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The Spirit of Crazy Horse . J. Locker. 1990.
Adventure/Drama. VHS. 60 minutes.
"The heart of everything that is." These are the words which the Sioux Indians use to describe their ancestral homeland, the Black Hills of South Dakota. Those million acres form the spiritual core of the Sioux culture, and it's a land they have struggled to reclaim for a century. The Spirit of Crazy Horse is an eye-opening vision of their quest, which has shaped the lives and destiny of the Sioux for six generations.
It is a tale recounted by Milo Yellow Hair, a fullblood Oglala Sioux, whose great-grandfather fought General Custer at the Little Big Horn. While the story echoes with famous names like Wounded Knee -- the last major Indian slaughter a century ago -- this is more than a tale of long-lost wars. The Spirit of Crazy Horse reveals the modern Sioux struggle to regain their heritage, and how places like Wounded Knee became sites for a fight that still continues.
The program carries us through the militant confrontations of the 1960s and '70s, the explosive results of 100 years of confinement on Indian reservations. The Spirit of Crazy Horse takes us past the clichés about the problems that plague life on the reservation, and puts the issues in a meaningful context of Indian culture.
By investigating the simmering conflict of recent decades, The Spirit of Crazy Horse also offers a clear perspective on the crucial choices that lie ahead. While the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Black Hills were stolen from the Sioux, the fight for the return of the land rages on. In the shadow of Mount Rushmore , the Sioux vision of their sacred homeland still thrives, and The Spirit of Crazy Horse is a moving portrait of those hopes and aspirations. In the face of hard choices, the descendents of the famous warrior Crazy Horse carry his spirit on. (source: tape case copy)
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