Crazy Horse Leadership
Crazy Horse (1841-1877)
Leader of the Sioux Native Americans in the Great Plains of Dakota, Nebraska and
Wyoming.
Continually fought against the invading whites, and the government’s order that all Sioux people had to remain
on reservations after January 1876.
Crazy Horse (pictured right) defeated General George Custer at the Battle of the
Little Bighorn (1876).
Why was he a great
leader?
1. Servant leader
He always put his people before himself.
He fought to defend their interests, territory, traditions and the buffalo, which was vital to their
survival.
The buffalo gave them
- food and shelter (their tents, or tipis, were made of buffalo skin).
- clothing, fuel and numerous utensils.
When the whites eventually killed off the buffalo, the Native Americans’ way of life died with it.
2. Brilliant tactician and learner
He used brilliant decoy tactics to lure Captain Fetterman (pictured right) into an ambush
in 1866, killing him and all 80 of his men.
At the Battle of Little Bighorn , he learned from previous battles the importance of:
- spreading his warriors out (so that they did not block each other’s fire).
He quickly outflanked Custer and attacked him from an unexpected direction rather than attacking him
head-on.
3. Bravery
He was famous for his courage, always leading his men into battle and yelling words of
encouragement.
4. Integrity
He was a man of honour, who stuck to his principles with modesty and humility.
When offered tobacco by the American government as a bribe to give up its land, he said, “One does not
sell the earth upon which the people walk”.
5. Determination and spirit
He was determined to be a great leader, despite personal tragedies (like the death of his daughter from cholera
in 1874) and continual battles against the superior firepower and numbers of the white man.
His greatest victories were the Battle of the Rosebud in
1876 and his defeat of General Custer (pictured right) at
the Battle of the Little Bighorn soon after.
Crazy Horse only surrendered in 1877, when his people were exhausted from fighting and demoralized from dying
buffalo and no clothing.
He hated surrendering to a people he considered inferior, but he had no choice. Four months later he was killed
trying to escape imprisonment after being double-crossed.
6. Spiritual inspiration
The Sioux believed their lives were controlled by a sacred spiritual force, shown as visions to certain people
(including Crazy Horse and another great Sioux chief, Sitting Bull, pictured right, whose vision
foresaw Custer's defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn)
These visionaries were revered by everybody else as holy and powerful.
As a boy, Crazy Horse's first vision showed him riding first into battle as the servant of his people.
His father, a holy man, told him that this was his destiny. His many other visions increased people’s respect
for him still further.
Key quote on life
My lands are where my dead lie buried.
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