The organization that operates the memorial is private, not tribal, and the questions about who has authority over his image — like the questions about who knows where he is buried — are unresolved.

The burial mystery and the representation question are connected: both involve the fundamental issue of who controls the memory and the physical remains of a person who belonged to a community that has had limited power to enforce its own preferences about these matters against the pressure of outside interest.

Lakota Burial Practices And Why Location Matters

The specific cultural context of Lakota burial practices is important for understanding both the protective secrecy of Crazy Horse’s family and the reason the burial site’s location remains sensitive today.

The traditional Lakota relationship to death and burial was not identical to the Euro-American Christian framework that assumed permanent marked graves, cemetery organization, and public memorialization.