Crazy Horse Mountain

[Diane Merkel]

These excerpts will acknowledge the passing of a great lady and reference LBH survivors attending the first blast at the Crazy Horse Mountain.

''Grandma Nellie,'' as she was affectionately called by thousands of people, died Feb. 18 at the age of 81. Her passing will leave a void in the Oglala Lakota community.

Nellie Two Bulls lived a life that enriched others' lives, and most people who had the opportunity to meet her never forgot her. Grandma Nellie was one of the most notable storytellers and singers in the Lakota culture.

As a young girl she was given the gift of storytelling, hence her given Lakota name of Zintkala To Win, or Blue Bird Woman. She remained true to her vision and taught the culture, sharing her songs and, in doing so, attracted many children.

* * *

As a young couple, Matthew and Nellie brought a few survivors from the Battle of the Little Big Horn to the first blast of the mountain carving, now called Crazy Horse Mountain.

Ruth Ziolkowski, CEO of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, recalls that day on June 3, 1948.

Article: www.indiancountry.com/content.cfm?id=1096414568

[crzhrs]

That's just another reminder of how not that long ago the LBH took place and the many survivors, both red and white, that lived well into the 20th century and the people today that knew them.

Imagine . . . knowing and talking to someone that had that lived through those times!

[clw]

That's just another reminder of how not that long ago the LBH took place.

And how short a time it has been in terms of the Indian people learning how to exist in our world. I think one of the reasons we have so many Indians in our modern military is that the warrior ethic still exists.

I agree Diane, Nellie Two Bulls was a 'great lady'.

[starman]

I don't think the "warrior ethic" will ever die within Lakota breasts. It is inbred over thousands of years.

[plainsman]

Thousands of years. About the same length of time it will take them to finish that monument apparently.