FOR THE GOOD OF THE TRIBE: THE LAW OF THE CROW NATION DURING THE BUFFALO DAYS
A Paper Submitted to Professor Rennard Strickland University of Wisconsin Law School
In Partial Fufillment of the Requirements of Law 528-940
by Clarence Thomas Belue December 12, 1989, from U. of WI. Library
I have included it as one of the best factual descriptions, including the clans, genealogy and raising of children. Enjoy:
INTRODUCTION
ENVIRONMENT AND THE CROW BUFFALO CULTURE
THE WAY OF THE CROW NATION
JURAL POSTULATES
CRIMES AND TORTS
TRAGEDY AND TREACHERY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INTRODUCTION
Plenty Coups, the last chief of the Crow Indians, died March 4, 1932. He was last for the simple reason that Crow men became chiefs only by valor in war, that is, by counting coups, and the last Crow war party for earning coups occured in 1888 (Nabokov 1967, 193). How ironic that the name of the last chief would imply an an abundance of the very thing that, for the lack of, led to the end of the chiefs.
With the passing of Plenty Coups, the great chiefs who had
ruled the plains and mountains of Crow Country during the buffalo
days, like the buffalo itself, were gone forever. Only images of
their magnificence now remain, images that can seen by viewing
the records left by those who actually saw these men. Denig, the
19th century Indian observer, saw them as "perhaps the handsomest
body of Indians in North America" (Denig [1856] 1961, 154, 155).
George Catlin, artist and traveler among virtually all of the
tribes of the plains, said of them:'
I have just been painting a number of the Crows, fine looking and noble gentlemen. They are really as handsome and well-formed a set of men as can be seen in any part of the world. There is a sort of ease and grace added to their dignity of manners, which gives them the air of gentlemen at once. I observed the other day, that most of them were over six feet high, and very many of these have cultivated their natural hair to such an almost incredible length, that it sweeps the ground as they walk; there are frequent instances of this kind amongst them, and in some cases, a foot or more of it will drag on the grass as they walk, giving exceeding
grace and beauty to their movements (Catlin 1841, 49).
He wrote this in 1832, probably as he painted a watercolor that gave the Western world its first image of the eagle feathered war bonnet, which has come to universally, and falsely, symbolize all Indians. Entitled "He-jumps-over-everyone, A Crow Warrior on Horseback," it also depicts the extremely long hair he described, as well as a war bonnet for the warrior's horse.
Crows , as Catlin noted, were generally taller than other Indians, and took great pride in height, accentuating their stature by shaping their forehead locks into a pomadour. For an excellent example of this impressive fashion look at the page after next, an 1880 portrait of the great Crow chief, Medicine Crow. The pomadour was unique, and a common method of distinguishing Crows from other Indians (Lowie 1954, 53).
The first white men into Crow Country, apparently the Verendrye brothers, French explorers from Canada, in 1743, described magnificent Indians they named "le Beau Homines, " the beautiful men. Most authorities agree these were the Crow (Brown 1961, 22, 23; contra: Bears 1970, 23-27) .
Showing off their beauty was a common social practice of Crow warriors. On "Saturday night" doting wives combed the long hair of their husbands and helped them into their best wear. Warriors would then strut and stroll through the camp to show off and woo other women. Sometimes wives were jealous,but more often they viewed their popular man as an object for their own pride.
These beautiful men symbolize the way of the Crow people of the buffalo days. That great people, officially recognized in 1851 as the Crow Nation (11 Stat.749), created a culture and laws that reflected their deep relationship with their surroundings--most significantly their lands. As Joe Medicine Crow, Crow historian and antropologist said, of his ancester's relationship to the land, "It was, to the Indian, life itself" (Medicine Crow 1939,12). The land gave them the buffalo, which in turn gave food, clothing, even their tipi shelter made of the hides. The land fed their horses that carried them where ever they wanted to go. So endeared were they to the land that they practiced a national ritual, performed each spring when the entire nation was camped together. At this time they ceremoniously planted, the sacred tobacco plant as a symbol of themselves, an orphaned people who were adopted by Crow Country, the land in which they had been "planted." Thus they celebrated and "cultivated" themselves as a chosen people in a promised land. (Nabokov 1988, 358).
Maintaining control of a promised land was not easy. It was especially hard for a small group of people, surrounded by many enemies on all sides, all of which, coveted Crow Country for its rich buffalo grasses, water, and the good life it provided. Defense of the land was as important as the land itself, so that for the land to be life, war also had to be life. And as war was waged by the men—the warriors and chie£s--they became symbols of the way of the Crow Nation.
The purpose of this paper go behind those symbols, to describe the social system, and its laws, of those men of war.
The paper is divided into to five parts: first, an outline of the important environmental factors that influenced the development of the culture; second, a description of its salient features necessary to understand the jural postulates underlying its legal system; third, a statement of the jural postulates forming the basis for its laws; fourth, a formulation of its laws; fifth, a short account of the events of tragedy and treachery that destroyed the Crow buffalo culture.
ENVIRONMENT AND THE CROW BUFFALO CULTURE
The Crows fashioned their culture mostly in response to their surroundings. They are believed to have originated in Minnesota. In very early times they migrated to the Dakotas, Canada, and finally to Montana where they reside today. They are distant cousins of the Sioux, but that is remote (Lowie 1956, 3). They are more closely kin to the Hidatsa, with whom they lived as one group until a split occurred, the Crows moving west to Montana and Wyoming, and the Hidatsa remaining in North Dakota. When the two groups split is not known with any certainty (Denig 1856, 138, fn. 2). For our purposes, it is safe to say that the Crows were separated well before 1700.
The Hidatsa were semi-sedentry, while the Crows were solely hunters, following their food sources, primarily the buffalo. The geography of their hunting grounds was a major influence in the development of the Crow buffalo culture. The Crows, both anciently and today, proudly call their territory "Crow Country." Alhough it might have extended farther at one time, the territory described for the Crow Nation in the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie (11 Stat.749) adequately describes their territory. It roughly included all of Montana south of the Missouri River, west of the Powder River, and east of the Crazy Mountains, together with the Big Horn Mountains and Big Horn Basin of Wyoming. In all this area contained over 38 million acres, larger than the State of Pennsylvannia or Wisconsin.
The location of Crow Country almost mandated a war society (Stafford 1971, 2, 15; Medicine Crow 1939, 55; Curtis 1909, 39, 40). The Crows were surrounded by enemies, and had few natural barriers to protect them. To the north and west were the Blackfeet; to the west the Sioux; to the south, the Cheyenne, and Arapahoe; to the west the Shoshone, Flathead and Nez Perse, James Mooney, Bureau of American Ethnology, estimated the populations of these tribes in 1780 as follows (Lowie 1954, 10,11) :
Blackfeet:15,000
Cheyenne3,400
Arapaho3,000
Crow4,000
Sioux25,000
Shoshone1,500
Nez Perce4,000
Hence, the Crows, a nation of 4,000, had 51,900 enemies. How they were able to defend themselves and their territory against such overwhelming odds, is a question only answered by analysis of their ingenious society, viewed as as if it were an army.
A second factor of geographical influence on the culture was the bountiful food sources of Crow Country, principally buffalo. Denig noted in 1856, having studied most of the tribes of the West, that the "portion of their [Crows] country lying east.
Historic Crow Homeland the mountains is perhaps the best game country in the world" (Denig 1856, 139). As Plenty Coups, said: "Our country is the most beautiful of all. Its rivers and plains, its mountains and timber lands, where there was always plenty of meat and berries, attracted other tribes, and they wished to possess it for their own" Linderman 1930, 47, 48).
A third factor was the horse. It came to the Crows via the Spaniards, Southwest Indians, and Shonshone traders about 1735 (Frey 1987, 12). It is well known how it enabled Indians to become hunters, primarily of the buffalo. It also facilitated the long movements necessary from one grazing area to another. It provided a means of transporting the large tipi the Crows, developed as a lodge for their families. The horse not only replaced the dog as "man's best friend," but it quickly became, like the land and the buffalo, part of life itself. The Crows became the richest nation in horses of any Indians of the plains {Denig 1856, 144). The horse became their medium of exhange {Medicine Crow 1939, 18). The culture developed a part of its war psychology around acquisition of horses. The mark of a real man, and the only way to become a chief, or have any status in the tribe, was to achieve one of four well defined coups, one of which was to capture a picketed horse in an enemy camp and return it to the Crow Camp. At the camp, the horse would be given to clan members and others. The warrior would be the camp hero, thus "re-charging" his courage for his next war party, when he would again risk his life for the welfare of those of the camp.
A fourth factor also arises from the number of Crow, as compared to their enemies, and as noted above. The only way such a small tribe could defend itself against the larger tribes all around it, was to develop a unified, trained, fearsome military force. There was no room for division of opinion; factionalism would be fatal. The modern state of Israel is an example, a small state, which has survived threatened destruction from virtually all its neighbors, only because it developed a superior and respected military force. The Crows had a need to do the same thing. They adapted their religious, social, economic, and political practices into a unified and integrated whole that produced highly motivated militaristic chiefs and warriors (Lowie 1954, 202).
These four factors, the location of Crow Country surrounded by enemies, the quality and quantity of food sources, the acquired need for the horse, and the development of military leadership, molded a group of self-seeking individualists, families and matrilineal clans, a few bands loosely organised as a tribe, into a unified body of people willing to give of themselves for the preservation of their territory, and for their way of life. They thus became a nation, the Crow Nation, and as any nation, a people with their own peculiar way--their own law.
THE WAY OF THE CROW NATION
The way of the Crow can be understood by examining their government, religious practices, clans, social societies, cermonies, and their way of marriage. For purposes of description and analysis, these topics will be articulated seperately. This, however, is not descriptive of the culture, as each facit was an integral part of each of the others.
Government Asside from the government of families and clans, Crow government was simple. It was the government of the camp, that is, of the group of people, no matter what number, camped together at a given time for the purpose of communal defense, welfare and socialality. The size of the camp varied according to the availibility of buffalo, water, and grass for horses in the area of encampment. During times of sarcity, camps were small; in times of plenty, they were large. Of course, a large camp was preferred because of its superior defense capability. But, availibility of resources prevented practice of the ideal. Nevertheless, at least once a year, when the grass was green, and the buffalo fat and plentiful, and the time was right for the planting of the sacred tobacco, the whole nation would camp together {Nabokov 1988, 407-410; Old Horn 1989, interview).
But, most often there were at least three camps, one for each of the bands, the river Crow, the Mountain Crow, and an offshoot of the Mountain band call the Kicked-in-their-bellies.
These three, and at one time a fourth called the Beaver-dries-its-fur, were formed primarily to protect Crow lands, "the sacred mountains" (Big Horns) according to Dale Old Horn (Idid.). Each camp, regardless of size, had certain governing officers with very limited power. The first was the camp chief. He acted in consultation with other chiefs who sat in council with him from time to time. Any medicine men or weather prophets might also sit in council. At council, the head chief could decide where and when to move to the next campsite, and when and how to conduct the communal buffalo hunt. He also chose from the organized societies of warriors, which society would serve as the "Ones who resist" or camp police for the season. The camp police functioned somewhat under the direction of the camp chief, but often acted solely from preception of their role and according to circumstance. They were a major enforcer of law, but not the only one by any means, as will be made more clear hereafter. If smaller camps joined to make a bigger camp, or if the bands all came together, the new camp was led by the chief of highest rank. The chief of highest rank in the nation, and the camp chief, should the whole nation camp together, was the chief recognized by popular concensus as the chief who had attained the highest status among his peers according to a well defined system for evaluating performance of warriors in the field of battle. He was called "Owner of the Camp" (Old Horn 1989, interview; Wildschut 1975, 34). Thus, there existed a sort of hierarchy, of leaders with very limited power, with the owner of the camp at the top, and a descension to camp chief, chief, pipe carrier (leaders of war parties), and warriors at the bottom (Ibid.).
This system for acendency was based upon four recognized feats of valor called "coups." They were, probably in order of their importance, first, leadership of a successful raid upon the enemy, second, capturing a horse picketed in a hostile camp, third, being first to touch the enemy in a given battle, and fourth, snatching a foeman's bow or gun. Only when a warrior achieved at least one of each of the four coups was he recognized as a chief. No man, no matter how smart, or otherwise outstanding among his people, could rise in status, except by his prowness in the field of battle.
This was the system for leadership succession and the hierarchy of leadership. It applied to war parties as well. Any warrior could organize a war party at his will. But the number who would follow him into battle was dependent on who valued his credentials as a leader, the strength of his medicine according to his past victories.
This simple, but effective form of government had several important features. First, it favored no family, clan, society or group. He led who succeeded. This principal prevailed in all groups within the nation. Not only would a camp chief step down, if his moves of the camp did not produce food, but leaders of war parties only led as long as their medicine proved good on the field of battle. It was rule by the successful. Crows were empiricists.
Second, there was never any dispute over who would lead. If a brave thought he could lead the camp, ail he had to do was get some one to fellow. If they did, and he succeeded in protecting his group and finding food, he would continue. If not, the group would find its way back to another camp, provided their failure as a camp did not end with their death. Thus, a high degree of individualism prevailed within communal groups
.
Third, opportunity for leadership, adventure, status, and wealth, were solely dependent upon one's ability as a warrior. This was a great incentive for young men, and key to the development of such great horsemen and warriors. Plenty Coups dreamed of being a warrior and worshipped them as a boy. He said, "How they inspired me, a boy aching for age and opportunity. We followed the buffalo herds over beautiful plains, fighting a battle one day sending out a war-party against the enemy the next. My heart was afire. I wished to help my people" (Linderman 1930, 50).
Fourth, this system of government was integrated into religious, familial, social, and economic systems, as well as the military system, so that a person came to feel totally sustained by, and committed to, the group. One seeking coups needed the help of his fellow warriors, his wife, clan members, medicine, and others, if he were to succeed. There was very little incentive to ever break custom or law of the camp. This system
of government helped achieve obedience to law with very little forced compliance.
If force was used, it was usually applied by the dog soldiers. The most common application was during the communal hunt or in battle when over anxious braves would attack before the signal was given (Curtis 1909, 112; Lowie 1935, 5). In such cases, the dog soldiers would beat the horse back into line, or whip its rider. They also gaurded conduct in the camp and would whip those who did not properly break camp at the call of the camp crier (Curtis 1909, 11). One interesting case was told by Le Forge, a squaw man who lived most of his life with the Crows. He and two friends mischievously drove a young buffalo into the camp one morning. It tore up several tipis. The dog soldiers banished them from the camp for one moon and confiscated their horses as restitution to the owners of the damaged tipis (Le Forge 1928, 145). Fasting Crows did not practice religion as whites do in America today. Spiritual stirrings, attempts to attain assistence in the business of life from supernatural sources, for the Crow, were totally integrated into their role as warriors. A warrior seeking help in battle might address a prayer to the "First Maker" a form of Supreme Being, at least in the sense of belief that one entity had formed the universe, and could be called upon by men, but it would not be correct to equate this practice with their religion. It would be a major mistake to say that they believed in "God" as Christians profess to believe. Nor was the sun the center of their worship, even though it played a large role in the sun dance and other worship. The mainstay of the spiritual life of the Crow warrior, and of all Crows, was the practice of seeking the power of spirit beings through the vision quest. As Lowie described it:
When hard put to it, the Indian tried to meet divinity face to face. A direct revelation without priestly go-between was the obvious panacea for human ills, the one secure basis of earthly goods. It might come as an unsought blessing, but only by lucky fluke; hence a Crow strove for it by courting the pity of the supernaturals in the traditional way. To any major catastrophe, to any overwhelming urge, there was an automatic response: you sought a revelation (Lowie 1935, 237).
Almost every boy, as he became a man, would go into the mountains and fast for about four days. According to Dale Old Horn, this is called fasting, not to be confused with the vision quest of the Sioux (Old Horn 1989, interview). While fasting, the young man would wear very little clothing, and only a buffalo robe for protection at night. He usually would cut off the tip of a finger, then bleed, and pray until he fainted. Curtis lived among the Crows just after the turn of the century and published their report of the words of a typical prayer as follows:
I give you this, my body. May I have many horses, and and many women of good looks and industry in my lodge. May my lodge be the gathering place of many men. I am poor; give me these things that through me my people may be bold because I live. Let them use me as a shield against the enemy (Curtis 1909, 53). And how would he get the horses? By success in war. How would he get the attention of women of good looks? By having many horses, and becoming a chief, only obtained by prowness as a warrior. How would he get people to gather to his lodge? By having many coup to count and associated stories to tell at his campfire. In short, a warrior's measure of success, even with great visions, was according to his success in battle.
If a vision was given, the seeker usually saw a personage, alhough the messenger might come as an animal. The supernatural adopted the seeker and and bestowed his spirit, or power upon him. Usually future events were fortold. The identification of the supernatural power with an animal, less often a plant or rock, was also revealed, along with instructions as to how the seeker should make his medicine--the symbols representing the vision, the spirit, and its guiding power.
After the vision closed the young man would return to the camp and called in the elders where he would relate the vision. If they concurred that it was authentic, he would then make his medicine bundle, a leather bag with the objects he was instructed to make or assemble. This bundle he carried with him to war. At the time for battle, he would "make medicine," that is, he would get into the bag, put on the colors of paint to his face and body as he had been instructed, place the objects prescribed upon his body, sing whatever sacred song he had been given, and thereby be prepared to receive the guildance and protection promised by the spirit.
As already stated, Crows were strict empiricits. If the warrior succeeded in battle, or if his revealed prophesy came true, his medicine was considered good. If it failed he would seek another vision. If he could not get good medicine by vision, he would eventually try to buy some from a chief who held good medicine and was willing to sell it.
The key to success in government, wealth in horses, catching a beautiful woman, and every other pursuit, came down to the power of a man's medicine, measured only by success in battle. By visions, and all the ritual and activity associated with them, the primacy of the defense of Crow Country was reinforced, in almost every activity of the warrior.
Clans Matrilineal clans provide very strong social bonds among Crows. Lowie reported the existence of thirteen active clans in 1935 (Lowie 1935, 9). Medicine Crow confirms that there are still ten fully functioning in 1989 (Medicine Crow 1989, interview). All customs practiced with the clans will not be mentioned here, but those most relevant to an understanding of Crow law in the day of the buffalo are:
1.A person can not marry within his clan.
2.A husband can not ever talk directly to his mother-in-law.
3.A man is at liberty with wifes of his brother, or sisters of those wifes. But he does not interact with his mother in law,or those of his own clan.
4 . Children are often raised by clan members. Boys by uncles of the father's clan, and girls by grandmothers of the child's clan.
5.Persons have rights to call upon clan members for assistence.
6.Obedience to custom and law is often induced by teasing or ridicule by one's teasing clan, the clan of a person's father. A person teased must accept the taunt graciously.
The ways of the clan system reinforce a person's identity as a part of the culture, strengthening his motivation to behave for the good of the whole, thus balancing the great deal of freedom he has to seek individual satisfactions, against the need for unity necesssary for the corrjnon defense.
Societies Other organi2ations that bonded men socially for the military duty were the war societies (Lowie 1935, 172). At one time there as many eight such societies. They provided a fraternal order among the warriors. Each club, as they are sometimes called, had its distinctive clothing trimmings, songs, and dances. Most often members came from the same clan. Members were recruited. As mentioned above, each spring the camp chief would choose one of the societies to act as the dog soldiers for the season. With that exception they had no governmental function, except as they contributed to the war psychology.
Ceremonies A number of ceremonies also figured prominently in the life of the Crow. Again, their function was to provide social bonding, identity, motivation. Brief descriptions of the principal ones will suffice for present purposes.
The sun dance is best known. As Lowie said, "essentially, the Crow Sun Dance was a prayer for vengeance. A man overcome with sorrow at the killing of a kinsman resorted to this as the most effective, if most ardous, means of getting a vision by which he might revenge himself upon the offending tribe" (Lowie 1935, 297; Curtis 1909, 67; Medicine Crow 1939, 92). Although this ceremony was seldom practiced, maybe once in three years, it was by far the grandest of the Crow ceremonies. Like the vision quest, the object was to obtain a vision, in this instance for the specific purpose of obtaining of view of how to lead a successful raid upon those who killed kinsmen of the participant.
The ceremony usually takes place over a period of six days, during which time the participant, known as the whistler, spends a great deal of his time without food or water, suspended with skewers piercing his flesh. All this time he would blow a whistler, praying for his vision, as he gazed at a sacred doll hung from the top of a pole.
The whole camp was involved. War captains sought auxiliary visions, and the counting of coups heightened the entire camp's concentration on revenge. This was ceremony to prepare individuals and the nation for war. At some point in time the whistler would faint from exhaustion, and during unconsciousness would receive the vision that would point the way to obtain the revenge sought against the enemy.
The sweat lodge figured into most other ceremonies. It was used any time a warrior sought purification, prepratory to some sort of communion with the spirits, some prayer, or ceremony. It was practiced in a rounded lodge in which red hot rocks were placed. Participants closed all openings while in prayer. They poured water onto the rocks creating a steam bath effect. Those inside received both spiritual and phyical purification during the ceremony (Curtis 1909, 54).
Other ceremonies were practiced, but one of greatest significance was the sacred tobacco planting ceremony. As mentioned above, this ceremony celebrated the relationship of the Crow people with the land, identity and nationhood. Nabokov gives elaborate details as to how the ceremony was performed (Nabokov 1988, 253). The belief was that the planting and harvesting of the sacred plant would insure the continued existence of the Nation (Lowie 1935, 274; Curtis 1909, 61).
Marriage Military life influenced marriage. Men were gone for long periods of time. Fortunes were uncertain, death could come at any time. Men seemed to need a great deal of recognition or status to fufill the military role. As was mentioned at the beginning, they often dressed in their best and went through the camp looking for the attention of women, and this was often accepted by wives. Fidelity in marriage was expected, and the chastity of women was even eulogized in the sun dance ceremony, but license on the part of both sexes seemed to be quite normal. If a man caught his wife in the act, he would beat her or her paramour, take horses, and possibly turn her out, a sort of divorce. She could do likewise, if he was unfaithful. Often when men came home from a war party they would find the lodge empty, or would be told that their wife had gone to the lodge of another man. The role of the male at such times was to act as if nothing had happened, to accept it. He would be ridiculed if he chased after his wife.
Marriages were usually monogomous. But men did take others, especially the wife of a fallen brother.Wives were often purchased from their parents, especially beautiful girls. Men had to have horses to "buy" women. They need fine clothes, and status. All these things came only one way, by success in battle. Thus the war psychology was reinforced by marriage practices.
Probably the most peculiar practice, was the yearly wife capturing activity of the war societies. A member of the society, who was having an affair with another man's wife, would say that he wanted this woman. He and the members of the society would then surround the woman's lodge, the man would go in and take her. They would ride off together on a war party with the society, and the scorned husband would lose his unfaithful wife. Medicine Crow points out that this seemingly cruel practice had its value. Broken marriages were ended quickly, and efficiently; "Wives were made faithful, and the faithful wife was accorded honor and respect. Thus to be faithful was the ideal" (Medicine Crow 1939, 40).
Women As would be expected, because men conducted war, they ruled the house. Women prepared all the food, clothes, and prepared all hides, both for trade, clothes, and tipis. They picked berries and dug for roots. The women were generally content. Pretty-shield, a woman of the buffalo days shared her life with her biographer as follows:
"War, killing meat, and bringing it into camp, horse-stealing, and taking care of horses, gave our men plenty of hard work; and they had to be in shape to fight at any time, day or night. We women had our children to care for, meat to cook, and to dry, robes to dress, skins to tan, clothes, lodges, and moccasins to make. Besides these things we not only pitched the lodges, but took them down and packed the horses and travois, when we moved camp; yes, and we gathered the wood for our fires, too. We were busy, especially when we were going to move. I loved to move even after I was a married woman with children to take care of. Moving made me happy {Linderman 1932, 134).
Alhough not the egual of men, women had a good deal of freedom, and could assume men's roles (Lowie 1935, 60). They owned their own property, including the lodge and horses. They were known to be medicine "men" and warriors (Linderman 1932, 9; Beckwourth 1856, 201, 202; LeForge 1928, 188). Again, Pretty shield reveals the heart of a Crow woman, not only toward the days of the buffalo, but toward those that followed:
"When the buffalo went away t he hearts of my people 1 el1 to the ground, and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened. There was little singing anywhere. Besides, you know that part of my life as well as I do, You saw what happened to us when the buffalo went away....The happiest days of my life were spent following the buffalo herds over our beautiful country. My mother and father and Goes-ahead, my man, were all kind, and we were happy. then when my children came I believed I had everything that was good on this world. There were always so many, many buffalo, plenty of good fat meat for everybody.
Since my man, Goes-ahead went away twelve snows ago my heart has been falling down. I am old now, and alone, with so many grandchildren to watch-..I do not hate anybody, not even the white man...I have never let myself hate the white man, because I knew that this would only make things worse for me. But he changed everything for us, did many bad deeds before we got used to him.
Probably the greatest reflection upon the Crow way for women comes from the practice that war parties had of capturing women and children of enemy tribes and adopting them in as their own wives. These captured women were not known to try escape and return to their own people (Denig 1856, 148). Apparently the way of the Crow was was preferred by women over that in other tribes.
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GenTrails
Big Horn county.
WELCOME TO A VIEW OF MONTANA IN THE SUMMER TIME.
This site includes Crow and homesteader genealogy information. Many names of early Montanans in border crossings from Canada, Military wars, census information, history. I do answer queries and help you get started. If you have data to contribute please e-mail me.
My name is Jo Ann Boyd Scott and as your host I try to post as much data online online as possible in order to make it freely available to all.
I gratefully accept contributions of raw data such as census information, marriage/birth/death records, obituaries, county histories, biographies, old newspaper items, maps, anything that would help someone build their family tree!! E-mail me.
This site is linked to and from the websites, Montana State Genealogy Trails site which includes a list of all the 56 counties in Montana; to the Big Horn County Genealogy Trails site and to the Crow Reservation site.
Data is added daily to this site and the above sites. New is the beginning of the 1885-1914 Indian Census;new banner and Miss Indian America, Lucy Yellow Mule from Wyola, MT. A history is included. This can be found on Sheridan County Wyoming web site.
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Sheridan WY. the nearest large town to the reservation.