I've read a bit about Crazy Horse. It was not unusual for him to go off alone for weeks at a time. He had a strength and energy which was almost super-human. Sounds to me like he was bipolar. Mania and depression. Today those things would be considered "symptoms" and he'd be medicated so that he could fit in and act like the rest of us. His people saw these aspects of his personality as simply who he was. His culture gave him the space to get through the depression. They believed it better connected him to their ancestors, who they believed were all around and accessible. The mania they saw as a kind of strength which fueled him as a warrior. Instead of his differentness being looked at as a symptom, it was simply considered "who he was." It was looked at as the main reason why he was called to be who he was. He was considered very wise, and he was respected as a thinker. He had, just as he was, a specific place in society. A society which believe that all people, animals, plants, sky, earth were a part of one whole. He was considered an important part of the whole, like anyone else. He was taught to find out who he was and be it, not to change who he was to fit some cultural paradigm.

Friday, June 22nd 2012