked away as if he was never wounded at all. This is how powerful Woptura was and this is just one of many stories. He was one of the most revered holy men among the Lakota.

Woptura went into ceremony with Tasunka Witko and afterwards presented him with a sacred stone. Crazy Horse wore this under his armpit and it was tied above his shoulder with a leather strap to secure it. While he wore this sacred stone, he was told that he can never be killed in battle and no bullets would hit him and his horse too, if he is riding. There is no historical evidence of Crazy Horse ever being killed or hit by any bullets from any soldier.

The day Crazy Horse was murdered, he was tricked into coming in to the government agency under false promises. That day he gave Woptura his sacred stone of protection and asked Woptura to take it into ceremony for him. When Crazy Horse peacefully walked into the building to meet with the government agent, he realized when he got inside, that he was in a jail. He was immediately grabbed by both arms by soldiers and as he jerked back to get away, he was struck in the kidney by a sword or a spear from a person running towards him from behind. He bled to death and died.It is also a fact that there is no picture of Crazy Horse. He never let anyone take his picture although there are some floating around in several books. These pictures are NOT Tasunka Witko, since none exist.

Woptura later buried him in a secret spot that nobody knows where expect for Woptura's decedents. Crazy Horse was known to attend many healing ceremonies and Yuwipi ceremonies over the years in spirit form and you could hear the sound of horse hooves approaching the ceremonial house as he arrived. This has happened as recently as the year 2004.

When the Crazy Horse monument was starting to be built, Crazy Horse came to ceremony and told the Wicasa Wakan that he did NOT want that built and for a long time it was struck by lightning every evening. Eventually a lightning rod was placed on top by the sculptor.

The information above is true and more importantly God knows it is true and Tasunka Witko knows it is true.

One other note: During a vision quest by Woptura's son years later, he ended up in a round dark room with no doors. He heard a voice across the room from where he was standing. The voice told him to approach and as he got closer he saw two hands coming out of the ground. One was holding a bible and the other hand a Hymnal. The voice said to him " Do not forget these, for they are forever sacred". From that day forward, every Sunday Horn Chips' son, who was a Wicasa Wakan, as well, would hitch up the buckboard and attend Church every Sunday and put a penny in the tray. Can you imagine that? A full blooded Lakota Holy man and healer attended Church every Sunday like clockwork. This was told to me by his grandson. God Bless all. Mitakuye Oyasin (All my relations)