This interview originally aired on In the Moment on SDPB Radio.
Whitney Rencountre II, CEO of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, returns to In the Moment for a look at 75 years of history.
From the chief who brought the vision to the Black Hills to the sculptor who dedicated his life to the mountain, Rencountre discusses the people and cultures behind the Crazy Horse Memorial.
Celebrations for the monument's 75th anniversary will run from June 2 to 4. View the schedule and learn about the anniversary's special events.
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Lori Walsh:
You're listening to In the Moment on South Dakota Public Broadcasting. I'm Lori Walsh. From the first blast on June 3rd, 1948, Crazy Horse Memorial has been preserving and sharing culture, traditions and the living heritage of the more than 570 tribes of North America. Now, the memorial prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary. Joining me by the phone, we have Whitney Rencountre. He's CEO of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. Welcome back, Whitney. Thank you for being here.
Whitney Rencountre II:
Thank you, Lori. Always a pleasure to be on with you, and thank you for taking time to visit with us about our big weekend upcoming here.
Lori Walsh:
There is so much going on. I want to make sure that we get to that. But first, I'm hoping we could go back in time a little bit and tell us about Chief Henry Standing Bear and his education at the Carlisle Indian School, which of course was a government boarding school. I'm not sure when you can call that an education and when you can call that an incarceration, but he had a very specific way that he took his time at Carlisle and turned it into the work that many of us remember him for today. Tell me about Chief Henry Standing Bear.
Whitney Rencountre II:
Yeah, so Chief Henry Standing Bear, I've been in contact with one of his great-grandsons who's going to be here, Dr. Harvey Ledesma, who is an optometrist in California. And he has been really studying and trying to learn more about his great-grandfather, and he'll be with us this weekend during the 75th anniversary to speak. And Dr. Harvey Ledesma really shared that his great-grandfather was very adamant that regardless of his experiences in boarding schools that he did not want to leave behind his culture. He did not want to assimilate into Western society. Instead, he wanted to carry and share the message of our traditional ways. So however, he did use education for a positive. He took a negative and turned it into a positive and wanted to use that experience that was out of his control, in terms of attending the boarding school, and change it into a passion to educate people so that Native American history, culture, way of life would not be lost. So that was very intentional, and we're very, very happy to learn and carry on that message here at the memorial.
Lori Walsh:
Tell me why he thought the place for the memorial was the Black Hills of South Dakota.
Whitney Rencountre II:
Well, obviously the creation story for the Lakota people is told from the Black Hills, that this was such a important gathering place, not only for the Lakota, Dakota, Nakota, but other tribes as well. And it's just an important place. And also you add on to that the fact that around these conversations, Mount Rushmore was being carved and so Chief Henry Standing Bear felt like, "They're carving some of the presidents here in the Black Hills. We need to also carve something that will share the message and the vision of indigenous people as well." So that is why the Black Hills was selected.
Lori Walsh:
When American president Calvin Coolidge comes to the Black Hills, Chief Henry Standing Bearer honors him, but then also challenges him. He was not non-confrontational in his ability to hold something up to an American president and say, "You have an opportunity to speak to truth, to speak to reconciliation. You have the opportunity to do better." What is the role of the Crazy Horse Memorial today in not just raising awareness and providing education, but really challenging people to do the hard work of truth, reconciliation and doing better?
Whitney Rencountre II:
So I think we're going to carry on the message, the dream of Korczak Ziolkowski and Chief Henry Standing Bear as well as the first CEO, Ruth Ziolkowski, the late Mrs. Z. The three of them we believe aligned in terms of the importance of relationships. And we believe that relationships matter because when we can bring people together, more work can get done and completed when we work together, regardless if we agree on the road ahead or the work that needs to be done, so on and so forth. I think we all have our own perspectives and that's great, but the memorial, the work here, we're mission driven. We're focused on our mission which is to protect and preserve the history of the culture, of the living heritage of North American tribes, that we want to continue moving forward into the future to be a place that brings people together.
And we believe that when people are exposed to Native American history, culture, way of life here at the memorial, that it will inspire them after they leave and that's when the true work begins. So that really is what Chief Henry Standing Bear, the challenge that he set forth and the challenge that Korczak Ziolkowski accepted when he dedicated his life to the carving.
Lori Walsh:
Tell people a little bit about Korczak and then we'll talk a little bit about Ruth. But first the sculptor himself, he lands on Omaha Beach. I think he joins the military. He is like 34 years old, which is fairly old for that kind of military service in World War II. He could go to Europe and work on war memorials there, and instead he ends up here dedicating, really, his entire life to this mountain. What resonates with you about his story even today?
Whitney Rencountre II:
Yeah, so what resonates to me is that when Korczak made the decision to come to the Black Hills, he didn't just come to the Black Hills with a plan, with government funding, with already the resources so to speak. He came and during his early years when he first came to the Black Hills before the mountain carving started, he spent time on the Oglala Lakota reservation and he truly got to know the people there, he developed a relationship. So he heard loud and clear the challenges that indigenous peoples had on the reservation, and so he used that as motivation. He wanted to honor, he wanted to make sure that this memorial became a humanitarian project, that it truly fulfilled the mission.
Of why the carving, obviously, he wanted it to attract people here and then when they get here, they can receive inspiration through experiencing the culture of indigenous people. And obviously the museum, the university helped us to fulfill our mission. So the fact that he really was intentional in developing those relationships with tribal relatives, I think that says a lot about the motivation behind and that gave him the inspiration, even during difficult times with the lack of resources, to see forth what it's become today.
Lori Walsh:
I think it's easy to not mention Ruth because of the stature of some of the other people in the room. But make no mistake, after his death especially, she is well positioned to lead the memorial into the future. What resonates with you about her leadership during this time?
Whitney Rencountre II:
One of the bedrocks of Crazy Horse Memorial has, from Ruth's perspective, was to make a friend first. And she knew the importance of the memorial, the magnitude and the undertaking, and so when folks would come here to the memorial, they were inspired. And the fact that we rely on our donor base and not necessarily taxpayer funds, that poses a challenge in itself, but that also gives us the freedom to maintain relationships, the personal relationships. So she treated every donor, every supporter, every staff member, every partner, anyone that was involved, she treated them all and upheld the importance of their relationship, and she really knew the importance of those relationships.
She also had adopted relatives amongst the tribal relatives like the late Nellie Two Bulls, who is a prominent... Nellie Two Bulls, part of the Sons of the Oglala singing group. She was a well-known educator, singer, culture bearer. Her and Mrs. Z were adopted sisters in a traditional way. There's so many stories about Mrs. Z and the relationship that not only her and Korczak and obviously Chief Henry Standing Bear, but the relationships that they forged between the communities and they truly cared. It's evident that Mrs. Z truly cared about people and relationships, and I think that Ruth has gone a long way to really set Crazy Horse Memorial up to really do the work and fulfill our mission here.
Lori Walsh:
If you're just tuning in, you're listening to In the Moment on SDPB Radio, and the voice you're hearing is Whitney Rencountre. He's CEO of the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. And they're inviting everyone to join them June 2nd through 4th at the memorial for the public 75th anniversary celebration. Whitney, beginning on Friday, there are just a ton of guests and performances and highlights. Tell us a little bit about what people can expect.
Whitney Rencountre II:
Well, starting June 2nd, first of all, 75 years of the work here at Crazy Horse Memorial, so June 2nd, there's going to be performances. There's going to be Native American artists, so on and so forth. That's going to take place throughout the day, performances scheduled for 11:30, 1:30 and 4:30. And then at 6:30 we have a special award nominated Aaron White and the Bluestone Project. Who Aaron White is a Dine from the Navajo Nation, and he is nominated for many awards. He established the Bluestone Project and he's going to be featuring John Densmore of The Doors and Jesse Valenzuela of Gin Blossoms. They're going to come together to share a concert here on the veranda on site. So that's on the 2nd. And then on June 3rd, obviously the Volksmarch, which is the largest event for the Volksports Association throughout the country here at Crazy Horse Memorial. That's going to be free. Hikers will get in free that day with three cans of food or more for the Share and Care Food Drive, something that Mrs. Z established long ago.
And then we're going to have a private rededication ceremony. We wanted to have the public celebration that day, but because of the Volksmarch it would be nearly impossible with the amount of people on site. So the Volksmarch is only one day this year on that Saturday, June 3rd, and the Volksmarch will not be happening on June 4th. So let the public know and share with all your family and friends. June 4th is going to be slated and established for the public celebration where that's going to be starting at 10:00 AM and then going throughout the day till about 4:30. We're going to have Billy Mills as our keynote speaker, tribal partners, tribal chairmen, that will be here to share their work.
Obviously, we're going to share about the Mountain Museum, the university, the work that we do here. We're going to have performances, some speaking engagements and some of the history of the Crazy Horse family, Dewey Beard, the descendant of the Battle of Little Bighorn will be on site, the staff and so on and so forth. And then we're also going to have a Lakota helicopter fly over, so it's going to be a good day here at the Memorial. Good weekend overall.
Lori Walsh:
Yeah, I think everyone listening knows that, but if you're new to South Dakota, Billy Mills is a very well-known Olympic gold medal winner. And Whitney, I know you well enough, I think, to know that somehow you will navigate this long list of events and coordination and crowds and just making sure all the logistics are handled. But you'll come out of this with deeper relationships with — I would just be tired at the end of the week. How do you prepare yourself to go into something like this and say, "It is about making a friend. It is about building a relationship. Don't forget the mission, why we're here. Don't focus so much on the line for food and focus instead on those connections." How do you do that?
Whitney Rencountre II:
Yeah, you're exactly right. We have such a great opportunity here at Crazy Horse Memorial to be a role model for other organizations out there that would like to continue to support and educate people about North American tribes and to become a resource. And I think we're really excited about the mission of Crazy Horse Memorial. And you're exactly right. I think our relationships with the donors, the staff, the supporters, all those that have supported Crazy Horse Memorial through the years, we have such a great opportunity during this time. So yes, it's going to be a long weekend and it's been a lot of planning. I want to say thank you to Amanda Allcock and our staff, our media director here, as well as Dew Badwaragangi for really helping to lead the charge in terms of planning and all of our staff. However, you're right, I think those relationships and the support of our base has really helped us lift this up during this time.
Lori Walsh:
Yeah. Well, if you would like to know more about the Crazy Horse Memorial 75th Anniversary weekend, go to crazyhorsememorial.org. We'll put a link up at our website. You can also call (605) 673-4681. Whitney Rencountre, always a delightful time to be in conversation with you and hear your voice on the radio. Thank you.
Whitney Rencountre II:
Lori, thank you so much. I appreciate it.
