No doubt about it, the Crazy Horse Memorial is inspirational. After all, we are talking about the world’s largest mountain carving in progress started 60 years ago to commemorate and honor the Native American culture. The Crazy Horse Memorial has now even inspired a theatrical performance “Never Forget Your Dreams: The Creation of Crazy Horse Memorial” performed by students from Alma College in Michigan.

The production, under the direction of Professor of Communications Joanne R. Gilbert, was created from 10 interviews with members of the Ziolkowski family, Crazy Horse educators, descendants of Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear and people from the Lakota Nation. From the interviews, which created 100 pages of transcription, the performance was created.

The production tells the story of the memorial and sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, along with the life of the contemporary Lakota people. Gilbert has visited the memorial and the Pine Ridge Reservation twice. The performance is entirely in her interviewees’ own words.

Korczak and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear, who had originally approached Korczak with the idea of creating a monument to honor a Native American hero, officially started work on the Crazy Horse Memorial in 1948. After Korczak passed away in 1982, his wife Ruth and their children have continued carrying on the development of the memorial. I highly recommend you take a few minutes to read about the Ziolkowski family and Korczak’s legacy.

The group from Alma College will be giving performances at the Red Cloud Indian School on May 14 and at the Crazy Horse Memorial on Sunday, May 17 at 11 am and 2 pm. There will be a  suggested donation of 3 cans of food for the KOTA Share and Care Food Drive.