The Crow Nation is a Plains Indian tribe whose name means “people of the great beaked bird.” They live on a large reservation in Montana and still teach Crow as the first language. The tribe had a clan system and adopted a migratory lifestyle. They were the first Plains Indians to conduct peace negotiations with white settlers and many fought with the Americans against their old enemies, the Sioux. An 1888 treaty established a reservation in Montana where three-quarters of the tribe’s members live. The tribe has opened a coal mine for jobs and income.
The Crow Nation is a Native American tribe classified as a Plains Indian tribe. Their name, pronounced Absaroka or Apsaalooke in their native tongue, means people of the great beaked bird. To white settlers, this description sounded like a crow, and the tribe eventually adopted that term as its legal title. Most of the Crow live on a large reservation in the state of Montana. Unlike many tribes who have lost their native language, Crow is still the first language taught to most children living on the reservation.
At one time, members of the Crow Nation lived in mud huts in North Dakota settlements where they farmed and hunted. According to oral tradition, they had a falling out with a related tribe called the Hidatsa over the buffalo, and the crow migrated west. Some settled north of the Yellowstone River in the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming and Montana and became known as Mountain Crows. Other members of the tribe settled further south along the Big Horn, Powder, and Wind River valleys, and were identified as River Crows.
After the Crow nation moved west, they abandoned the settled life of huts and farms and adopted a migratory lifestyle that followed game and the seasons. Like other Plains Indians, the Crow used tipis, tents made of long poles and hides that could be set up and taken down quickly. They mainly hunted, fished and gathered wild plants and nuts for food. They were known for their riding skills and for the brilliant dyes and featherwork that decorated their costumes and blankets.
The tribe had a clan system consisting of six distinct clans; the Big Lodge clan, the Greasy Mouth or Sore Lip clan, the Ties the Bundle clan, the Whistling Water clan, the Bad War Deeds clan, and the Piegan or Treacherous clan. As with most tribes, these clans were matrilineal, meaning that the children belonged to the mother’s clan. When a couple married, the groom moved in with his wife’s family, and women were generally given equal status in their husband’s tribe.
As white settlers poured into the Northwest, the Crow initially offered resistance. Chief Plenty Coups, the last traditional chief of the Crow Nation, quickly realized that resistance would not stop white encroachment. He believed the white man would stay, so it was important for the future of the Crow Nation to befriend the newcomers. As a result, the Crow were the first Plains Indians to conduct peace negotiations with white settlers, and many Crow warriors served as scouts for the army and fought with the Americans against their old enemies, the Sioux.
An 1888 treaty established a reservation in south central Montana between the Wyoming border and the town of Billings, MT. About three-quarters of the tribe’s members live on the reservation which is one of the largest in the nation. There are vast reserves of coal beneath the land, and the tribe has opened a coal mine which provides jobs and income for the Crow Nation.
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