Crow people facts for kids
| Apsáalooke | |
|---|---|
Tribal Flag
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Pauline Small on horseback. She carries the flag of the Crow Tribe of Montana. As a tribal official, she is entitled to carry the flag during the Crow Fair parade.
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| Total population | |
| 12,000 enrolled members | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| United States (Montana) | |
| Languages | |
| Crow, English, Plains Sign Talk | |
| Religion | |
| Christianity, Crow Way, Tobacco Society | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Hidatsa |
The Crow people, also known as Apsáalooke, are Native Americans who mostly live in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a federally recognized tribe called the Crow Tribe of Montana. Their Indian reservation is located in the south-central part of the state.
The Crow Indians are a Plains tribe who speak the Crow language. This language is part of the Siouan language family. In 2007, about 3,000 of the 14,000 tribal members still spoke the Crow language.
During the expansion into the American West, the Crow Nation was friends with the United States. They often fought against their neighbors and rivals, the Sioux and Cheyenne tribes. Historically, the Crow lived in the Yellowstone River valley. This area stretches from present-day Wyoming, through Montana, and into North Dakota.
Since the 1800s, most Crow people have lived on their reservation. It is located south of Billings, Montana. Today, many also live in larger cities. The main tribal office is in Crow Agency, Montana. The tribe also runs the Little Big Horn College.
Contents
What's in a Name?
The name of the tribe, Absaroka (pronounced ab-SOR-ka), means "children of the large-beaked bird." This name was given to them by the Hidatsa, a nearby tribe. French explorers later translated this name as gens du corbeau, meaning "people of the crow." This is how they became known in English as the Crow. Other tribes also call the Apsáalooke "crow" or "raven" in their own languages.
A Look at Crow History
Early Life in the Northern Plains
The ancestors of the Crow and Hidatsa tribes once lived near Lake Erie in what is now Ohio. They were forced to move by stronger, better-armed neighbors. They briefly settled south of Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. Later, they moved to the Devil's Lake area of North Dakota. This is where the Crow split off from the Hidatsa and moved west. The Crow were mainly pushed west by the arrival of the Cheyenne and then the Sioux, also known as the Lakota.
To control their new lands, the Crow fought against Shoshone groups. They drove these groups westward. The Crow became friends with local Kiowa and Plains Apache tribes. The Kiowa and Plains Apache later moved south. The Crow remained powerful in their area through the 1700s and 1800s, during the time of the fur trade.
Their traditional lands stretched from Yellowstone National Park in the west. They went north to the Musselshell River. Then northeast to where the Yellowstone meets the Missouri River. Their territory included the river valleys of the Judith River, Powder River, Tongue River, Big Horn River, and Wind River. It also included the Bighorn Mountains, Pryor Mountains, Wolf Mountains, and Absaroka Range.
Once they settled in the Yellowstone River Valley in Montana and Wyoming, the Crow divided into four main groups. These were the Mountain Crow, River Crow, Kicked in the Bellies, and Beaver Dries its Fur. They used to be semi-nomadic hunters and farmers in the eastern woodlands. But they adapted to the nomadic lifestyle of the Plains Indians. They became skilled hunters and gatherers, especially of bison. Before 1700, they used dog travois to carry their goods.
Friends and Foes
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Around 1740, Plains tribes quickly started using horses. This helped them hunt buffalo more easily on the Plains. However, the harsh northern winters meant their horse herds were smaller than those in the South. The Crow, Hidatsa, Eastern Shoshone, and Northern Shoshone became known for breeding and trading horses. They developed large herds. Other tribes also moved onto the Plains, looking for game, bison, and more horses.
The Crow often faced raids and horse thefts from tribes with fewer horses. These included the powerful Blackfoot Confederacy, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Pawnee, and Ute. Later, they also had to fight the Lakota and their friends, the Arapaho and Cheyenne. These tribes also stole horses from their enemies. The Crow's biggest enemies were the Blackfoot Confederacy and the Lakota-Cheyenne-Arapaho alliance.
In the 1700s, the Crow moved to this area from Ohio. They were pushed by the Ojibwe and Cree peoples, who had better access to guns. From south of Lake Winnipeg, they were pushed west by the Cheyenne. Both the Crow and Cheyenne were then pushed further west by the Lakota. The Lakota took over land west of the Missouri River, reaching the Big Horn Mountains. The Cheyenne eventually became allies with the Lakota.
The Crow remained strong enemies of both the Sioux and Cheyenne. The Crow managed to keep a large reservation of over 9,300 square kilometers. This was partly because they worked with the U.S. government against their traditional enemies. Many other tribes were forced onto much smaller reservations far from their original lands.
The Crow were generally friendly with northern Plains tribes like the Flathead, Nez Perce, Kutenai, Shoshone, Kiowa, and Plains Apache. However, the powerful Iron Confederacy, an alliance of northern plains tribes, became enemies of the Crow. This group included the Plains Cree and Assiniboine peoples.
Crow Tribe: A Timeline
- Late 1600s: A group of Crow Natives moved west from Hidatsa villages in North Dakota. They started living near the lower Yellowstone River.
- Mid-1700s: The Crow held a Sun Dance. A poor Arapaho man attended and received a special medicine doll from a Crow person. This doll became very important to the Kiowa tribe later on.
- Early 1800s: The Crow and Lakota continued to fight. In 1800-1801, the Crow killed many Lakota. The next year, Lakota and Cheyenne warriors destroyed a Crow camp.
- 1805: A Crow camp traded at Hidatsa villages. A fur trader, Francois-Antoine Larocque, traveled with them across the plains.
- 1806: Some Crow people found the Lewis and Clark Expedition and took their horses.
- 1807: The first trading post in Crow country, Fort Raymond (or Fort Lisa), was built.
- 1813-1814: The Crow and Blackfoot tribes had conflicts, with warriors from both sides being killed.
- 1819-1820: The Crow fought against the Cheyenne. A large Cheyenne and Lakota attack destroyed a Crow camp at Tongue River.
- 1825: Crow chiefs signed the first treaty of friendship and trade with the United States. They recognized U.S. authority, though some chiefs disagreed.
- 1834: Crow chief Arapooish died, killed by Blackfoot warriors.
- 1837: The smallpox epidemic had little impact on the Crow. Some Hidatsa joined the River Crows to escape the disease.
- 1845: The River Crows attacked a Blackfoot camp, taking many women and children captive. Some captives were later returned.
- 1851: The Crow, Sioux, and other tribes signed the Fort Laramie Treaty. This treaty aimed for peace and defined tribal lands. However, the Sioux soon ignored the borders and expanded into Crow territory.
- 1860s: The Sioux took over the western Powder area from the Crow.
- 1866: The Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho defeated U.S. Army forces in Red Cloud's War. This showed the U.S. could not enforce the treaty borders.
- 1868: A new Fort Laramie treaty gave the Crow's Powder River area to the Sioux as "unceded Indian territory." The Crow then gave up more land to the U.S. and accepted a smaller reservation.
- 1870: Sioux warriors killed nearly all 30 Crow warriors in a battle in the Big Dry area.
- 1873: Sioux attacks continued on Crow reservation lands. Crow chief Blackfoot asked the U.S. military to stop these invasions.
- 1875: Crow chief Long Horse was killed in a fight with Sioux warriors.
- 1876-1877: The Crow sided with the U.S. during the Great Sioux War. Over 160 Crow warriors became Army scouts. They helped the U.S. against their traditional enemies, the Sioux and Cheyenne.
- June 25, 1876: The Battle of the Little Bighorn took place on the Crow reservation. The Sioux and Cheyenne defeated General George A. Custer's forces.
- 1877: Three Crow scouts fought in the last battle of the Great Sioux War in the Wolf Mountains.
- 1918: The Crow started an annual gathering to share their culture. This event, the Crow Fair, is still celebrated every August.
Crow Culture and Daily Life
Food and Hunting
The main food source for the Crow was the American bison, also known as buffalo. Before horses, hunters would sneak close to bison, sometimes wearing wolf disguises. Then they would chase the animals on foot and kill them with arrows or lances. Horses made hunting much easier. Riders could make the herd stampede and shoot bison from horseback.
Besides bison, the Crow also hunted bighorn sheep, mountain goats, deer, elk, and bear. Buffalo meat was often roasted or boiled in a stew with prairies turnips. Parts like the rump, tongue, liver, and heart were considered special treats. Dried bison meat was mixed with fat and berries to make pemmican. The Crow also gathered wild plants like elderberries, wild turnips, and Saskatoon berries.
The Crow often hunted bison by using buffalo jumps. A "buffalo jump" was a cliff where bison were driven over the edge. "Where Buffaloes are Driven Over Cliffs at Long Ridge" was a favorite spot for the Crow for over a century. Before a hunt, a medicine man would perform a ritual. He would sing sacred songs and ask the Great Spirit for success. This ritual helped guide the bison towards the cliff.
Homes and Travel
The traditional Crow home was the tipi or skin lodge. It was made from bison hides stretched over wooden poles. The Crow were known for building some of the largest tipis. The poles came from lodgepole pine trees. Inside, buffalo-hide seats and mattresses were arranged around a central fireplace. Smoke escaped through a hole at the top.
Tipis were easy to set up and take down, and they were light. This was perfect for nomadic people like the Crow who moved often. When collapsed, the tipi poles were used to make a travois. A travois is a frame pulled by a horse to carry belongings and small children. Many Crow families still use tipis today, especially for events like the annual Crow Fair. The Crow Fair is known as the largest gathering of tipis in the world.
The most common way the Crow traveled was by horse. They got horses by trading or raiding other Plains tribes. The Crow had very large horse herds, sometimes tens of thousands. Horses were very valuable for trade and showed a warrior's wealth. Horses also helped the Crow become powerful warriors. They could perform daring moves in battle, like hanging under a galloping horse while shooting arrows. Before horses, dogs were used as guards and to pull travois.
Clothing and Style
Crow clothing was different for men and women. Women wore dresses made of deer and buffalo hide. These were decorated with elk teeth or shells. In winter, they wore leggings and moccasins. Crow women usually wore their hair in two braids. Men's clothing included a shirt, leggings with a belt, a long breechcloth, and moccasins. Bison fur robes were often worn in winter.
Crow men were known for their long hair, sometimes reaching the ground. They often wore their hair in a pompadour style, colored white with paint. They also wore two hair pipes made from beads on the sides of their hair. Bear grease was used to make hair shiny. Warriors and medicine men sometimes wore stuffed birds or feathers from eagles, crows, and owls in their hair. The Crow wore different headdresses, including the famous eagle feather headdress and the split horn headdress. Traditional Crow clothing is still worn today.
The Crow People are famous for their detailed beadwork. They decorated almost everything with beads, especially ceremonial items. Their clothing, horse gear, cradles, and leather cases were all adorned with beadwork. They used leather from buffalo, deer, and elk for their clothes and pouches. Crow women did this work, and some were experts.
The Crow developed their own beadwork style, called the "Crow Stitch." They mainly used geometric shapes like triangles, diamonds, and hourglass figures. They used many colors, but blues and pinks were common. They often used a white outline to make certain colors or shapes stand out.
The colors had special meanings. Pinks represented the rising sun, and yellow was for the East. Blue symbolized the sky, and red was for the setting sun or the West. Green meant Mother Earth, black meant defeating an enemy, and white represented clouds or rain. While colors had common meanings, the meaning of shapes could be personal. A triangle might mean a tipi to one person, or a mountain to another. The beadwork showed respect for the land and sky.
Beaded clothing included robes, vests, pants, shirts, and moccasins. A beaded robe given to a bride could take over a year to make. These robes often had light blue horizontal lines. These lines symbolized the young woman's new role as a wife and mother. Today, the Crow still decorate their clothing with beautiful bead designs for powwows and daily wear.
Family and Society
The Crow had a matrilineal system. This means that family lines were traced through the mother. After marriage, the husband moved to the wife's mother's house. Women held important roles within the tribe.
Crow kinship is a system for describing family members. It was identified by Lewis Henry Morgan in 1871. The Crow system is one of six main types of kinship systems.
Historically, the Crow also recognized a special status for male-bodied two-spirits, called baté or badé. One famous example was Osh-Tisch.
The Crow Tribe Today
Where the Crow Live
The Crow Indian Reservation is in south-central Montana. It covers about 2.3 million acres (9,300 square kilometers). This makes it the fifth-largest Indian reservation in the United States. The reservation is mainly in Big Horn and Yellowstone counties.
The reservation's eastern border is the 107th meridian line, except near the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. The southern border goes from the 107th meridian west to the Big Horn River. The northern border goes east through Hardin, Montana. In 2000, about 6,894 people lived on the reservation. Its largest town is Crow Agency.
How the Crow Tribe is Governed
Before 2001, the Crow Tribe was governed by its 1948 constitution. This old system had a general council, which included all adult tribal members. This council held all the government's power. It was like a direct democracy, where everyone could vote on decisions.
In 2001, the Crow Tribe created a new constitution. This new constitution set up a government with three separate branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. In theory, the general council is still the main governing body. However, it has not met since the new constitution was put in place.
The executive branch has four officials: the Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, Secretary, and Vice-Secretary. These officials also lead the Crow Tribal General Council.
The current leaders of the Crow Tribe Executive Branch are:
- Chairman: Frank White Clay
- Vice-Chairman: Lawrence DeCrane
- Secretary: Levi Black Eagle
- Vice-Secretary: Channis Whiteman.
The legislative branch has three members from each of the six districts on the Crow Indian Reservation. These districts are The Valley of the Chiefs, Reno, Black Lodge, Mighty Few, Big Horn, and Pryor. The Valley of the Chiefs District has the largest population.
The judicial branch includes all courts set up by the Crow Law and Order Code. It handles all legal matters defined in the code. The judicial branch aims to be separate from the other two branches. It has an elected Chief Judge and two Associate Judges. The Crow Court of Appeals handles all appeals from the lower courts. The Chief Judge of the Crow Tribe is Julie Yarlott.
Crow Leadership and Notable People
The capital of the Crow Indian Reservation is Crow Agency, Montana. The Crow Tribe used to elect a chairperson every two years. In 2001, the term was changed to four years. The chairperson acts as the chief executive, speaker of the council, and majority leader. The 2001 changes made the chairperson the head of the executive branch.
Some notable past chairpersons include Clara Nomee, Edison Real Bird, and Robert "Robie" Yellowtail.
On May 19, 2008, Hartford and Mary Black Eagle of the Crow Tribe adopted U.S. Senator (and later President) Barack Obama into the tribe. This happened during his first visit as a presidential candidate. Crow representatives also took part in President Obama's inauguration parade. In 2009, Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
During the United States federal government shutdown of 2013, the Crow Tribe had to stop many services. They sent home 316 employees and suspended health care, bus services, and irrigation improvements.
In 2020, Tribal Chairman AJ Not Afraid Jr. supported President Donald Trump's reelection. He also supported Republican candidates for the Senate, Governor, and U.S. House.
Famous Crow People
- Eldena Bear Don't Walk (born around 1973), a lawyer, judge, and politician. She was the first woman to be Chief Justice of the Crow Nation.
- Bull Chief (born around 1825), a war chief who fought against many tribes and resisted white settlement.
- Curly (around 1856–1923), a famous Indian Scout and warrior.
- Goes Ahead (1851–1919), an Indian Scout and warrior, and husband of Pretty Shield.
- Hairy Moccasin (around 1854–1922), a Crow Indian Scout and warrior.
- Half Yellow Face (around 1830 – around 1879), a Crow Indian Scout and war leader. He led the six Crow Scouts who helped General George A. Custer.
- Two Leggings (mid-1840s – 1923), a local group leader and war leader during the early reservation years.
- Donald Laverdure, a high-ranking official in the U.S. Department of the Interior.
- Joe Medicine Crow (1913–2016), the last war chief of the Crow Tribe. He was also an educator, historian, and author.
- Janine Pease, an American Indian educator and advocate. She was the first Crow woman to earn a doctorate degree.
- Wendy Red Star, a visual artist.
- Pretty Shield (around 1856–1944), a medicine woman and wife of Goes Ahead.
- Shows as He Goes, a war chief.
- Pauline Small (1924–2005), the first woman to serve in the Crow Tribal Council.
- Frank Shively (around 1877), a football coach.
- Supaman, also known as Christian Parrish Takes the Gun, a rapper and fancy dancer.
- Noah Watts, also known as Bulaagawish (Old Bull), an actor and musician. He is known for his role as Ratonhnhaké:ton in Assassin's Creed III.
- Bethany Yellowtail, a fashion designer.
- Robert Yellowtail (1889–1988), a leader of the Crow Tribe. He was the first Native American to be an Agency Superintendent.
- White Man Runs Him (around 1858–1929), a Crow Indian Scout and warrior. He was the step-grandfather of Joe Medicine Crow.
- White Swan (around 1850–1904), an Indian Scout and warrior.
- Plenty Coups, a Crow chief who worked with the U.S. government. This helped the Crow keep much of their traditional lands.
- Pretty Eagle, a war chief who worked with Plenty Coups to ensure the tribe's cooperation with the government.
Images for kids
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Crow Indian territory (areas 517, 619 and 635) as described in Fort Laramie treaty (1851), present Montana and Wyoming
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"Eight Crow prisoners under guard at Crow agency, Montana, 1887"
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The trading posts built for trade with the Crows
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De Smet map of the 1851 Fort Laramie Indian territories (the light area). Jesuit missionary De Smet drew this map with the tribal borders agreed upon at Fort Laramie in 1851. Although the map itself is wrong in certain ways, it has the Crow territory west of the Sioux territory as written in the treaty, and the Bighorn area as the heart of the Crow country.
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Crow Indian chief Big Shadow (Big Robber), signer of the Fort Laramie treaty (1851). Painting by Jesuit missionary De Smet.
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Lone Dog's Sioux winter count, 1870. Thirty Crows killed in battle.
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Crooks army before battle of the Rosebud. The Crow and Shoshone scouts and the Army are crossing Goose River on the way to the Rosebud in 1876. The equestrian woman may be either the Crow berdache Finds-them-and-kills-them or the Crow amazon The-other-magpie.
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Crow Tribal Chairperson Carl Venne and Barack Obama on the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana on 19 May 2008. Obama was the first presidential candidate to visit the Crow Tribe.
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See also
In Spanish: Crow para niños
