Crow

Near-legendary foes of the Lakotas, highly individualistic and competitive, and long-time allies of the United States government, the Crow people have long told that they originally raised crops and were joined with the Hidatsas. The arrival of the horse in the eighteenth century, however, dramatically changed their lives, as it did for other Plains Native peoples. By the time of the Corps of Discovery, the Crows had become noted horse riders, buffalo hunters, and warriors, seasonally moving their tepee lodges (similar to the one pictured here) across their homeland, which ranged from the headwaters of the Missouri to the Platte rivers in present-day Montana and Wyoming. Furthermore, the Crows were skilled traders, exchanging with Native villagers (including the Mandans, Hidatsas, and Arikaras) along the Missouri River. By the time of this posed photograph, though, their older way of life had begun to alter. After serving as scouts for the U.S. Army, including at the infamous Battle of the Little Bighorn, Crows in the later nineteenth century were confined to a reservation in Montana. There, helped by such savvy leaders as Plenty Coups, they confronted the severe challenges of change facing other Native nations. The old stories, values, and language have refused to die, however, and today, two hundred years after the Corps of Discovery, the Crow Nation is energetically remembering and reclaiming its heritage.

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