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Leonard Crow Dog
Leonard Crow Dog (August 18, 1942 – June 5, 2021) was a Lakota medicine man and spiritual leader. He became well known during the Lakota takeover and occupation of the town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1973, known as the Wounded Knee Incident. Through his writings and teachings, he sought to unify Indian people of all nations. As a practitioner of traditional herbal medicine and a leader of Sun Dance ceremonies, Crow Dog was dedicated to keeping Lakota traditions alive.
Leonard Crow Dog was born on August 18, 1942, into a Sicangu Lakota family on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was a descendant of a traditional family of medicine men and leaders. The name Crow Dog is a poor translation of Kȟaŋǧí Šuŋkmánitu (lit. ''crow-coyote''). His parents believed he would be a healer so they did not send him to school. Therefore he grew up not knowing how to read or write. At the age of seven Crow Dog was initiated by four medicine men. He embarked on his first vision quest at the age of 13.
In 1970 the Native American activist Dennis Banks met with Crow Dog.[citation needed] Banks had been seeking a spiritual leader for the American Indian Movement (AIM), which had started among urban Indians in Minneapolis in 1968. Crow Dog had already been trying to unite people on the Rosebud Indian Reservation to organize and work together on issues affecting Indians.[citation needed]
AIM organized the large march of the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties to Washington, D.C., to demand presidential attention to Indian issues. They campaigned on behalf of Indian veterans who were not getting the services they needed. Crow Dog also led protests in Rapid City and the town of Custer, South Dakota[when?] to demand justice for hate crimes against the Lakota.
Crow Dog’s priorities shaped the Native American Self-Determination and Education Act,[citation needed] a landmark bill signed in 1975 that swung the pendulum away from assimilation and toward greater respect for cultural traditions.
The atmosphere on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which borders Rosebud, became increasingly tense. Tribal chairman Dick Wilson, believed by opponents to have been fraudulently elected,[citation needed] had accrued much power. He created a personal police unit, known as the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs), which was used to suppress political opposition. Residents of Pine Ridge who were tired of corruption in tribal government and mistreatment by whites gathered to protest. In 1973 the Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge took over the village of Wounded Knee to demand justice from the federal government and an end to Wilson's tenure.[citation needed]
The takeover of Wounded Knee had special meaning for Crow Dog because his great-grandfather, Jerome Crow Dog, had been a Ghost Dancer. After receiving a vision, Jerome had warned several dancers to stay away from a large gathering of tribes in 1890; he saved them from being victims of the Wounded Knee Massacre. When Leonard Crow Dog went to Wounded Knee in 1973, he was very moved. He later said:
Standing on the hill where so many people were buried in a common grave, standing there in that cold darkness under the stars, I felt tears running down my face. I can't describe what I felt. I heard the voices of the long-dead ghost dancers crying out to us.[citation needed]
Leonard Crow Dog
Leonard Crow Dog (August 18, 1942 – June 5, 2021) was a Lakota medicine man and spiritual leader. He became well known during the Lakota takeover and occupation of the town of Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota in 1973, known as the Wounded Knee Incident. Through his writings and teachings, he sought to unify Indian people of all nations. As a practitioner of traditional herbal medicine and a leader of Sun Dance ceremonies, Crow Dog was dedicated to keeping Lakota traditions alive.
Leonard Crow Dog was born on August 18, 1942, into a Sicangu Lakota family on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. He was a descendant of a traditional family of medicine men and leaders. The name Crow Dog is a poor translation of Kȟaŋǧí Šuŋkmánitu (lit. ''crow-coyote''). His parents believed he would be a healer so they did not send him to school. Therefore he grew up not knowing how to read or write. At the age of seven Crow Dog was initiated by four medicine men. He embarked on his first vision quest at the age of 13.
In 1970 the Native American activist Dennis Banks met with Crow Dog.[citation needed] Banks had been seeking a spiritual leader for the American Indian Movement (AIM), which had started among urban Indians in Minneapolis in 1968. Crow Dog had already been trying to unite people on the Rosebud Indian Reservation to organize and work together on issues affecting Indians.[citation needed]
AIM organized the large march of the 1972 Trail of Broken Treaties to Washington, D.C., to demand presidential attention to Indian issues. They campaigned on behalf of Indian veterans who were not getting the services they needed. Crow Dog also led protests in Rapid City and the town of Custer, South Dakota[when?] to demand justice for hate crimes against the Lakota.
Crow Dog’s priorities shaped the Native American Self-Determination and Education Act,[citation needed] a landmark bill signed in 1975 that swung the pendulum away from assimilation and toward greater respect for cultural traditions.
The atmosphere on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, which borders Rosebud, became increasingly tense. Tribal chairman Dick Wilson, believed by opponents to have been fraudulently elected,[citation needed] had accrued much power. He created a personal police unit, known as the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs), which was used to suppress political opposition. Residents of Pine Ridge who were tired of corruption in tribal government and mistreatment by whites gathered to protest. In 1973 the Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge took over the village of Wounded Knee to demand justice from the federal government and an end to Wilson's tenure.[citation needed]
The takeover of Wounded Knee had special meaning for Crow Dog because his great-grandfather, Jerome Crow Dog, had been a Ghost Dancer. After receiving a vision, Jerome had warned several dancers to stay away from a large gathering of tribes in 1890; he saved them from being victims of the Wounded Knee Massacre. When Leonard Crow Dog went to Wounded Knee in 1973, he was very moved. He later said:
Standing on the hill where so many people were buried in a common grave, standing there in that cold darkness under the stars, I felt tears running down my face. I can't describe what I felt. I heard the voices of the long-dead ghost dancers crying out to us.[citation needed]