His name was used without permission on products and in contexts that the Lakota community has found objectionable.

His face was placed on postage stamps without consultation.

He has been depicted in films, novels, and other media with varying degrees of historical accuracy.

The Crazy Horse Memorial is the most significant physical monument to his memory, and its complicated history — the controversy within the Lakota community about whether a non-Lakota sculptor should create a massive monument to a Lakota leader, questions about governance and consultation, questions about the relationship between a private enterprise and tribal authority — reflects the complexity of how his legacy has been managed.

The burial mystery is, in this context, one of the few aspects of his legacy that has remained genuinely under community control.