— Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse
Crazy Horse, a Lakota chief and medicine man also known as Tȟašúŋke Witkó, played a pivotal role in the indigenous resistance against encroaching colonialist settlers during the nineteenth century. His efforts were intended to preserve the traditional way of life of the Lakota people of the Midwest.
While perhaps best known for his participation in battles across the Great Plains, the visions associated with Crazy Horse are also noteworthy, especially for their relevance to the present.
Among Crazy Horse's visions is one directly concerned with unity. This is the prophecy we contemplate here. It is said that Crazy Horse shared this vision with his fellow Lakota leader Sitting Bull during a pipe ceremony, a sacred ritual connecting physical and spiritual worlds.
A Blessing for a Sick World
Introduced as a blessing for a sick world, Crazy Horse envisions a future of misfortune. While such a description could be applied to any period of history, it is especially characteristic of our present circumstances under the synergistic tensions of climate change, pandemic, and racial injustice.
In the context of a world in peril, plagued by disease, the need for blessings becomes ever more dire. With the prediction that the Red Nation shall rise again, Crazy Horse suggests that indigenous wisdom may offer an alternative to the distress that infects humanity. His contextualization further mentions a world longing for light.
These features characterize our present circumstances with exceptional precision. The ways of life inherited by us from whatever powers that be have not yielded the fruits promised to us. Our lives are largely dictated by stratification on various levels ranging from economic to ethnic, with each class and category set apart from the others. We live in the darkness of ignorance and yearn for illumination that will allow us to see clearly.
Here Crazy Horse details his vision in images central to his indigenous identity. These references emphasize the interconnected nature of existence, with Seven Generations hearkening both backwards and forwards to the lineage from which one has emerged and for which one leaves one's trace through present deeds. The Sacred Tree of Life depicts diverse branches springing from the same trunk, with roots firmly planted in the Earth. Each of these references lends further depth to his vision.
We find in this section of the prophecy an allusion to the healing power of well-intended intercultural exchange. The unimpeded transmission of wisdom between cultures offers exactly the psychological and spiritual medicine needed by the world, despite opposition by an especially vocal few. These inward remedies are necessary ingredients for paving the way toward resolving material illness in the world at large.
Concluding his vision, Crazy Horse points directly to what appears to function as the inner source of unity between all. Only by first returning to the nature that resides within us are we then capable of genuinely connecting with others in the world beyond ourselves. To do so, we are asked to recognize the common strand that runs through us all, despite our superficial differences.
Visionary Contemplations
Given the divided nature of contemporary race relations, politics, class hierarchies, and other sources of social tension, Crazy Horse's vision of the future may appear to be a mere "pipe dream" without tangible correlates on the ground. However, its hopeful understanding of unity and interconnection may not be so far out of reach. The solution to our situation of separation is simple, but by no means easy.
Crazy Horse was killed through a fatal stab wound to his back, but more than a hundred years later, his vision for the future has not died. Much remains to be done and undone in the world in order for us to approach anything near his vision of unity. Yet as we can discern from his words, such unity may be found right within plurality itself. To be continued.
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