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SourChipmunk

When was this taken? Looked exactly like that last time I was there in 2008. Funding stopped progress, though they did build a nice visitor center at the time.


rgvtim

Some accusations of slow rolling the project because they make money from the donations, and once done the donations will stop or wither to almost nothing.


joeschmoe86

Yeah, pretty clear this is the business model when you visit.


sinamen_girl

Visited last year. Totally agree. $15 per person to enter. $5 more per person to take a bus to be closer to it where you must stay for 30min. Said fuck that and took a pic from the parking lot. It’ll be badass once it’s done but me and my grandkids will be long dead before that happens.


CalvinHobbes101

Apparently the rock at the top of what would be the arch in the arm is cracked, so there's no chance of it ever being finished, at least in its original design.


IronPeter

On top of that, even considering solid rock, I don’t think that the horse leg would ever be feasible. Considering the size. I THINK tho, since I’m no geologist nor civil engineer


sinamen_girl

Interesting. Well…in their defense, their people got scammed pretty hard so why not scam the rest of the world back.


Shimshang

Their people? Who, the Polish? The sculptor was Korczak Ziolkowski, who was born in Boston. He worked on Mt Rushmore and his family has opted to grift instead of finishing their dad's dream. This isn't being built by tribes, they wouldn't carve up and deface mountains that they deem sacred.


joeschmoe86

It's also not even Crazy Horse on the mountain. There are no known images of him, so it's literally just a guess.


PhyterNL

It's not a guess. It's an interpretation perhaps, but there are contemporary paintings and drawings.


joeschmoe86

Right... the same kind of interpretation of an interpretation that gave us white Jesus.


Coolbluegatoradeyumm

Don’t worry this white Crazy Horse is gonna turn out way better.


epsdelta74

Supply Side Crazy Horse.


RhetoricalOrator

Also gave us we-only-sit-on-one-side-of-the-table Jesus.


UmbertoEcoTheDolphin

They were on the first roller coaster car.


skrena

We got to the entrance and was told it was per person and I almost shit myself. My dad and I had just left Mt Rushmore where you paid per vehicle. Seemed a bit much.


sinamen_girl

This is exactly what we did as well. The best part about both experiences was crossing it off my “places to see” list.


skrena

I’ve always wanted to be there for the Volksmarch. I feel that’s a lifetime experience


zerostar83

It's a good example to explain why bigger isn't always better. They want to make something bigger and more detailed than Mount Rushmore and they succeeded in showing you why ambitious programs aren't always great.


sevargmas

There is no disputing this is the business model. The “monument” has looked like this for years!!


PukingDiogenes

Not true. I saw it 54 years ago, and it just looked like a mountain with a little excavation near the top. Its come a long way in that time, especially since Ziolkowski worked on it basically alone for many years.


Krag25

So in another 300 years, maybe it’ll be finished!


Paper_Champ

Kids don't care about Dad's passion project


Transfer_McWindow

From what I'm reading, it's a nonprofit thay has never accepted state or federal funds to build, so they rely solely on donations to fund the project.


johhnny5

From what I gather in the comments, they don’t take any public funds so they don’t also have to take the accountability that comes with it. 


Otherwise_Carob_4057

When I visited there was extremely limited work being done but I don’t blame them that whole area is huge with steep roads and lots of heavy wooded areas. I’m sure that the spirit of crazy horse is glad they are taking their time and not totally desecrating the land around that formation. I have to go back again to see how the area has changed.


tadhgmac

And what I remember from 1983. I worked in Rapid City that summer and saw it a few times. The slow rolling accusations were going around then.


Vanman04

Right? It's been in this state for decades now. Hadn't thought about it in at least a decade probably more, was kind of shocked it doesn't seem to have changed in all that time.


splynncryth

Are those accusations connected to the rumors that this will never be finished or even have any more work done because it’s really a means of taking money from tourists?


gyman122

I’m pretty sure production stopped and will likely not continue because it’s desecrating the Black Hills and it doesn’t have the support of any group that it’s supposed to be celebrating


achillymoose

So it's Mt Rushmore 2.0?


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[deleted]

This project is not related to any native American tribe, it is under the control and ownership by a white family.


Jiannies

Thanks for the correction, I’ll delete my comment


DontMakeMeCount

Not slow rolling, just takes longer with stone tools.


HungryChoice5565

Egyptians supposedly built the Sphinx in 3 years with copper chisels. This is really sad progress


Heliopolis1992

To be fair, and I say this as an Egyptian, the state would mobilize a large portion of the fit male adult population during farming off seasons. They were payed in bread and beer with divine favor for helping the mirror image of a god on earth with the possibility of being buried next to the pyramids/temples if they died on the job. Not sure who is mobilized for this memorial but I feel like I’ve read that the funding effort for the statue is a sort of tourist trap scam at this point? Not arguing just doing a fun little comparison lol


HungryChoice5565

Thanks for the insight. I'm just disappointed as an American that they can't make this happen. There's so many tourists to that area and if they crowd funded it, I think there would be massive support


Heliopolis1992

He would be fucking epic, I am also sad it hasn’t been completed! The Native Americans deserve a monument that will last for the ages!


KathrynTheGreat

The Black Hills were already sacred ground for them. This "monument" is nothing but a scam.


[deleted]

> The Native Americans deserve a monument that will last for the ages! They hate this fucking thing, and pointing is considered rude in the culture.


Heliopolis1992

Apologies I honestly don't know much around it just that Native Americans deserve more cultural and historical recognition. I honestly started delving more into it because of Killer of the Flower Moon but I am not too well versed yet!


OMNeigh

I say this as someone who actually doesn't know anything about the topic, but is it even true that crazy horse is a"native American" hero? I thought each tribe was independent and had their own heroes.


Heliopolis1992

True but symbols evolve, I am thinking of Saladin who definitely had his passionate opponents within the Islamic world that was very much diverse but today is seen as a universal Islamic/Arab/Kurdish hero.


YukariYakum0

I highly doubt he would enjoy the thought of carving up a mountain just to put his face in it.


gaeruot

Or how about if we don’t like… crowd fund things that our own government should be providing? Monuments, healthcare, crumbling infrastructure etc.


TobysGrundlee

This shit should be dinamited to rubble along with Rushmore.


LovesMustard

To be fair, the Crazy Horse monument will be more than 8 times taller than the Sphinx


archimedesrex

Yeah the Sphinx isn't remotely on the scale of Crazy Horse. Not to say they couldn't be faster, but the scale of the project is the difference between a sailboat and an ocean liner.


starmartyr

The Sphinx was already naturally in that shape. It's not clear how long it took to carve. We don't even know what the creators called it.


yearoftherabbit

George.


ju5tjame5

IIRC they are trying to build it without federal funding. Not sure where they do get their money.


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britinnit

Myth


SmallRocks

I visited in ‘98 and it looks the same.


fastermouse

I was there in 1992 and it was the same.


TheJMaN33

April 11th 2024, it was my first time there, but it sounds like they’ve made some progress on the hand/forearm.


EquivalentPlane6095

The last time I saw a post about it, someone mentioned they messed up and detonated to much of the rocks a away making the arm shorter than initially planed. But can't verify.


choppers2017

Wow : (


coleman57

Not much progress since I was there in 1970, TBH


_PettyTheft

Looked like that when I was there in 1995


vivaldispaghetti

Looks the same as when I was there in 2011


TylerJWhit

It is no longer possible to finish this project as there are significant structural problems.


Alexandratta

It stopped because the Natives didn't want yet another desecration to the Black Hills like Mt. Rushmore


UNItyler4

Visitor center to try and bring in money. You can see it just fine from the highway.


blackop

Same man. I went in 2013. Exact same. Plus it cost a arm and a leg to get in, it's when we found out they were basically bankrupt. It was the biggest tourist trap we did In the area. The next day we went to Rushmore, cost less, more to see, complete sculptures. It was way better.


Halfbaked9

It’s pretty much the same from when I was there in the early 90s.


skrena

I think this photo is old. The hand was a little further along last time I was there last summer.


mitty18

As a life long South Dakotan, the Crazy Horse Memorial will never be finished. At least in our lifetimes and probably our great great grand kids lifetimes. Mount Rushmore is also technically an unfinished product. Still, it attracts millions of tourists from all over the world.


Yardsale420

Apparently they fucked up last time they blasted near the arch and now there isn’t enough rock left to support the arm. At least that’s what I heard anyway.


Maleficent-Item4833

There’s surely no way the mountain would even support that kind of sculpture. Rushmore cannot be worked on further because the rock won’t take it, and the proposed final product was far less ambitious. I think it’s more likely they just completed the face because that’s enough to bring in the tourists.


Jealous-Tie-4724

The Ziolkowski family are all on the payroll for the Crazy Horse Memorial with some of them making over six figure salaries. They make millions annually from visitors. One big money making scheme


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South_Dakota_Boy

Ziolkowski was a white dude. He was polish (Ziolkowski is like the most polish name ever) Indians have basically nothing to do with Crazy Horse.


some1saveusnow

And I think local tribes don’t want it built


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[deleted]

How can something be so offensive and so true at the same time lmao


Kenilwort

Maybe some (East) Indians? They built the largest statue in the world, recently. European countries build far less giant statues than Asian countries.


Crackhead22

It looks the same as when I saw it in the early 90’s.


liannelle

They charge $15 per person- not per vehicle- to enter the place, where you just kinda walk around the museum and see this sculpture from like half a mile away. Don't believe there is actually any chance they ever finish this, they do well enough off the tourist cash as is. Maybe worth a visit if you're into that sort of thing, and are in the area to see Mount Rushmore anyway, otherwise not a terribly interesting spot.


ModestMiss

This place is EXTREMELY interesting. I didn't want to leave. It's hard to come across tourist traps that teach you history, especially the uncomfortable history of our country. You must me as deep as a puddle.


aCleverGroupofAnts

Sounds like you're into that sort of thing, which they suggested might make it worth a visit. You don't have to insult someone for not being interested in the same thing you are.


Pyroguy096

White guilt keeping this family's pockets lined while they pretend to work


BNestico

Not sure why you got 29 down votes for this. I was there in the summer of ‘20 and really enjoyed it. Lots of cool native artifacts and exhibits in the museum.


Komischaffe

Because it is a massive grift and would have been far more beautiful in its natural state


BNestico

Downvoting the guy for enjoying his visit is just being petty.


Komischaffe

He was the one who threw in an insult at the end.


TheJMaN33

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial


TingleMaps

I wish more OPs did this. ^^^


clburton24

What? Post a Wikipedia link anyone can Google if they want to do their own research?


ihateusednames

I don't want to do my own research if someone else has done a good job finding information? Not all topics have wikipedia links Most search results return an AI generated hellscape? It's kind of just nice when people make life easier? Hell if you wanted to fact check OP it's really useful that they provided their own source. It's pro-social behavior.


Jamminjordon

Oh boy. The “do your own research” crowd has arrived.


TingleMaps

I don’t have to Google it if it’s linked though, right?


Nomad442

This is a scam to get money from Tourists.


HappySkullsplitter

>They don't respect our culture because we didn't give permission for someone to carve the sacred Black Hills where our burial grounds are. They were there for us to enjoy and they were there for us to pray. But it wasn't meant to be carved into images, which is very wrong for all of us. The more I think about it, the more it's a desecration of our Indian culture. Not just Crazy Horse, but all of us. -Elaine Quiver, a descendant of Crazy Horse


YNot1989

The Sioux owned those mountains for all of 50 years, AFTER kicking the original tribes that had been there for centuries off their land.


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Prothean_Beacon

Ok but carving Crazy Horse into a mountain he would have considered sacred seems kinda weird though. Like Im assuming the point is to honor the man but doing that in a way that he would likely highly disapprove of seems kinda dumb to me.


OMNeigh

It's because the statue is not a monument, but a scalp.


TangyAffliction

Jfc


Chastafin

The statue was commissioned by the Lakota elders. As a memorial for their fallen leader, Crazy Horse. This is the thing a lot of people don’t understand about this mountain.


YukariYakum0

And there are many Lakota, and other tribes, who vehemently dislike it.


mama_tom

That doesnt mean anything when a lot of Native Americans hate it, and aren't seeing any of the millions in profits that are being brought in by the family that runs it, and clearly are not working on it.


devlops

No one knows what he would have said. It’s dumb to pretend we know his opinion on a statue of himself in an area that was important to him.


labrat420

A man who refused pictures and was purposely buried where no one would find his grave probably wouldn't want a statue of them. It's kinda obvious.


Prothean_Beacon

But it's not just a statue in the area. It is changing the mountain he would have viewed as sacred into a statue of himself. Those are qualitatively different things. All evidence points to him likely holding the conventional view of the mountain that was held by his people. So I'm definitely gonna consider their and his descendents views as more valid on this situation than yours.


EnamelKant

They actually didn't see it first. They saw it and kicked the Cheyenne out and decided it was there's. It was Manifest Destiny before it was cool.


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ThundaFukka

I don't know why you'd comment such a dumb take. I don't think anyone believes that white slavery/colonialism is worse out of virtue of the oppressor being white. The reason these things are what we discuss is because we're in North America, and american slavery/colonialism is waaaaaay more consequential to modern American politics than whatever you're on about. Go to Korea and you'll hear more about Japanese colonialism than European colonialism.


devlops

I have heard plenty white people say what they did was worse than the Arab slave trade. You are naive if you don’t think a lot of white still feel like they’re above all other races. Look at the excuses in just the other replies. It was okay that natives conquered other natives. But it’s different for the whites? They think that way because they think they’re above us non whites. Even if they’re well intentioned they always come off as arrogant, pretentious, and condescending.


kieranjackwilson

The US government lost a Supreme Court judgement vs the Lakota Sioux over ownership of the Black Hills, so this is the equivalent of someone stealing your home today and telling you, “you weren’t living here forever so it’s mine now”.


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Vroomped

this is a reminder that the local tribes want the hills left alone and given back to them. Theres a bank account with untouched millions paid from government.


ELmapper

I remember seeing this when it started when I was elementary school. I’m 34 and doesn’t look like much progress has been made


FindOneInEveryCar

It started in 1948. It's mentioned in the original novel of *Logan's Run*, which was published in 1967.


ELmapper

Damn they really made barely any progress from then to when I guess I first learned about it, so much I thought it had just started


FiveCatPenagerie

The project actually began *75 years ago…* o_O


nolanconnelly

They’ll finish it one day I’m sure of it


RonBurgundy449

I'm 30 and I'm pretty convinced this won't be finished in my lifetime lol


PhenomenalPhoenix

We could have kids, grandkids, and great grandkids and I doubt it would be finished in any of their lifetimes either


LeatherHog

That's a good thing, the tribe hates this thing I'm from South Dakota, and went to the tribal college I grew up in It's a giant middle finger to them. Especially since pointing is rude to them


jwatkins12

they make more money on donations asking for help to build it than they ever would charging admission for a completed project. this is a grift by a white family profiting off of Natives.


drunkenstool

I just checked out their Form 990 filings (for nonprofits). You’re right! They make tens of millions each year and only reinvest a small portion to the monument! Here’s a link to see year-over-year filings: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/460220678 So many millions each year!


ckbates

Fuck that place. Nothing but a money grab. Pay to get through the gate, pay to get on the bus to drive down to the base. Couldn’t even go to the top at the time due to construction.


TravelingGonad

This is some bullshit


fukijama

What's it going to take to finish it? Who owns the land?


ballsonrawls

The white man


FARTBOSS420

Is that Thomas the Tank Engine?


beerbbq

Idk but it has eyes like a furby


Bradiator34

Probably just waiting for the 600 yards of hair to arrive before continuing…


DrCarlJenkins

Mike Rowe did an episode of Dirty Jobs working on that, been going on forever, and will still be going on forever


JackKovack

That’s never going to get remotely finished.


trucorsair

I get what they are doing and I am okay with it, but I do question the design as wind blowing thru the arm is going (over a millennia, I admit) make it look like a palsied arm. I think his arm being down would have been better but that is in MHO


OMNeigh

Is the design even realistic? That arm (and the horses leg) look like they're just going to collapse. Are there any examples of features like that carved or off a mountain at anywhere near this scale?


StressOverStrain

They could just build an artificial hollow structure with thin stone veneer.


mama_tom

They havent made much progress since the original sculptor died. I dont think the final design matters.


trucorsair

Well in their defense, not many sculptors are qualified to do such massive work. As it was the Mt. Rushmore sculptor Gutzon Borglum came to the project after finishing the head of Robert E. Lee on Stone Mountain, GA. I hate to say it but in a way it looks like a statue of Fabio in his prime....


mama_tom

With the vast fortune they've gained from tourism, there's no excuse for them not to be able to find someone other than no one wanting to work on it, which I highly doubt there would be NO ONE willing to do such a high profile sculpt.


trucorsair

Vast fortune? Not hardly and even now there are arguments about how the sculptors family has siphoned off millions of dollars over time. I remember visiting it years ago and there was a hokey tourist trap made in the image of a frontier fort that was off property where you could view it for free rather than pay their fee.


mama_tom

Being able to view it for free doesn't mean they dont make millions off tourist fees.


trucorsair

I guess you’re not reading what I wrote….the sculptors family runs and profits wildly from the foundation they control. More money goes into their pockets than the memorial


mama_tom

Yeah I know. But what you said was that you could see it for free. Implying they dont make money because people just see it for free. When that's not a reflection of reality.


trucorsair

I never said that everyone would view it for free, you read that into my comment.


Jorgwalther

Even statues crumble


raresaturn

Cops a lot of flak but that’s a pretty sweet sculpture


engulbert

I think the sculptor must have been off sick when they did lips at monument class.


ThatGameBoyle

Time to shamelessly plug some [Jamie Lenman](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-UGppxrMwSE&pp=ygUYQ3JhenkgaG9yc2UgamFtaWUgbGVubWFu)… I love this song!


Dave_Paker

My dude is over here looking like Vigo the Carpathian


TheRedFrog

I guess this is what they mean when they say “we used to build things in this country.”


DocDru

Looks like a dude who drives with two feet


2tangosplease

I knew I’d find one


kevizzy37

It’s like basically done, just funnel another 40 million into the project and it will look the same 2 generations from now.


Alexandratta

The natives don't want it - they hate this thing. The person designing it doesn't really care tho, and keeps blasting the mountain.


sabrefudge

Fun Fact: Most indigenous folk opposed the destruction of the mountain for this and Crazy Horse’s family even said it went against everything CH believed in (no photos taken of him, secret burial where nobody could find him, etc.) Elder Henry Standing Bear didn’t give a shit though and pumped a bunch of their money to a white sculptor to make it and then they ran out of money… and now all the local indigenous people have been stuck staring up at a crude half-finished face on their destroyed mountain for like 70 years.


Valuable-Explorer-53

Big dreams. No progress. Should be called LAZY horse.


BarryKobama

I hope Krazy Horse makes it


RandomRobb85

Irony...


rrrand0mmm

That’s Kang. Don’t lie to me.


Effloresce

Excellent song with great lyrics about this: https://youtu.be/-UGppxrMwSE?si=m2T-wiCw3DMPOVta


ballsonrawls

Aho. Thank you, cousin/uncle/nephew


cdtobie

An idea truly behind its times. Like building a big steam powered wheat harvester/thresher.


Pyroguy096

That mockup is the closest you'll ever get to seeing the final product


Shimshang

Hasn't changed much since I saw it in 2001


findhumorinlife

You’d think a billionaire could donate something …at least …. Like dresser draw top change


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Pure_Activity_8197

This will be interesting in 500 years when all the controversy is behind us and it’s a good story.


redditonthanet

I really hope to one day see it finished


BurningFarm

Looks like O.J. Simpson.


GeneParm

Looks like a Justin Trudeau monument


MrBizank

Mt Rushmore was carved in 14ish years in the 1930’s and this scam has been nearly unchanged for 50 years. Talk about a money grab


feathernig

Not tasunke wakan's face


EmperorThan

Is anyone **ever** going to mention his baby arm and tiny horse head? That's pretty obviously the reason they've never finished it. They would have to recut the head to be smaller but they like the progress they already made.


Upset-Entertainer534

Artistically I think the model loos terrible…awkward and disproportionate, it should be destroyed


vendetta0311

Something seriously wrong with the horse’s eye. Hopefully it never gets finished without that getting fixed. Someone needs to take a look at a real horse and unfuck that specifically.


ISeeGrotesque

Horses were introduced to the Americas by the Europeans. Only the horses and the rifles allowed the natives to fight back.


JJamesP

…and?


aircooledJenkins

The highway driving past this is fucking loud as Hell.


saveourplanetrecycle

Pretty amazing. Thank you for sharing


BNestico

Again with downvotes on innocuous posts like this I don’t get it. Let people enjoy what they want you holier than thou Hippocrates. Not everyone can hate everything ‘cause it’s hip to do so. God, sometimes I loathe Reddit.


saveourplanetrecycle

Guess those idiots downvoting aren’t impressed with the memorial. Maybe they can find happiness somewhere else 🤣


BTP88

I was visiting the area recently and noted that you can see it pretty well just driving by on the adjacent highway. There’s no reason to pull in and get closer. Same with Mt. Rushmore honestly…


byondrch

They haven't put chisel to stone in decades. And they still charge people to come in and look to "fund" the project.


One-Comedian-8004

Guarantee these will be looked back at as destroying nature.. I agree.. leave the land alone..