Frank Fools Crow facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Grandfather Frank Fools Crow
Grandfather Fools Crow in traditional ceremonial attire
Born	Frank Fools Crow c. 1890 Porcupine Creek, Pine Ridge, South Dakota, U.S.
Died	November 27, 1989 (1989-11-28) (aged 99) Kyle, South Dakota, U.S.
Other names	Grandpa Frank
Occupation	Religious leader
Years active	1915–1989
Movement	Lakota nationalism
Spouse(s)	Fannie Afraid of Hawk ​ ​ (m. 1916; d. 1954)​ Kate Fools Crow ​ ​ (m. 1958; d. 1988)​

Frank Fools Crow (around 1890 – 1989) was an important leader for the Oglala Lakota people. He was often called 'Grandfather' or 'Grandpa Frank'. He was the nephew of Black Elk, another famous Lakota spiritual leader.

Fools Crow worked hard to keep Lakota traditions alive. These traditions included the Sun Dance and yuwipi ceremonies. He believed in the Lakota people's right to govern themselves, known as sovereignty. He also fought for their treaty rights, which are agreements made between nations.

In 1973, he was a key leader during the standoff at Wounded Knee. He also wrote two books about his life and work with Thomas E. Mails: Fools Crow (1979) and Fools Crow: Wisdom and Power (1990).

Early Life of Frank Fools Crow

Fools Crow was born near Porcupine Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. This happened sometime between 1890 and 1892. His father, also named Fools Crow, was a leader in the Porcupine District. His mother, Spoon Hunter, passed away shortly after he was born.

His grandfather, Knife Chief, fought in the famous Battle of the Little Bighorn. His great-grandfather, Holds the Eagle, was a respected medicine man and holy man, called a Wičháša Wakȟáŋ.

Fools Crow grew up in the traditional Lakota way. He was raised by his father, aunt, and stepmother. He did not go to "the white man's school" because his father did not want him to. Because of this, he never spoke English fluently.

As a young man, he traveled with Buffalo Bill Cody's Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. For most of his life, he served his people as a healer, teacher, and spiritual guide.

The Wounded Knee Standoff

On February 28, 1973, members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) and their supporters took over the village of Wounded Knee. Fools Crow was among them. This place was important because in 1890, the U.S. Army had massacred followers of another Lakota leader, Spotted Elk, there.

The Lakota people had faced many challenges since that time. Their traditions, religion, and language were suppressed. They continued to demand their land back, as promised in old treaty agreements.

Today my people, and all native people of this continent, are changed —degraded by oppression and poverty into but a semblance of their former being;  health is undermined by disease, and the moral and spiritual life of the people deadened by the loss of the great sustaining forces of their devotional ceremonies. 

—Luther Standing Bear,  1933    

In 1972, Dick Wilson became chairman of the Pine Ridge Reservation. Many people saw him as corrupt. He was willing to give up more Lakota land, even the sacred Pahá Sápa (Black Hills). Wilson used government money to create his own private security group, sometimes called "goons." This group was used to scare those who disagreed with him.

People who opposed Wilson formed the "Oglala Sioux Civil Rights Organization." They tried to remove him from power. Wilson postponed hearings to remove him. Soon after, federal forces arrived, and Wilson was cleared of wrongdoing. He then banned all public meetings on the reservation.

On the night the occupation began, AIM leaders met with traditional Oglala elders, including Fools Crow.

As the most respected elder, Fools Crow spoke to the young leaders in his native Lakota language. He told them, "Go ahead and do it, go to Wounded Knee. You can't get into the BIA office and the tribal office, so take your brothers from the American Indian Movement and go to Wounded Knee and make your stand there."

A few minutes later the meeting at Calico ended, and the caravan, fifty–four cars long, rolled through the winter night; old people and kids and tough guys and aunts and uncles. ...  Dennis Banks rode in the lead car with Chief Fools Crow, and on arrival at Wounded Knee, a hamlet of around one hundred residents, people from the car gathered at the mass grave for a prayer with movement spiritual leaders Pete Catches and Leonard Crow Dog.

—Smith & Warrior, page 201

Fools Crow was listed as a supporter of the movement. After the occupiers declared themselves the "Independent Oglala Nation," Fools Crow traveled to the United Nations with Matthew King, his interpreter, and Russell Means to speak.

The occupation lasted for 71 days. It ended when an agreement was reached between federal officials and a Lakota group, which included Fools Crow. The President's representative, Hank Adams, brought a letter asking for the occupation to end. Fools Crow and other leaders accepted the offer. The agreement promised that White House representatives would visit Pine Ridge to discuss the treaty and deal with Dick Wilson. Fools Crow told the AIM leaders it was time to end the standoff.

Buddy's death, which saddened everyone, convinced Grandpa Fools Crow and the other elders that there had been enough death. Since we were too few to fight and too many to die, Fools Crow asked the Wounded Knee leaders to try to find a peaceful resolution. On May 2, a Department of the Interior negotiator stated for the record, "I do have the authority to insure that the Government of the United States, and probably Congress, will discuss anything with your chiefs, anything and everything you want to discuss about the 1868 Treaty ... I have the authority to tell you that any and all criminal violations against you by any outsiders will be prosecuted. I do have the authority to tell you that members of the tribal government will be prosecuted." ... Once again, we Indians had accepted the white man's promises —just as our ancestors had. Once again, the government of the United States of America had lied.

—Russell Means, pages 292 & -3

After the death of Frank Clearwater at Wounded Knee, his wake was held at Fools Crow's house. His body was placed in a tipi for mourners to pay their respects.

In May 1973, negotiations were said to have taken place at Fools Crow's house. Dick Wilson, the tribal chairman, showed disrespect for Fools Crow and Lakota traditions. On May 17, the Oglalas had their promised White House meeting. Fools Crow was there, but he was told that the historic treaties were no longer valid.

Fools Crow spoke at a congressional hearing in June 1973. He explained his reasons for the occupation, mainly the removal of Dick Wilson. Senator George McGovern said he would try to remove Wilson. Fools Crow pointed out that McGovern had promised this before, but problems continued.

In the dark month of March 1975, at least seven people, two of them young children, perished in the AIM–goon warfare on Pine Ridge. ...  Meanwhile, harassment of traditionals continued. Bullets were fired through the house of Matthew King, an Oglala elder and interpreter for Chief Frank Fools Crow, and Fools Crow's own small house in Kyle, with a lifetime's belongings, was burned to the ground; both old men were threatened with death by marauding goons.

—Peter Matthiessen, page 133

Prayer Before the United States Senate

In August 1975, Fools Crow and other activists went to Washington D.C. They wanted to discuss the 1868 Treaty, Lakota sovereignty, and ongoing problems.

On September 5, Grandfather Fools Crow gave the opening prayer for the United States Senate. This was a very important moment. Here is a translation of his prayer:

In the presence of this house, Grandfather, Wakan Tanka,
and from the direction where the sun sets, and from the direction of cleansing power,
and from the direction of the rising, and from the direction of the middle of the day.

Grandfather, Wakan Tanka, Grandmother, the Earth who hears everything,
Grandmother, because you are woman, for this reason you are kind,
I come to you this day to tell you to love the red men,
and watch over them, and give these young men the understanding
because, Grandmother, from you comes the good things,
good things that are beyond our eyes to see have been blessed in our midst
for this reason I make my supplication known to you again.

Give us a blessing so that our words and actions be one in unity,
and that we be able to listen to each other, in so doing,
we shall with good heart walk hand in hand to face the future.

In the presence of the outside, we are thankful for many blessings.
I make my prayer for all people, the children, the women and the men.
I pray that no harm will come to them, and that on the great island,
there be no war, that there be no ill feelings among us.
From this day on may we walk hand in hand.  So be it.

On the same morning as this prayer, the FBI took strong action against the property of Leonard Crow Dog.

Fighting for the Black Hills

On September 10, 1976, Fools Crow gave a long speech to a Congressional committee. The speech was called the Joint Statement of Chief Frank Fools Crow and Frank Kills Enemy on Behalf of the Traditional Lakota Treaty Council. In this speech, he strongly asked for the Black Hills to be returned to his people. This speech was later printed as a poster and shared widely.

Family and Passing

Fools Crow's first wife, Fannie Afraid of Hawk, passed away in 1954. His second wife, Kate, died in October 1988. Frank Fools Crow himself passed away on November 27, 1989, near Kyle, SD. He was believed to be 99 years old.

Important Sayings

Survival of the world depends on our sharing what we have, and working together. If we do not the whole world will die. First the planet, and next the people.

The ones who complain and talk the most about giving away Medicine Secrets, are always those who know the least.

Film and Books

• Screenwriter John Fusco was like a family member to Fools Crow. He based the character Grandpa Sam Reaches in his film Thunderheart on Fools Crow.
• In 1990, John Fusco brought actor Robert De Niro to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to meet Fools Crow. They exchanged gifts in the traditional Lakota way.
• Audio Cassette: Fools Crow Holy Man (released May 1, 1993).
• Books with Thomas E. Mails:
  • Fools Crow, University of Nebraska Press, 1979, 1990
  • Fools Crow: Wisdom and Power, Council Oak Books, 1990, 2002
• Suzanne Dupree wrote Frank Fools Crow Knowledge and Truth - Gift from The Ancestors (2nd Edition, 2014).