No one can differ the fact that we are in a first world crisis in our nation today. Government control, record high inflation, food shortages, and anxiousness/mental health issues compiling in heaps. Modern sociocultural issues clash in the forms of race and identity all the while being inflamed on a political platform. Old principles of life and spirit have been dissolved and forgotten with progressive influence and current technological stimuli. The spirit and adventurous path of the first inhabitants of the western hemisphere contradict the postulates brought from Euro-Americans long ago. However, their prolific values can be inferred today to better the brain and enlighten the soul of every young American.
This excerpt is not to progress a certain political agenda or to inflict condemnation on any race, gender, age, or personal interests. This is simply a teaching of our American past and how it can be applied and compared in our grotesque modern world.
The American frontier lay desolate up to the turn of the 19th century. The only inhabitants were the Native American Nations. Nations such as the Sioux, Lakota, Omaha, Crow, and Black Feet were stewards of the prairie and the western frontier. Buffalo supplied tribal nations for the winter rations necessary as well as shelter with the skins of the animal. A Native American tradition is the fundamental purpose of man and woman. For example, the Lakota had strong beliefs that it was the path of honor for young boys to become the hunters. This also enlisted the warriors of the community that protected the flocks of horses and shielded the women. Women were coveted because they gave life and nursed it. Women completed undaunted tasks of birthing, caring for the young, and simple everyday tasks. These customs may appear to be evangelical or orthodox for todays standards, however they have a much deeper meaning. Without the honorable path of the man, the nation would fall to starvation or succumb to the elements. Without women, life would not be rejuvenated, nor would the young be tended to properly. Every person in the community had an important part for it to remain a prosperous nation. There was no dark political agenda to further the power from the leaders of the Native nations, but the preservation of the way of life.
In the Mid 19th century, Fort Laramie was constructed to serve as asylum for frontiersmen, fur traders, and settlers traveling from the East to fulfill the motive of manifest destiny. The Louisiana purchase of 1803 expanded union control from the gulf, into much of the modern Midwest, and western states such as Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado. Land that was ultimately unexplored by Euro-Americans, essentially lay desolate and open for development. This land reached into South Dakota, where the origin of Crazy Horse began. Born particularly different due to the fact he had wavy light hair; he gained the name Light Hair amongst his Lakota people. He found the path of the warrior from a young age, gaining expert skills as an archer and a hunter. He followed the warrior code of generations before him. Paraphrasing through his life, he set out on a spiritual journey on the transition from boy to manhood. According to the book by Joseph M. Marshall III, young Light Hair obtained a vision of the thunder dreamers. A spiritual vision with important meaning. It is told just as this in the book. The dream began at a lake, a small still lake. Bursting upward from the blue calmness, a horse and its rider broke through the surface and rode out across the land. The rider was a man, a slender man who wore his hair loose. A stone was tied behind his left ear, a reddish-brown stone. Lightning mark was painted across one side of his face. On his bare chest were blue hailstones. Behind them to the west, as they galloped was a dark rolling cloud rising higher and higher. From it came the deep rumble of thunder. And flashes of lightning. The horse was strong and swift, and it changed colors, red, yellow, black, white and blue. Bullets and arrows filled the air flying at the horse and rider, but they all passed without touching them. Close above them flew a Red-Tailed hawk sending out its shrill cry. People, his own kind suddenly rose all around, and grabbed the rider pulling him down from behind. And the Dream ended. Light hair told this dream to his father, a medicine man in the community.
His dream was put to the test during a raid against the Snake tribe. Light hair was fastened with Red-Tail hawk feathers, the lightninging mark painted upon his face, blue hailstones on his chest, and a reddish-brown stone tied to his ear. He rode into a heated battle with his other tribal warriors. The bullets did not touch him, and he quickly changed the course of the battle. They ruled his dream to be true and was given the name of his father; Tasunake Witko or Crazy Horse. The second prophecy was not lived until years later. Crazy Horse worked to unite tribal nations against the oppressive white soldiers who looted, raped, raided, and often mutilated innocent communities of Lakota and other tribal nations. Crazy horse fought back the oppression, earning his glory in the history books of being a significant warrior and leader in well know battles such as the Fetterman Fight or One Hundred in the Hand, and little Big Horn. After the battle of Little Big Horn, many tribal members began to fall to the empty promises of land agencies and provision annuities from the Federal government. The fighting never ceased to end, and rival tribal nations refused to coincide and outnumber the whites to push back at the oppression and trespassing they faced for decades from the Euro-Americans. Other leaders of the Lakota and other tribes were coerced and indoctrinated by white influence. The Natives fell to a disadvantage of the language barrier, often becoming easily manipulated into treaties and agreements they did not thoroughly understand. With promises of their own power and influence, these leaders feared his honorable leadership and admiration among the people and that he would further issues of conflict against the growing population of whites. He was ultimately assassinated by other Lakota leaders who conspired against him. The prophecy of his dream became a reality. His own people arose, pulling him down.
This parable may be inferred like it has little to do with modernity of our world today. However, the story of a brave an honorable leader such as Crazy Horse can bring many lessons to us. Someone or something is always bringing us down as individuals. Sometimes that may even be our own family, profession, or friends. Expectations from family and friends often guide many of our lives to be someone we are truly not happy with. Thus, progress into a form of content and fear. We fear letting others down even though it blatantly contradicts our personal interests. Whether that be relationships, family, friends, or social status. Something or someone will always be pulling you down and it is up to you to decide how far it drags you and what direction it may be.
Sociocultural customs of today are completely eschewed from the Native way of life. Although modernity has ultimately changed the upbringing of present generations, there is still much to be learned from the fundamentals of the spirit. Men are currently not raised to be resilient or adventurous. The male species is in an epidemic of the highest suicide rate. Instead of teaching young boys the importance of the strength, resilience, valor, and fundamental skills, technology is flaking the adolescent with stimuli and a grotesque version of instant validation through the form of a screen. Technology is important in today’s circumstance; however, it is altered our natural social habits and outlooks on life.
Social formalities and stereotypes can expose that women are seen in a more sexualized manner rather than the coveted species they are. We see a higher percentage of women in the work force which is astronomically beneficial socially and economically. The orthodox Native traditions explains women are courageous, working undauntedly not to care for the man individually, but affix the community and nation wholly. Independence is important in a woman, but futile if she does not intensively care for those cherished around her. Presently, marriage rates have fallen, divorce statistics continue to skyrocket, and matrimonial issues continue to rise.
Push and pull. The sentence of two verbs describing a commonality with a universal application. Just as Crazy Horse, pulled down by his own people, the pull never ceases. Push leads the pull. Without a push forward in anything, there can be no pull. Sometimes that push undresses itself in a positive perspective, but many times it can be a negative. Humans will constantly be pushed to do things they may or may not want. Pushed to face terrors of life or triumphant parables that lay ahead. The push of negatively coexisting with two modernly afflicted genders faults in a sociocultural standpoint and continues to be one of the most difficult situations we may face. Complimenting the leading verbiage, pull follows expectedly. Life includes many pulls. It can entail being pulled away from happiness, pulled from family or a career. Life continues to pull as the clock undoubtedly ticks its merciless hand around the circle. As philosophical as it may be, pushing and pulling will never decease its existence or be fully comprehended. Becoming strengthened in oneself is as traditional as the Native American heritage. Find that strength then unsheathe the sword that battles the push and pull. Embrace the power and importance which conceived you. The harder we battle and conquer the adventure of life, the stronger we grow to face its gruesome endeavors.
Information acquired from:
- “The Journey of Crazy Horse.” By Joseph M. Marshall III
- National institute of Mental Health
- Britannica Science “Crazy Horse”
- Fort Phil Kearny “The Fetterman Fight”
- Title picture credit History.com
