I had seen images of the faces carved into the cliffs many times in the past via many mediums. Yet there is something quite awe inspiring seeing these as up close & personal as you can from the viewing gallery.
The tenacity & vision employed to create these images was immense given the technical difficulty carving the likenesses. Given the scale & the technology available at the time the carvings it would have been especially challenging.
Here’s Looking At You
However this impressive feat has to be tempered with the fact that the aim was to celebrate key forefathers of relatively modern American history.
It undoubtedly has fulfilled the creators intention of becoming a centre of interest & draws thousands of visitors a year. However for me there was just the niggling feeling that this only presented one version of the story.
When one travels it often provides opportunity to poke about in the murky corners of another countries history.
In this case one quite intricately linked with one’s own. Which does it seem to serve up some quite difficult issues to ponder on.
Laokata People
It transpires that the sites history has a dark side because it was once part of sacred lands of the Laokata people. Sadly it seems that the process almost obliterated their history.
Our curiosity whetted by conversing with the descendants of Wounded Knee it became clear that things were not quite as we initially thought.
I had come across similar examples when touring in Australia & New Zealand on a previous trip.
Having explored the site & resisted ice cream we ventured into the town in search of a campsite. Thankfully finding one to settle on as it was late in the day. Our neighbours were chatty & we spent a peaceful night despite being near the main street. We were ups & off early the next day to reach Custer Park.
Custer Park
This had not been on the original schedule but we had gained some time & decided to invest it trying to spot unusual animals. Having located the visitor centre we were given the heads up on the potential location of bison & other wildlife so definitely a good place to start the day.
We set off & were not disappointed as we spied these magnificent beasts. Then having turned back on ourselves slightly took a less metalled road to catch a glimpse of the prairie dogs at play.
Praire Dogs
As they popped in & out of their holes they reminded me of the ‘whack a mole’ game. The squeaking nosies the only clue to help us to guess where they would resurface. It was quite difficult capturing them as they seem to pop up & down quickly emitting a high pitched squeak as they did!
A tad disappointed not to visit the narrower sections of the Park for fear of Marthas ample proportions rendering us stuck we headed for a campsite but not before taking a short hike up a hill by what turned out to be a manmade lake.
Our native spirit guide had its work cut out but seemed to adept at finding us a place to park each night at the most unlikely places & sometimes despite the ‘full’ sign.
Beers in the sunshine while wild turkeys wondered by followed by a sumptuous meal in the local restaurant meant a fairly good night sleep before we were up & on the road.
Balance
We were headed to the Crazy Horse Memorial museum to sort of provide some balance to the Mount Rushmore visit. This project too is impressive given the scale & intricacy of the sculpture that is being hewn into the rock face.
Leaving all the history & politics aside for a moment. You can’ t help but marvel at what can be achieved with vision & determination in either case.
The ‘Crazy Horse’ project has spanned multiple generations & by no means complete continues to challenge those involved. The centre is interesting containing as it does a degree of information about the various tribes & what has been retained of their culture.
The link below is to the Crazy Horse Memeorial