The drawing is of CrazyHorse via a description from Iron Cedar (CrazyHorse family member Julia Clown) to an unknown artist.
The Call to Ancient Traditions
The following contains an interview with a direct blood descendant of the Lakota Sioux warrior, Crazy Horse, who was reportedly assassinated by the United States Government in 1877.
The government confiscated 8.7 million acres of the Crazy Horse estate. The Crazy Horse family went into hiding and remained elusive until 2001.
The following information was provided orally by Floyd Clown, third generation grandson of Crazy Horse of the Lakota Sioux nation and by William Matson, author of Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior's Life and Legacy.
The following information was provided for this publication with the purpose of healing the earth and propagating true Native American history which has been hidden and distorted in books and films for over one hundred years.
May it inspire all readers to act from the heart on what is best for all.
Many coincidences led to this exchange of information. The author of this article (Amanda Blain) had a dream in 2017 in which she was guiding an elephant. A voice spoke to her and said, “You have no sense of roots, no sense of grounding, because you have lost touch your roots, the Lakota Sioux way of walking.”
This author awoke from the dream and was guided to an allegorical explanation of the elephant written in a book by Ted Andrews which stated:
“Primordial knowledge and ancient power is awakening. Respect traditions – your own and others. Act on what is best for all.”
Weeks later members of the Crazy Horse family traveled on a book tour near this author’s home in Colorado. An interview was arranged with the family and their authorized storyteller, Matson.
This article is the result. This written work has been verified and approved by Matson and authentic members of the Crazy Horse family.
Unfinished Business
William Matson has been authorized by the Crazy Horse family to write the family’s biography. Some might say that this was Matson’s destiny, for the life path began unfolding before he was born.
Matson said, “Dad was in the 7th Cavalry during World War II. During basic he was asked who won the battle of Little Big Horn. Dad said the Indians did. He was punished for this, and he held a grudge. He wanted to write a book on the native side of the battle.”
Matson’s father became ill with lymphoma before writing the book. While on his deathbed, he asked his son to take care of the unfinished business.
Matson agreed, and spent one year writing a movie script to honor his dad’s request. During research, he noticed a scarcity of native voices in books.
“I read about 300 books. The history was all messed up,” Matson said.
During a trip to South Dakota in 2001, Matson climbed Bear Butte, which is said to be a sacred site of the natives.
Matson said, “Half way up my father spoke to me and said, ‘open your heart.’ He had been dead since 1998 … I knew that meant I needed to study the spirituality.”
The following year Matson met with the head ranger of Bear Butte State Park Jim Jandreau, who was a Dakota Sioux. Jandreau assisted Matson to meet Crazy Horse family members.
Doug War Eagle met Matson at the door and said, “We knew you were coming. The grandfathers said you were coming from the west.”
Matson also met with Don Red Thunder and Floyd Clown, all three men are direct blood descendants and grandsons of Crazy Horse. Matson presented his movie script to Clown.
“He told me it was no good,” Matson said.
Clown reported that he only read a few words of the script before disapproving. The script referred to Crazy Horse as a leader of the Oglala Lakota nation. According to Clown this is a falsehood (so ubiquitous that even Wikipedia.com refers to Crazy Horse as an Oglala).
Clown said, “There’s no such thing as Oglala in the Lakota nation. I told him that’s a non-truth. If he wants to learn the truth, we have to check his heart out. That’s how our grandfathers did it. Not by the color of skin.”
Matson said, “I was sitting there wondering how I could show I had a good heart.”
The Crazy Horse family members took Matson into his first sweat lodge.
Inside the pitch black darkness, the tribe sang and prayed in Lakota tongue. After the ritual, the group gathered for dinner.
Matson said, “The silence was deafening. Nobody told me whether my heart was good or not.”
Over dinner, Matson told the group that he wished he knew their language so he could sing with them.
The man who had stood outside the sweat lodge to watch the fire told Matson, “They don’t let me in there because I sing Merle Haggard.” This implied that Matson had been accepted by the Lakota.
Over the next several years, he traveled to many sacred sites with the family.
The Crazy Horse family had chosen someone to write a book to tell the true family history. When the writer was sent to Afghanistan, the family asked Matson to write the book. Matson agreed. The book took one year to write, and another year to make corrections.
Matson said, “The book tells of the history family all the way through present. Crazy Horse is the center piece … There is a lot of misinformation out there about Crazy Horse. That’s what we’re correcting. Anything outside this book is fiction.”
The book is a sacred and monumental document that serves to rectify over one hundred years of falsehoods made about the Crazy Horse family. There is no bibliography in the book because all of the stories were shared by the family members themselves.
Clown explained the healing power and purpose for this emergence of truth. The Lakota man spoke with equanimity and humility.
Into Hiding
He said, “From 1877-2001 we were taught that when someone talks about the family, say nothing and walk away. Our family, for 141 years, we’ve been listening to other people claim us. Thinking they know more than we do.”
While in the presence of people who falsely claimed the Crazy Horse family name, the true family members stood silent.
Clown says it was not yet time to come forward with the truth. Throughout the years, those who revealed their lineage to the Crazy Horse blood line were assassinated soon after. Now times have changed.
Clown said, “The way people think changed after 2000. Our grandfathers said no more assumptions. It’s time to be truthful and honest with yourself. If you are truthful and honest with yourself you are like that with whoever God is, and with other people.”
The Lakota man addressed numerous alleged falsehoods which have been proliferated by books and movies. He explained that the native lands were unethically signed away to the U.S. government.
Clown reported that the government manipulated “yes people” from within the tribe by offering them power, status, and position in exchange for land. He explained that the government promised Crazy Horse an agency. Crazy Horse knew that he was going to be killed at Fort Robinson.
Clown said, “He knew that this was going to happen because they showed him how he was going to leave this earth at a Sundance ceremony. He saw a soldier stab him twice and his own people standing with the soldiers.”
In 1876, one year before Crazy Horse’s death, the Lakota Warrior left a carving on a large owl shaped rock at Deer Medicine Rock in Eastern Montana. The carving depicted his vision of how he would die. In 1877, this exact vision came to fruition when he met his fateful ending at Fort Robinson.
Clown reported that the government confiscated 8.7 million acres of the Crazy Horse Agency in the Black Hills.
“…Before anyone came to this continent there was no jealousy, greed, selfishness, criticism, superstition, no fear,” Clown said.
Confused Native Roots
Members of the Lakota Sioux nation and grandsons of the Crazy Horse family, Don Red Thunder, Doug War Eagle, William Matson (family's authorized storyteller), and Floyd Clown. Photo by Diana Harvey
According to Clown, the natives who signed the land to the government had no authority to act on behalf of the Lakota nation. The Lakota traditionally appointed representatives from each family to make decisions, and each family was equally revered.
Clown said, “There was nobody above the other. Just like how we were put here. The idea of hierarchy of chiefs is Hollywood.”
According to the Crazy Horse family, the government’s interference with assigning agencies and misidentifying bands has caused confusion among native generations about their heritage.
Clown said, “Right now everybody is assuming that the Oglala and Sigancu bands are of the Lakota nation, but they’re not. This is what we’re correcting … Because of people not seeking the truth, they don’t know who they are today. Time to remember where you come from. This is what we’re waking up.”
The Lakota man explained that his family’s efforts are not for self-interests. Rather, the family hopes to set an example that will empower others to learn where they came from, who they are, to put an end to the misuse of tribal family names, and to enliven a sense of responsibility and honor among earth’s people.
Clown said, “This isn’t about I and me like this system we are living under. It’s about we and us.”
In 2001, the Crazy Horse family and Rosebud Sioux Tribe won brought suit contesting the use of the Crazy Horse name by Hornell Brewing Co. for using the family name in the manufacture, sale, and distribution of an alcoholic beverage called The Original Crazy Horse Malt Liquor.
The family won the case. They are now in federal court to determine who the blood heirs are so they can award the Crazy Horse estate to their family.
Clown said, “This is the first time our native family is able to do this under federal law and international law. Now all these tribes who have been claiming our grandfather have to prove it in the court of law.”
Clown and his brothers conducted research to map the blood tree of Crazy Horse. This research indicates that there are currently three thousand individuals in the Crazy Horse family.
Clown said, “Sitting Bull, Geronimo, Crazy Horse were the three most used names around the world. People have been using grandfathers’ names without permission to make money. Now families’ have a right to that name to protect their grandfathers.”
The Lakota man’s speech emanated a humble reverence for all living things. He showed no interest in spreading judgment or disseminating controversy. Clown’s interest is in honoring the heart’s guidance to spread truth and bring healing to the earth.
The Eyes of the Heart
Clown said, “One of my grandfathers said that today in this world, there is no truth, honesty, and trust. This is what this world needs to get back to … Time to walk with respect on our earth.”
He explained that the Lakota way is to share everything, to not expect anything in return, and to “cante esta” (pronounced chanta eesta), meaning to see truth with the eye of the heart so we may speak and act honorably.
Clown said, “Everybody was put here as a two legged earth man human being. Earth man means to have a red heart for nature. Earth man knows there is a higher power here, and wants what is right, true, sacred, a way of living life.”
Clown explained that his family has been spiritually guided to share their autobiography with the world because the Crazy Horse name has been used around the world.
The family and authorized storyteller Matson have done ninety-seven book signings so far. They completed a west coast tour in the United States, and recently toured Colorado. They are making their way to the east coast with intentions to visit Illinois.
To order a copy of Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior's Life and Legacy or watch related films visit the Facebook or Matson’s website at www.reelcontact.com.
Matson and the Crazy Horse family are raising funds for a film documentary of the family’s history. To learn more and support the project, visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/153620067/crazy-horse-and-his-family-documentary?ref=created_projects
Photo by Diana HarveyCrazy Horse Family Elder Floyd Clown and author William Matson will answer questions from the public an sign their book Crazy Horse: The Lakota Warrior's Life and Legacy.
Photo provided by William Matson