In the 1870s large deposits of gold were found in the Black Hills of the U.S. Territory of Dakota. By treaty the land belonged to the indigenous people, the Sioux. But when thousands of prospectors flooded into the Black Hills the U.S. Cavalry was dispatched to protect them. So began the bloody conflict that would lead to the displacement and humiliation of the original inhabitants of this area.

The Crazy Horse Suite uses the voices of three characters besides Crazy Horse: Crazy Horse’s friend, Little Big Man; Crazy Horse’s lover, Black Buffalo Woman; and George Armstrong Custer, who led his cavalry battalion to annihilation at the Battle of the Little Big Horn.