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Title: The Journey of Crazy Horse
ISBN: 1565118685
Author:
Joseph M. Marshall III
Publicate Date: 2004-10-07
Publish: 2004-10-07
List Price: $34.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Audio Cassette
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $29.95
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $10.78
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Am I missing something here?
I agree with the other reviewers comments on this book. How accurate are passed down stories from ancestors many generations back. While reading the book I had no idea which "facts" were from historical accounts or which came from passed down stories. Also, "the white man" as portrayed by the author is evil, selfish, greedy, and full of lies while the Indians were brave, valiant, honest, and trustworthy. yeahhhh right. I have read enough factual historical accounts that show Indians as being every bit as corrupt as the white man. The only difference is the whites were greater in number and were intellectually superior when it came to developing weapons. The author is clearly biased. I don't recall him ever putting down the Indians for their savage scalping or pointless raids on other tribes, but as soon as the whites leave behind some trash on the trail it is noted. Not impressed at all.
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2: Crazy Horse
The Journey of Crazy Horse is a good story of a man, leader and family man put through his lives struggles. The audio version of this story really brings its contents to life and being read by the author makes a big difference in quality of the words used. It is sure worth the time to enjoy and learn about an interesting Lakota culture through this story.
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3: A valuable perspective on Crazy Horse from a born story-teller
This book is best described as fictionalized biography of Crazy Horse that draws from many oral histories in the Lakota tradition. The use of oral histories make this biography both distinctive and essential, providing a different interpretation of events, people, and societies than you will find in Euro-American histories.
Most important, Marshall is a natural story teller. His prose is simple and forceful, relying on action to develop character. He admires Crazy Horse very much, and that perspective also comes through.
Marshall is himself Lakota, and his many activities (traditional craftsman, actor, media consultant, author) seek both to preserve and to exalt traditional Lakota values. This is not an unbiased story, and it's not meant to be, but its values are out in the open.
Two aspects of the book bothered me. First, Marshall divides it into parts, with a "Reflections" chapter at the end of each part. These repeated much of the previous story, "translated" into the terms of Euro-Americans so that the battle of "Hundred in the Hand" became the "Fetterman Massacre," and so on. These were a completely unnecessary break in the narrative - - except for the very last one at the end of the book, which reflected on differences between his story and Euro-American histories.
Second, Marshall doesn't mark the "written history," "oral history," and "fictional" elements in his story. For example, he tells the story of Crazy Horse's childhood in terms of what a typical Lakota boy would have done at that time - - what games he would have played, when he would have received his first bow, and so forth. That's entirely appropriate in this biography but these passages are "historical fiction." On other occasions, Marshall tells a story of Crazy Horse playing a particular game with a particular friend at a particular time and place. Is this fictionalized? Or is this part of the oral history? For the narrative, it doesn't matter. But if I wanted to use this book as a *source*, I would need to know. Having a "notes" section on each chapter in an appendix would have met this concern.
Those issues aside, the real strength of this book is Marshall's story-telling. I'd love to hear him speak in person. It's a great read.
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4: Great story from a unique perspective
Crazy Horse was the renowned souix chief who slaughtered Custer and his men at the battle of Little Big Horn--this we all learned in grade school. Marshall takes this well known story, and turns it inside out--giving us a biography of Crazy Horse, in which the well known battle plays such a small part, that I almost missed it.
Marshall sets Crazy Horse's life in historical perspective--that is, the Lakota history--not that of the US. The Civil War is barely mentioned, and the great westward migration appears only as a steadily growing trickle of whites through traditional Lakota hunting grounds.
When Crazy Horse is born, whites have been coming through the area for years, but they are only just beginning to set up permanent forts, and the volume is increasing to the point where they are disrupting the ecosystem--and thus having, for the first time, an impact on Lakota life. The big debate among the elders is what to do about it.
Crazy Horse is raised as a warrior, and that is how he approaches the problem. However, it quickly becomes apparent that the white way of war is not the Native American way. Whites fight to the death; Native Americans fight until it is clear who is stronger, thus preserving life. It is clear that the Lakota, led by Crazy Horse, are better fighters, one-on-one. However, the Whites are better armed. Crazy Horse's brilliance (at least for a while) was to develop tactics which forced whites to fight on Native American terms--and he won.
Over the years it became clear that winning battles was not enough. There were always more whites arriving to replace any that were killed. When a delegation traveled east to "negotiate" a treaty, they returned with descriptions of large cities which were populated with more whites than the Lakota could imagine. Clearly, they were not going to win a battle of attrition against the whites.
Some Lakota conceded defeat, and became "fort Indians"--entirely dependant on white beneficence for their existence--in the process, giving up the traditional hunting and warrior way. Others, lead by Crazy Horse, continued to battle. Crazy Horse, however, saw the end, and agonized over what the proper course was--continue to fight a doomed battle on principal, or give up.
In the end, he continued the fight well past the point where it was clear there was no path to victory; only slow defeat. When he finally surrendered--having been betrayed by the fort Indians--he was murdered by the whites.
Quite aside from providing a careful counter-perspective to the traditional "cowboys and Indians" narrative, Marshall tells a compelling story, which makes a good read.
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5: Magical, beautiful writing
Joseph Marshall has done the greatest possible tribute to the legendary Crazy Horse by portraying him as he undoubtedly was--human, troubled, self doubting, and yet a magnetic and inspired leader of men. Marshall's prose is deeply moving, drawing the reader into life as it was then, letting us see the fear of impending disaster from the eyes of the Lakota as their hunting grounds disappeared and they were, bit by bit, stripped of their pride not by military force, but out of compassion for the weak and vulnerable among them.
Marshall demonstrates tremendous insight into the Lakota of the 19th century--he learned well. He described Crazy Horse brilliantly, thus: "He rose to leadership because he actually led. He didn't point to where others should go while he waited. He led." His last moments were a tragedy that should never be forgotten.
There is much more to this book than Crazy Horse. Marshall exhibits what appears to be a Lakota wisdom so needed today. "The fact that we can perform a task more quickly because we've improved on a tool proves that we...have become more efficient, but it doesn't necessarily mean that we've grown wiser."
Amen. One of the finest books I've read.
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