Lakota Indians: Reconciliation with Crazy Horse Family
Before he died, the great Lakota leader, Crazy Horse, demanded that his family not use his name in public. This is why BP recently changed the name of its Gulf of Mexico oil field to Thunder Horse. Since then a BP delegation has visited the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota to attend a ceremony marking the return of Crazy Horse's name to his descendants.
Frank E. Baker reports for "Horizon" a BP publication
"A very great vision is needed and the man who has it must follow it as the eagle seeks the deepest blue of the sky."
Crazy Horse (Tashunkewitko) 1845-1877
Hot summer winds whisk across South Dakota's Great Plains, but there is shelter in a narrow, densely wooded canyon on the Rosebud Lakota Indian Reservation. As tribe member Ron Neiss looks toward a sharp bend in the Little White River, his gaze extends beyond the river, into the past. It is 125 years since the legendary Sioux warrior Crazy Horse came here to seek inspiration and guidance from the Great Spirit. But for Neiss and other members of the Lakota indian Nation, it is like yesterday.
In June this year, BP regional president Bob Malone headed a delegation to meet Crazy Horse's descendants at the Rosebud Reservation. The purpose of the visit was to bring to a final close issues related to the renaming of the company's Gulf of Mexico field from Crazy Horse to Thunder Horse.
"BP named our new offshore field 'Crazy Horse" out of respect for the Lakota's great spiritual leader," comments Malone. "But after learning the Crazy Horse family objected to such usage of the name, we renamed the field Thunder Horse. The trip was to formally apologize to the Crazy Horse family and bring closure to the issue."
Seth H. Big Crow, Sr., a descendant of Crazy Horse, speaks with emotion about strict Lakota traditions surrounding their great leader's name.
"Crazy Horse was a traditional Lakota leader who went to great lengths to distance himself, not allowing himself to be exploited, insisting no image of himself be taken," says Big Crow. "He told relatives to lay him to rest in a secret location and not reveal the location, nor to publicly speak of him or his name. To this day the family still attempts to honour this sacred trust."
Big Crow was raised by his grandfather, Henry Big Crow. Henry was Crazy Horse's first cousin, and in the Lakota way, they were brothers. Their mothers were sisters.
We've been under the tradition of "silence within this family to protect Crazy Horse from those who would come and try to find where our grandfather is buried," Big Crow says. "We've been underground for over 120 years, since Little Big Horn."
Commercial appropriation
When the Crazy Horse name was appropriated by a malt liquor company several years ago, Big Crow approached family elders to discuss what they should do. Another attempt to use the name was made by a clothing designer.
"We had to surface," Big Crow delcares, "and the elders granted us permission." But in doing so, Big Crow was told by elders that in breaking the circle of silence and taking this issue to the outside world, he must sever his spiritual connection with his family--the biggest sacrifice any Lakota can make.
"I am a leader," says Big Crow with resignation. "I have to stand up for Crazy Horse. That's why I was deeply heartened when BP stepped forward to honour our request to not use the Crazy Horse name."
After a moving drum ceremony Big Crow draped Malone in a star quilt crafted by his sister, Pauline Big Crow. Big Crow then whispered a prayer to he spirits, asking that Malone and BP be accepted as one of them, the highest honour for a visitor outside the tribe, conferring protection by the same spirits that protect the Lakota people.
"I'm sorry we have dishonoured and taken from you the name of such a great spiritual leader as Crazy Horse," Malone said in a short speech to the group. He then presented Big Crow with the original plaque commemorating the completion of the Crazy Horse discovery well. "I give you back the name that we inappropriately took from the Lakota people," he said solemnly.
Malone also presented the group with a traditional offering of friendship and spiritual harmony: sweet grass and tobacco. Malone's wife Diane, who is half Navajo, couldn't hold back her tears. "We were emotionally overwhelmed," she says. "The Lakota people have a deep spiritaul connection to their ancestors.
"Their ancestors' names, Crazy Horse, Spotted Tail and others, convey spiritual power. As we listened to the elders speak about this spiritual connection, we could feel that power. I was very proud of BP."
More than a century ago, a lone Sioux rider with two hawk feathers paused on the bluffs overlooking the Little White River, squinting into a red, setting sun.
Although the rider, Crazy Horse, was unsure of his people's destiny, he found solace in one thought: whatever the future brought, he knew that his spirit--the spirit of all Lakota people--would dwell in this land forever.
Scheduled to begin production in 2005, Thunder Horse is the largest discovery to date made in the Gulf of Mexico. The field is located about 241 km (150 miles) southwest of New Orleans. Construction of the production and drilling semi-submersible is currently underway. Daewoo Sihpbuilding and Marine Engineering of South Korea is building the platform, with the hull scheduled for delivery in 2004. J. Ray McDermott will build the topside facilities in Louisiana. BP is operator of the project with a 75% equity interest, with the remaining 25% owned by ExxonMobil.
Most of the 50,000 American Indians living in South Dakota come from three branches of SIoux: the Dakota, Lakota or Nakota people. Rosebud Sioux are Lakota, and call themselves Sicangu Lakota Oyate, or "Friendly Burnt Thigh People." Covering more than 400,000 hectares (one million acres), the Rosebud Reservation has about 30,000 enrolled members--nearly half of the Sioux living in the state. The other large reservation in the area is Pine Ridge. Significant numbers of Sioux Indians also live in the states of Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and Canada. |
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