Crazy Horse Monument (3)

Crazy Horse Monument

Peter Blue Cloud

Life and Times of Peter Blue CloudBorn around 1933 to the Turtle Clan

of the Mohawk tribe in a reserve in Quebec

Mohawk name is

Arionawen-rate

Spent most of his life in the US then later moved

back to Canada

He began publishing his work in the late

1960s

-Ariona = Blue-blue can mean the colour of the sky- Looking at the blue sky, you see clouds

He is known for using the coyote in his work

Writes not as a hobby, but as a way of conveying an important message

His writing was influenced by his grandfather, William Shakespeare’s plays, and the tales of Haudenosaunee

Died April 27, 2011 in

Quebec

Background Info. on Crazy Horse and his Monument

Born around 1842, Crazy Horse was a war chief of Lakota Sioux. Participated in the raids of European settlements after the US cavalry

burned down his village. Gold was found at Black Hills and many people came to find gold,

ignoring the treaty that said the land belonged to the Lakota natives. He and his people went to stop it.

Participated in battles against General Custer and General George Crook. He later surrendered because of the condition of his people He was later transferred to Camp Robinson not knowing it was a plot to

put him in jail Once he realized, he resisted and a soldier stabbed him in the stomach. He

died that night. The monument’s sculptor was Korczak Ziolkowki with Lakota chief

Standing Bear Mission is to “honor the culture, tradition and living heritage of North

American Indians” Used precision explosive engineering to make the monument in recent

years

Crazy Horse MonumentHailstones falling like sharp blue sky chipshowling winds the brown grass bends, whilebuffalo paw and stamp and blow billowing steam,and prairie wolves chorus the moon in moaning.

The spotted snake of a village on the move,a silent file of horses rounding hills,in a robe of grey, the sky chief clutches thunder,and winter seeks to find the strongest men.

Crazy Horse rides the circle of his people’s sleep,from Little Big Horn to Wounded Knee,

Black Hills, their shadows are his only robedark breast feathers of a future storm.

Those of broken bodies piled in death,of frozen blood upon the white of snow,yours is now the sky chant of spirit making,pacing the rhythm of Crazy Horse’s mount.

And he would cry in anger of a single death, and dare the guns of mounted soldiers blue,for his was the blood and pulse of rivers,and mountains and plains taken in sacred trust.



And what would he think of the cold steel chisel,and of dynamite blasting mountain’s face,what value the crumbled glories of Greece and Rome,to a people made cold and hungry?

To capture in stone the essence of a man’s spirit,to portray the love and respect of children and elders,fashion instead the point of hunting arrow sharp,and leave to the elements the wearing-down of time.



1973, 1976

Theme and Type of Poem

• Crazy Horse and the creation of his monument is used to criticize the destruction of nature for something not needed and is disrespectful to nature.

• The monument does not help the aboriginal peoples in need

• Has no rhyme• Is written in 4 line stanzas• It is a contemporary poem written in free-verse

Analysis

Hailstones falling like sharp blue sky chips

howling winds the brown grass bends, while

buffalo paw and stamp and blow billowing steam, Imagery

examples of alliteration

and prairie wolves chorus the moon in moaning.

Imagery: Figurative or descriptive language in a literary workAlliteration: Using the same consonant to start two or more stressed words

or syllablesBillowing: A great swell, surge, or undulating mass, as of smoke or sound

- Sets the scene for the poem

The spotted snake of a village on the move,- snakes represent change- in dreams, the snake can appear when one is experiencing a challenge or problem

a silent file of horses rounding hills,

in a robe of grey, the sky chief clutches thunder,

and winter seeks to find the strongest men. - personification

- Winter can not seek nor find men - the hardships of winter brings about strong men

Imagery

-is from a native legend (Tsimshian)- a chief that ruled the sky whose children brought gifts to the earth

Personification: An anthropomorphic figure of speech where the poet describes an abstraction, a thing, or a non-human form as if it were a person.

Metonymy: A figure of speech in which the poet substitutes a word normally associated with something for the term usually naming that thing

- Refers to the dark clouds of a storm

- Example of metonymy

Also sets the scene

Crazy Horse rides the circle of his people’s sleep,

from Little Big Horn to Wounded Knee,

Black Hills, their shadows are his only robe

dark breast feathers of a future storm.

Allusion: A reference to a historical, mythic, or literary person, place, event, movement, etc.

Refrain: One or more lines repeated before or after the stanzas of a poem.

Refrain- is repeated after every 2 stanzas

- all highlighted in red are examples of allusion

Little Big Horn-A battle the Sioux and Cheyenne (Crazy Horse included) fought against George Custer in 1876- George Custer died in this battle

Wounded Knee-massacre during late December in 1890- US troops shot the Sioux during the Ghost Dance Movement- killed around 300 Sioux

Black Hills-is Sioux territory according to a treaty - event where prospectors trespassed and stole gold from their land in the 1870s

Those of broken bodies piled in death,

of frozen blood upon the white of snow,

yours is now the sky chant of spirit making,

pacing the rhythm of Crazy Horse’s mount.

- referring to the battles mentioned in the refrain and of those who died

Pace: to advance or develop (something) at a particular rate or tempo; A manner of walking or running

Alliteration

Alliteration

- referring to the building of the memorial

-sky chant means to protest against the building of the monument - spirit making is the passion that comes from the protest to preserve nature

And he would cry in anger of a single death,

and dare the guns of mounted soldiers blue,

for his was the blood and pulse of rivers,

and mountains and plains taken in sacred trust.

- refers battles fought - was brave to fight for his people

-Sacred trust means to protect something or keep guarded- Crazy Horse fought to protect nature





Refrain

-dreams come when people sleep- the dreams represent wants and Crazy Horse represents the confidence to carry them out

- these battles represent the wants the natives had fought for to support their people

-shadows follow behind a person- in this case, shadows represent the support from his people in these battles

And what would he think of the cold steel chisel,

and of dynamite blasting mountain’s face,

what value the crumbled glories of Greece and Rome,

to a people made cold and hungry?

Allusion

- refers to the way the memorial was built

-it signifies the suffering of the Sioux and Lakota

-Greece and Rome were large empires- it symbolizes the Crazy Horse Memorial by saying the mountain is like Greece and Rome

- it is majestic and grand but the destruction of it has no value to those it is dedicated to

To capture in stone the essence of a man’s spirit,

to portray the love and respect of children and elders,

fashion instead the point of hunting arrow sharp,

and leave to the elements the wearing-down of time.

- Says that the mountain should be left alone to be worn down by time and elements (rain, wind, etc.)

-refers to the memorial and its purpose

- refutes the last 2 verses - the monument is a decoration, a tourist area - does not seem to honour Crazy Horse’s ideals





Crazy Horse is used symbolically. His ideals of protecting the land and fighting for rights are the focus of this poem to criticize the building of a monument in his name.

Refrain

Questions1) Why is the refrain spaced differently than the rest of the poem?

2) What is the significance of the repetition of the refrain?

3) Why does Peter Blue Cloud use many animal representations?

(animals are mentioned in the beginning of the poem)

4) Explain the reasoning for incorporating historical allusions into the

poem?

5) Why would Chief Standing Bear (of the Lakota) make plans to

build a monument in Crazy Horse’s name if it is against Crazy

Horse’s ideals to destroy nature?

Crazy Horse Monument (3)

Documents

Transcript of Crazy Horse Monument (3)