The great leader of the Lakota people started out as a soft-spoken, smaller-than-average boy called Curly who never shied away from trying new things. When his father brought a wild horse into camp one day, offering it as a gift to the first man capable of riding it, 11-year-old Curly met the challenge. Two years later, he proved a skilled hunter when he accompanied his elders on his first buffalo hunt. Throughout Curly’s childhood and adolescence, his people more frequently came into contact with white settlers encroaching on the Lakota homeland. During his vision quest, which earned him the name Tashunka Witco (Crazy Horse), he saw a warrior riding his own horse, surrounded by Lakota people, some of whom were trying to hold him on the horse while others tried to pull him off. This vision was recognized as a prophecy foretelling the boy’s future role as a courageous leader. Sioux artist S.D. Nelson uses an illustration style inspired by 19th century Plains Indian ledger art in his acrylic paintings. (Ages 7-14)