Kakawissassa (Crow at Rest) Archives - Lewis & Clark Research Database

Tent of Many Voices: 07170604

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:36:07 +0000

well good afternoon everyone and Welcome to our final program here in the tenam Min voices for today and welcome to core Discovery 2 core Discovery 2 is a national traveling exhibit it’s been on the road since January of 2003 traveling on the Lewis and Clark Trail and we’re actually now on our return Journey we’re on the home stretch we’ll finish up in September in St Louis and that’ll wrap up core Discovery too as we travel all these different communities along the Lewis and Clark Trail we set up this 10 many voices and we invite in a wide variety of people to share different aspects of that Lewis and Clark expedition but also to share the history and the culture of all these indigenous Nations all these American Indian nations along the Lewis and Clark Trail and we have with us this afternoon Burton pront and verton is a crow spiritual leader uh he was telling me back in 1986 he represented the indigenous peoples of the Americas in a c Italy for a world peace and prayer day was it World Day of Prayer world day of prayer and he was there with the dolly llama with Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa and representing the crow people and the American Indian people in general he’s going to talk about Crow history and culture religion and spirituality so let’s give buron a warm welcome to the ten many voices thank you very much first of all I’d like to welcome all the visitors that came to abala Country we call ourselves abala in our own language our traditional name abala back in the day when a fur trapper came out here our first encounter with the non-indian was a fur trapper that came to our people before mon existed before Wyoming existed at that time the fur trapper came to us and connected with us and asked us who we are what are we called and we told him that we’re called abala in our traditional language and then he said what does that mean and we told him it means very simply Children of the long beaked bird the long beak bird so from that encounter he went back east and told the other non-indian people back East that he met a group of Indians out in the Plains area that call themselves abala then they asked him what does absalan mean and he was very proud he says children of long beak bird and then they asked him one other question they said which bird is that and a Gentleman says you know scratching his head he says I I forgot to ask him that question but you know there’s a lot of crows out there so they must be the talking about the Crow tribe so today 2006 we’re still called the Crow tribe the correct interpretation of the long beak bird is the Raven we are always called The Raven people by the other planes Indians so at least that fur trael didn’t misinterpret it that long beak bird as being the turkey right somehow Crow sounds a little better than turkey otherwise we’ would call The Turkey tribe today anyway as a gentleman introduced me I was part of uh a world gathering for peace in a CZ Italy in 1986 Pope John Paul II at that time had gathered the different traditions of the world to assemble in ay Italy to pray for world peace I found it very interesting that that day in October of ‘ 86 a selection let me go back just a little bit a selection committe in New York City knowing that the PO had invited the indigenous people from the Americas to represent them nominations were made of about 75 people spiritual leaders across the Americas from January of 1986 they met several times in New York City where there was a kind of an elimination process eventually in June of 1986 they selected the two individuals to represent the indigenous people from the Western Hemisphere my uncle John pretty on top myself were the two that were selected so in in order to prepare myself for this big undertaking for World gathering for peace in a SE Italy I followed my Crow tradition as a child growing up by my grandfather I was told that our leaders in the past Chief PLU died 1932 uh medicine Crow two leans um bellrock all of our great Chiefs among the obala went and fasted up in the mountains receiving a vision from the Creator they came back home and became prophets for our people this is pretty much the same way as the one that was nailed to the cross that you call Jesus Christ he too went into the desert didn’t he for 40 days and 40 nights fasted thought food and water eventually receiving a vision came back and became a prophet became the savior of all people with that in mind there was a connection with that spirituality and our spirituality here in abala country because of our history as a child growing up with my grandfather him sharing the stories with me how these individuals in the past leaders of the crow went and fasted for 4 days and four nights without food and water came back and became leaders for our people I was fascinated as a child growing up so I too at the age of 27 or 28 I went up the mountains and fasted since that time until the present day I’m standing in front of you I have fasted 12 times without food and water and each time there was a different experience that the Creator blessed me with on the fourth morning with that in mind before I went to AI back in 1986 I went to the Crazy Mountains behind Big Timber Montana before Big Timber existed before Montana existed the abala that was one of our sacred mountains The Crazies we call in our traditional language aaia translation means Jagged Mountains if any of you are familiar with the Crazy Mountains there are about 11,000 th000 ft high and it’s above the timber line those Jagged Granite Peaks our language is very Des descriptive so that back in the day absal called that sacred Mountain aaia Jagged Mountain often times our young leaders at that time went up in the mountains faster and came back home our connection with that sacred mountain is very strong going back in our human history to the point point where being a small tribe tribal people other Plains tribes would often come and challenge us for our what we considered as absalan land our hunting areas at that time when we were outnumbered and chased by the enemy we would often go into the Crazy Mountains aaria and knowing the other tribes knowing of our connection with that sacred Mountain they would turn away and leave us so that was kind of like a fortress for us with all that in mind I went up the crazies before I went to Ay Italy and fasted for four days and four nights to prepare myself mentally physically and spiritually to represent the indigenous people that day I was very fortunate to be selected so I went in that way after my fast we traveled to AI landed there the Vatican came and welcome us at the Rome airport and the Vatican picked up our tab of going and coming back also uh 10 years previous in 19 we went in 1986 so 19 I think no no I take that back a short two years before that time which would have been about 1984 Omar Gaddafi had went to Rome airport with his terrorists and shot everybody up and there was over 100 people that were killed that time Omar kenafi made a threat in 1986 that he was going to come back to Rome and do the same thing so when we arrived in Rome all the people that were there welcome us from the Vatican representing the pope and they took us to the side area where the normal entry into that country they took us to the side area and they put us into limousines and they drove us to the Vatican during that time of N9 days they had three plain clothed Italian police they with us so they were with us for the N9 days we were there eventually we came back now I met Mother Teresa the doy Lama John Paul II all the Archbishop runs from canbury England was there but we gathered together with one voice the Buddhist the Hindu the Muslim the Shinto Faith zorran the Jewish the Christian churches into one and we represented the indigenous people from West hemisphere with that in mind the respect that was shown to us was something that I didn’t expect they laid out the red carpet for us that day when we wore our headdress and our buckin outfits and we raised our pipe in prayer for peace I can always remember the audience I can remember the the cameras flashing all around us and when we prayed in in our tradition language when we raised the pipe in that outdoor Plaza outside of St Francis Basilica you could hear a pin drop the media couldn not come near us because of the security we’re a section off I sat here Mother Theresa sat right across from me that was quite an experience afterwards I met Mother Teresa and I told her I says Mother Teresa Native American I come to you in peace she she was only about this tall very small lady she says Americano IND Diego and I said that’s close enough and I extended my hand I said it’s an honor for me to meet you I extended my hand she took one step away from me like this put her hands together and went like this she was greeting me in her way so I took a step back from her and a both of us are going like this now with all the media around us and she had that big smile on her face and then she went like this so I took a step forward we shook hands and she gave me a bear hug I always remember that she gave me a bear hug and I told her I says Mother Teresa can you please give me a blessing and for such a small lady she’s my color for such a small lady she had big hands she put her hand on my forehead I had my headdress on I went like this so she touched my H head and gave me a blessing then she took a step back and says you give me a blessing I said yeah I can so I asked her open your hands like this which she did and I had my pipe with me so I took out my pipe and I stood in front of her like this and I pointed at her forehead and I made a circle around her and at the conclusion we gave each other a bear hug and about that time security took her away and took me away but that was what an experience also I want you to know this that our C culture has taught us that all people on the face of this Earth our brothers and sisters our elders have taught us that there’s no distinction between God and all of his children on this Earth no distinction between color races of people nor there’s any distinction between male and female therefore with that in mind I went with open arms to pray in the C traditional way using the pipe it’s a experience in my life I will not forget thereafter I met John Paul two more times John Paul II it’s history now because John Paul has passed on Mother Teresa also has passed on so that’s part of history now in the November 10th issue of the Time Magazine if you open it up right in the center of that article November 10th issue of the time you’ll see a full page it calls a summit for peace in a Cy Italy John Paul is pictured with Archbishop runy from Canterbury England Russian Greek Orthodox priest on either side of him picture of Mother Teresa down at the bottom as a picture of my uncle and myself and I’m the one with the white buck skin raising that sacred pipe that’s something that is part of history and I’m I’m very proud of that and I thank the Creator for that in our cow culture and in our history going back to our C creation story Upsala creation story we’re told that God has made us the Absa people out of Earth formed us into his image and breathed life into us and set us on this Earth at that time he put us in this place where we exist today this is our c human history our Origins our beginnings as human beings our creator blessed us and put us here with that in mind the Creator told us in our human history that there will be times when there are skirmishes coming into other people coming into our area of land to try to take it away from us but he told us in the Covenant that one of our great Chiefs back in the 1700s Chief no vitals sheep de Chief noal was one of our great leaders and from that Vision Quest that he had made as young man God gave him the gift of tobacco told him that if you use this tobacco to pray with me and to smoke with me I will listen to you that Covenant that he had made as long as you are a people on this Earth you’re not going to number in big population wise but rather other people will come to your neck of the wood to take away the land that I have given to you because it is the best that I have created so with that in mind in our human history our encounters with our surrounding Plains tribe the Su the shine the arap would often team up and come to our neck of the woods to annihilate us but through The Graces of the Creator there was a battle that occurred outside of PR Montana all the s had come to us to annihilate us they had us cornered and it was the creator of that day that saved us riding a pinto horse a red pinto horse when they had us completely surrounded this gentleman that rode a red pinto horse rode fearlessly and attacked the enemy went into their ranks killing the Su the sh and rapo came came back to us joined us and the second time he went in there the people knew that the second time he came that their arrows could not touch this person it hit and fell he went through killing some came back and the third time he attacked all the crows being outnumbered some have said 20 to1 that day some have said 17 to1 but we were completely surrounded and on the third attack all the crows gathered their courage and follow follow behind all those people they chased back to the dtas and that’s part of our history that we still exist today and from that Covenant of the Creator blessing us in that way that he will come to us in time of need for us to call him by his first name IG Bala his name translated means first maker that he has blessed us in that way and that Covenant that he has said with our people still exist today back in the uh after our first encounter with the non-an people that came to us we’re told that the B the yellow eyes that came to us came to us in big numbers it was best for us to make agreement with them become allies with these people which we’ve done PLU on his vision quest was told that you need to shake hands with the Bosa and be friends and be out I with them therefore you have a better chance to exist in this world for x amount of years so survival we shook hands with the US government 1825 we signed the Friendship treaty with the US government that day we became allies with the US government by shaking hands we helped them when they came across our abala land in turn when we had a skirmish with other tribes they too would support us so this friendship treaty was put in place in 1825 in 1851 our first treaty with US Government Fort larmy Treaty of 1851 set aside what we considered as absal land at that time the four areas that set aside the absal land would be the Three Forks area going in a direction where it meets the Big River we call OBS solid Big River would be the Missouri to the north it goes downward to the Powder River into the Black Hills so that was our boundary to the east to the South was the area that what is called Wind River today which takes you halfway into Wyoming that was our boundary to the South and to the West the boundary was the headwaters of the Yellowstone River which takes you into Yellowstone National Park that covers 38 million Acres at that time consequently in 1851 when we signed that treaty with our leaders thumb imprints back in 1868 the G government came back and told us that they gave us too much of land so from that treaty that they had broken with us they took away 30 million left us with 8 million from other sessions of land with the government today we have 2.2 million acres and also today we have 11,000 Pro enrolled members we’ve never been big we’ve always been small compared to the Navajo over 250,000 navajos in Arizona and New Mexico area compared with them we’ve always been small but the Lord has blessed us the creator has blessed us in a way that we still speak our absal language today which is other Plains tribes have lost their languages and losing their language they have lost pretty much their culture as well here in abala we still speak the ABS language my brothers and sisters what I just said with you inala is very simply along with the color of the skin that God has blessed blessed me with is my language and my spirituality we’re told that our language is sacred because it came from him so we still speak our language today probably 90% of our people that are 35 and over speak the absalan language our challenge today is a 34 down to the newborns they’d rather speak English than they would Absa because we have technology that has kind of put a r B in front of our our people because from early morning we turn the television on our children watch television they hear the English language up until the night when it’s time for bedtime we shut it off so today our challenge is our young children we need to somehow get in touch with them and have them speak the Absol language that’s so important for us part of our history we have Rich human Traditions among the Absa and and strong in spirituality that too has a place within us this morning there was a dance presentation that I MCD and we saw little babies that were 2 years old with their little traditional outfits out here dancing that’s the emphasis we put forth to our children emphasizing that it is good to near your culture and your traditional teachings as I speak today I have in my computer I’m the public public relations director for the co- tribe in my computer today I have put in place the traditional teachings of our elders given to us from generation to generation oral history oral Traditions teachings and those that I remembered for my grandfather when he was still alive and I was a little boy growing up with him I remember the dos and don’ts do this do this do this he just don’t do this don’t do this don’t do this I call them the dos and don’ts of our traditional teachings and I put into my computer the ones that I remembered number one listing number two and I have 92 dos and don’ts at this time we no longer teach them among the abala today the reason I recorded all this is that in time when I’m finish with that project I’m going to get a copyright have it printed and I’m going to sell that but I’m going to make that free for the abala so they will never go without our traditional teachings today within our culture we emphasize not only our language but our traditional celebrations such as dancing such as Indian hand games Indian games that we compete against each other within our cruel spirituality today and within our culture ladies and gentlemen we have seven clans that we follow each and every Tribal member belongs to one of these seven clans were a tribe that followed their mother’s Clan at Birth I belong to the whistling water because my mother is a member of the whistling water so all of her children including myself are a member of the whistling water at Birth but our father’s Clan has are pretty much like in the Catholic church I’m also a Roman Catholic by the way being asked to be a Godfather a God parent at baptism we have that responsibility when we stand next to a child or an infant during that baptism that we will be their spiritual directors with that in mind within our structured Society we live in today the clans of our father become our spiritual advisers and those people that pray for us we call them our clan uncles and aunts of that same Clan so with myself my mother being whistling water at Birth I became a whistling water but my father’s Clan belonging to the big Lodge the big Lodge Clan within the obala today are my extended family of spiritual advisers and spiritual people that pray for me it is often times when we go into the sweat lodge within our spirituality that we go to cleanse oursel mind physical the four beings so so that once we cleanse ourselves in that extreme heat in that Dome that looks like an looks like one of them Igloo from Alaska that round Dome this one that’s made out of Willow covered with u canvas and blankets and rocks are taken into that small area enough for about seven or eight people in that one area they dig the ground about this deep heat the Rocks outside they bring it in and put it into the that deep cut off area and when the men all go in there together the men would say a prayer and splash water on top of that to provide this sauna for us this is a cleansing that we do for ourselves today anyone that is going and traveling and doing something extraordinary often would use that way to pray for each other to give guidance for that individual another way of prayer also among our people as youth the piote the Native American church this too is held in the teepe we go inside we pray all night and within this sacred way I’m because I’m a Catholic I’m going to use the comparison of the two ways being a Catholic when I enter the the church we sit down often times the priest will pray and then smudge the area with incense to purify US during that Mass the Catholics believe and I too believe that the bread that he puts into that sacred cup and blesses it and becomes the body of Christ much in the same way when he blesses that wine becomes the blood of Christ with that same analogy in the Native American church when we take that peity button and we bless it it becomes the body of Christ when we bring in water and bless that water that too becomes the blood of Christ so we we take that in that sacred way there are sacred songs that are sung and prayers that are used for that night we give up our sleep so in exchange the Creator will bless us with our prayers for our family and relatives among the abala to day not only the the Clans but there’s individuals that go into the sun dances they will Fast for three or four days without food and water that too is used today as I speak Again part of our spirituality the tobacco society that God gave a covenant made a covenant with us that if we use the tobacco to pray to him that he will bless us that too is being used today I am one that goes up in the mountains and fast for four days and four nights and that too is part of my spirituality to me if I go into a Catholic Church in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome or St Patrick’s and billings Montana or St Dennis Parish here in cow agency when I prayed to the Creator in that environment or whether I’m outside on top of the Crazy Mountains when I pray to the Creator it is to the one creator that I have I’m praying to whether I’m in a Catholic church or up on top of a mountain so with that in mind God is everywhere he is near us as in those special times God as we pray to him will connect with us and bless us in that good way this is our spirituality also on the flip side we have the games that I mentioned we have the hand game tournament uh every year around April and May we have the hand game tournament where all the six different districts among the abala will go and represent each district with a team by team I mean young men and women some young men will sing the guessers up on the main floor right up in front and back will be all the women that participate so it’s for men and women they have the junior category which will be 30 and under 31 on up is the adult category we have the arrow throwing tournament each spring they have arrows about this long with a pointed iron attached to the the base which is pointed then feather is attached to the top so when they throw they throw out a Target arrow that they throw first and everybody throws their Arrow to try to hit that Target Arrow there again this is a game that the Absol used there are many others like that that we still use today going back to our human history our first encounter that I shared with you with a nonin person that came among us we call him BOS cheeta today standing here 2006 we still call the non-an people B translation means yellow eyes apparently that individual at fur chop that came Among Us that day that connected with us asked us who we were and went back East apparently had some type of disease where the yellow of his or the white of his eyes were yellow so they call him Bida translation means yellow eyes so to this day it’s not a put down it’s just the way that things happened back then that we still call the non- people Bia yellow Wise It’s not a put down don’t take me in the wrong way also today in our history as in the past to the present day animals are very important for us we have horses before the horses arrival we use dogs dogs would often be used in transferring one from one location moving camp following the Buffalo herds to another Camp the dogs were used in that way to car the travels with personal belongings that were put on top of travels and then when the horses was introduced to us it meant easier for us to move from place to place because horses are bigger and much stronger than the than the dog so with that in mind during that time when the horses were introduced to us it was like getting into to the new era of our people we went from the dog days to the horse days and then from there we went another step forward and that was the introduction of elala goes by itself the word that we have for cars Vehicles the old modalities that you crank up front like this back far as they start up and use those automobiles Fords were out here before John Dillinger was John Dillinger was out here but those are different transitions between one generation to another from modalities today we have what is used by everyone Vehicles four-wheel drives and all this one of our traditional teachings is to respect aawa the mountains were told that back in the day before the arrival the Europeans out here the medicine herbs that were taken from the ground to doctor each other with different ailments we would often go to the ohawa the mountains to get those herbs the medicine people would take those herbs with the different mixture of things that they would help each other with common coals coughs and others that was among our people back then so as you can imagine people today going to the pharmacy get their medicine the mountain back in the day was our Pharmacy that’s where our leaders went to get those herbs and plants to mix and to help people we’re told to respect the ohawa Crazy Mountains the Big Horns the wolf mountains the big horns on reservation also we’re told in our tradition to respect each other and to respect all people this is again one of our traditional teachings one must respect themselves and respecting others and we’re told in our tradition I said earlier to respect all people because the white race the yellow the black and the red all those four races of people are brothers and sisters this is what is taught to us as children growing up so with that in mind the oriental people the yellow the white people the black people African-Americans and the red the indigenous people of this land were told that all these four colors are created by Him and put on this Earth to live in peace and harmony with each other so that is our traditional teachings which we’ve still follow today so when we see our brothers and sisters that come among us we welcome them we embrace them sharing good things with them our culture has taught us that our history is so important that it has to be printed today this oral history that we have used from day one up until up until recently of oral history has often changed so with that in mind we’re told and reminded we need to record it on paper black and white and we have done this I’m very happy that we’re starting to do all this also we’re told in our tradition that every morning when the sun comes up from the East all people are on this Earth need to recognize that God has blessed you with another brand new day that has never been used by anyone be thankful to the Creator that he has blessed us with a beautiful day again raise your hands to the Creator and say ah hope thank you and be the best that you can be not necessarily for yourself but for other people around you it is good when you share good stories and use your words very carefully in a way not to hurt anyone but rather rather build someone up it is good that we do this in that pipe ceremony I’m going to emphasize the importance of understanding about that ritual when I use the sacred pipe in prayer and I pray sun people often ask oh these uh abala or these indigenous people must have many gods that’s untrue when I raise that pipe to the sun my question is this who created the sun some rocket scientist and Einstein the Creator made that sun and put it in its place therefore because God created the sun his spirit is within that son when I lure to the mother earth I smoke with Mother Earth when I smoke with her who made the Earth God his fingerprints on Earth therefore God’s spirit is within that Earth when I prayed to the water with that pipe who created the water e first maker I prayed to the winds in the four directions who created the air Peter therefore his spirit is within them so it’s through them that we reach the Creator with our prayers much like in the Catholic Church being a Catholic when he used the Rosary in prayer it is through that Rosary that we reach the Creator when we open up the Bible read the scriptures the Sacred Scriptures it is through that we reach the Creator much in that same way our interpretation of life and our spirituality is in within those elements sacred elements of those four sacred elements if God at this moment took all the air from the atmosphere who can survive what can survive nothing if all the water that’s here that God has put in place if the water has all disappeared who can survive nothing and if the sun quit coming up from the East to provide us with this heat give us energy without fire we’re nothing all those four sacred elements including the Earth is within our bodies when you touch each other hold hands you feel the heat that is inside us that fire is within us the water when you move around sometimes you feel the water slushing around you can feel that as well how does Earth come into us all of our food comes from Earth into our bodies therefore Earth is part of us and all of us as we sit and breathe that sacred air is within all of us this is our spirituality I’m going to leave a portion of this time for questions and answers at this time I’m going to conclude see if there’s any questions at this point from anyone if you have a question for Burton please do raise your hand I’ll bring the microphone around that way everybody can hear your question any questions for Burton pretty on top any part that I that you like for me to talk about that I have not discussed please bring it out and I will share that with you all right well it doesn’t look like any questions Burton okay I’m going to pass off the question here at this time they have to take a test and if they pass it they can go they fail it they have to stay here for another hour I’m just easy all right well that’s

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Tent of Many Voices: 07180604

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:36:03 +0000

feel good okay well here we go then all right I’d like to welcome everybody to the Ten of mini voices and just to let you know we are of course adding one more voice to our story today part of our traveling exhibition here in the crow agency area is to bring many folks from the local area to share and so today is my great pleasure to introduce Sharon stand over Bull and Patrick stands over bull um tell you a little bit about our presenters today they’re going to be talking about Crow history and lore and Patrick right here to my left he has been a past co- tribal chairman he um has his Bachelor of Science and secondary education and has taught for many years at the ply coup High School um at the high school he taught history social studies and Crow studies he’s also an ordained minister of the or of the Aro Creek Christian Center and so um it’s real honored to have you here Patrick today and then I’ll let you know a little bit about Sharon uh Sharon stands over bu has her Bachelor from eastern Montana college she also has a master’s from Montana State University in Boseman and School administration and she has been a teacher and principal uh she currently is working at plenty coup State Park um with the friends of Chief plenty coup Association she is also an ordained minister so we have um some wonderful folks here that wear many hats here today and attended many voices and without any more time we want to welcome both of you to the tent and we’ll give you a little round of applause and let it let you speak Patrick so thank you thank you I guess I can start right off by uh you did all the introduction pretty well and I don’t think there’s any further need to talk about myself I will be talking a little bit about TR history and my wife Sharon will tell some stories so without without further Ado you know I’d like to uh well first of all I guess the CR history is so vast that I have about 15 minutes to talk and and it it be be well if I just kind of condense it into one area of History uh one of the things that important in our history is that the crow reservation one of our travel Chiefs way back in 1500s name was no intestines no vitals he’s the one that kind of found a place is here and he called it the great spirit put this in the right place and at the right time and so one of the things that kind of interesting to know is that uh the Cru tribe of Indians have never been prisoners of War there’s only two Indian tribes and the Nations that have never been prisoners of war and that’s the part of the Cal Indians now in Florida and during the Great Indian removal of 1828 under President Andrew Jackson the the the Trail of Tears SoCal took place and part of the simal tribe went and hid in the Everglades and they were there until always was quiet and they come out so they never really they never really had a a treaty or a uh relationship with the tribe where the with the government where they were prisoners of War you look at the other tribe uh that were fight especially the the the PLS Indians Chief like stinu and Red Cloud and S crazy hordes and the rain in the p and all those uh shant and Sue chiefs were famous but at the same time what happened to them eventually they were all CAU and they become prisoners of War uh down in Southwest tribe the the hicoria and the patch San car inded you’ve got the gerano and those uh leaders down there that were resisting the the westw movement of the white man the Europeans they eventually were caught all those Indian trap that resisted down especially down in Arizona the theore and the tribe they were put under the stock car they were captured and put in a stock car on the Railroad and they shipped them back e and that the last they heard of that that Bunch sbu eventually was killed by his own people in in South Dakota so you see that Chief uh Jo Chief Joseph of the next p also he was famous for his speak I will spe I will fight no more forever but he was caught resisting the movement but the Crow Indians never have resisted they were friendly with the the Europeans our leaders told us way back then their advice was that there’s a group of people coming and and they’re just like the ants there’s so many of them they’re blueeyed and blond haired don’t try to fight them be friends with them they will never be able to stand against those people and that was the advice of our people probably by by no intestines and no vitals uh that was their advice that we had so ever since that time the crws have been a a friendly uh tribe of Indians we were never a big tribe but we were we were very uh able to maintain our our uh our people and our way of life uh the westm movement of the 1825 the goal was discovered in 1849 in San Francisco go was discovered in P Peak uh go the Black Hills and it was a large movement of miners coming from the West it pushed uh the Su and those uh those engines in that area Westward they were they were losing their hunting ground and so the crows on the other hand they turn around and they they help those wagon trains that would move to the west of the homesteaders and they would protect them against the cheyen and the sus and the the black beets and the rabbit holes and so as a result we have been good relationship we have a good land if you look at our reservation we have three mountain ranges we have excuse me three uh three valleys the the the little Horn Valley here the pig Horn Valley the next Ro the valley and and then the prior Creek Valley and the arrow Creek and uh we have three Mountain R the prime mountains the big horns and the Wolf mountains and so we have a very very good land here because of our relationship with the government uh we have some leaders that are not feisty so to speak but they have good advice that gives to us and even today we are still uh very much uh uh at peace with the government the the first treaty we had was in 1825 and that was called a CR friendship treaty and that treaty didn’t really stipulate any special Provisions but it just required that that the crows made a commitment to protect the white man in the movement West down the years we uh come along in 1851 with the first Fort laramy treaty and this Treaty of 1851 one provided 39 plus million acres of land for the cro Indians that’s a lot of land and the south southern boundary it goes all the way down to L Wyoming the northern boundary goes up to up up to uh popular Montana and then the eastern boundary is up the Potter River and the Black Hills so we have a big area with the 1858 51 treaty when that treaty was made there was never any any uh uh I get fence or anything reservation boundary set up and 11 years later I believe it 16 years later in 1868 that would be what 7 16 years later the Congress of the United States said hey we’re going to look at this line that we give to the crows uh they were press by the basically the Sue Indians and those people in that area because of The Westward Movement they were being pressured for by the white man with with a hunting area and when they look this way in the Plains Indian the crows had all that land with all the Buffalo and elk and plenty of berries and a lant of Plenty so the S and the RAB holes and the ton the black feet they canif and they got together and they tried to Wi out the crws and this is the result of this battle you’re going to see this afternoon Battle of the arrow Creek and that was one of the results of the the plan’s movement uh the plane Warfare the PLS Indian and and Congress look at that the pressure from the sus the sus are a big nation they convinced the government that hey look at the crews got too much land they’ve got too much hunting ground why don’t you cut some of it off and give us someon and they were already talking treaties at that time in the 1850s and so they went back to call the second Ford ly treaty and they called all the Indians down there and our chief was sit in the middle of the landine or cheap black foot he took a delegation they went down there and they cut from 39 million Acres they cut our land back to 9 million Acres it took 30 million Acres away and what the what’s really amazing about this story is that the chief Blackfoot and his delegation did not really understand what was going on their interpreter was a Frenchman named CH I forgot what his first name is CH and he was a half breed french man interpreting for us and he was the one that wrote all the provisions in that 18568 treaty 18633 that 17 years after 1851 Congress said that it never ratified to 1851 Treaty so we’re going to take 30 million Acres away to provide more agage hunting ground for the other tribes well they came back and about four or five years later the crows had a meeting and they begin to it wasn’t supposed to be there but it was too late 5 years after the larmy treaty and by the way Fort ly treaty was not in the town of Fort ly Wyoming Fort laramy is over at by torington Wyoming where they was a fort laramy there that’s where they called these two treaties in the 1850s and 1860s and so as a result of that 9 million Acres we have this landine here and it’s still quite a few acres and if you look at the 1851 Treaty the northern sh reservation was on our was was in our reservation boundaries so that reservation they have belonged to the crow by the 1851 treaty and so a lot of arguments can be put up today but it’s a lot of water under the bridge also the 9 million Acres they start giving away to the white settlers as they come in around the turn of the century 1890s through 1900s a the line was seated for a minimal amount of money the Western area the West the West uh uh portion portion of our reservation was given away for from Roseman Montana all the way to Hundley proy Montana all that was given from the middle part of the Yellowstone River was given away for as Homestead for non Indian I think they got about a million dollars for it and then over here on the North side the the tarpet Creek area where we have our gold Co mine that was given up called a seated trip that was given up for about $900,000 and that money were used to build this canal uh they were they were already projecting to build the ill Dam and up there they built that canal and they paid the crow they took their own money and they pay them 25 C an hour using horse teams to build that canal and when you think about those things it’s kind of It kind of uh feel that you know it’s not a right thing when you sell your land you seated you get the money they use that money to pay you 25 cents an hour to build a ditch and today you go over to the the born bench over there there’s a the Big Horn Valley there’s that big Canal that comes from the Yellow Tail Dam and that that land is fertile and we call that the Bre Bre basket of the croon reservation and all that is up there used to be the world’s largest wheed farm one track cam Corporation died by the name of Cam developed the open field mining called the the uh dry line farming technique he developed that technique to to create wheat in that area and it was from the big hornn put Big Horn all the way down 50 60 Mi below pass Harden that ought to be what used to be one track of wheat Fields even the Russians and the Chinese would come and listen I me look at that place and they wanted to know how to develop agriculture in their land in Russia and China so you see there’s a lot of good things it was the blessings of the great spirit when we see these things happen no vital was probably a prophetic Chief when he said that this land is in the right place it became that way today you look at it we have our eastern part of reservation is underling with coal there’s a lot of from B Montana to the Sheran the B of the the ground is covered with natural gas we have a few spots of reservoirs of oil within our reservation we have our sarber Creek oil field that’s been producing for many years but see this is why when the chief said it the great spirit put it in the right place we were we were blessed I guess but by by saying that we listen to our Chiefs that time even to this day we we still listen to those chief of I was going talk about Chief penuse one last chief of the crows but time is running out and uh we are a blessed people here we have coal we have water abundance of water we have all kinds of minerals underlaying this reservation all we have to do is develop it but we have a hard time agreeing with one another of how we’re going to do it it’s been 30 years that we talked about developing we only developed one coal mine and that’s over at sing Creek and that was done under my Administration but nothing happened since then for over 30 years this reservation stagnated no development nothing going on no water compact but see this is a blessing that we’re we’re not taking advantage of the blessing of the great spirit we have very rich land we have agricultural land that is that is all over the wheat and alala and all over that’s why we call it the breast basket of the crow reservation the Big Horn Valley Big Horn Ben and so you look at history of the crows we are very very fortunate people I think it’s 1730s the membership the crew trap was only about 600 down in up to 1930 we got up to 8 8,000 today there’s about 12,000 crows approximately today on the crow travel membership so we’re growing but we’re still a very small uh people you look at that you’re going to see this battle of the pr Creek that battle that was one of the results of the The Westward Movement of the Plains Indians where the Su and the shines and the rabal hols and and the black feet got together they were going to wipe out the Crowes completely annihilated from the face of the earth when they came to that battle at PR Creek it was 20 to1 so the numbers that I hear was 20 to1 for everyone crow that were 22 Warriors but the men held on and that’s why today we have our we’re still a people that are still blessed we are still enjoying the fruits of the blessings of the great spirit and that’s about and con condensing from of the the history that I can give you and Sharon’s going to talk about some some some stories of the crows some are legendary some are fiction but I believe that these stories have taught us our young people a lot like I said I taught high school for 20 years and a lot of these Indian stories and uh allures have been a great benefit of our young children children to learn about their history uh old man coyote I was going to talk to you about uh the star Boy A guy by the name of kab a Grandma’s kid or he’s also known as IU and he was a guy he was a young boy that was raised by his grandma and eventually he originally originated from from the from up where the star people and she’s going to talk you about it it’s a good story remember that name IU you don’t hear that much there’s a lot of crow storytellers on this reservation but I don’t hear too much about IU you could hear about k b or Grandma’s Boy but she’ll tell you about it there’s also stories about little people with the pr mountains I’m going to be talking about these when I speak over at pomp Spiller this coming weekend I’ll be speaking there on Saturday and and Friday at pom pillar and I will be speaking on some of these stories about the little people and uh and uh the Big Horn how the big horn Ripper is name a story about the little boy that was thrown over by his stepfather and he survived he was hanging on the cliff for many days and some bornn sheep came and rescued him and they gave him the medicine and the name of the big horn the from that episode of History The Story Goes that if the crows every lose the born River that’s the end of The Crow people so there’s a lot of stories to tell to share with the people America thank you I’ll turn it over to my wife to her story it’s kind of warm here I appreciate the invitation and I am privileged today to share a little bit of what I know thank you good afternoon we are surely in a a time a season of Summer it is very very warm but but this is what summer is all about and it’s a privilege for me to come and have the opportunity to be a part of this Lewis and Clark Gathering core of Discovery 2 we as a crow people over the years have been known to be a a a people where the women are very important they um do a lot of the um decision making and we as a people have um been a nomadic people in the past and the Warriors back there they would be out hunting and uh fighting enemy tribes and it was the women’s responsibility to be at the camp taking care of all the necessary uh I details that needed to be done such as child rearing such as food Gathering as with berries and roots and setting up a teepee and keeping the inside neat and clean and providing for their family be Shing be sure uh to have everything ready before the sun came up so that their husbands would have some good to eat something healthful something that would give them strength before they would leave for the day as they went out to either hunt or to uh fight enemy tribes and so we as a crow people the women uh make a lot of the decisions and uh today we always talk about how the woman uh in the home is the one who takes care of the household the finances and uh the other day we were talking about that and one man thought well he didn’t know if that was really true but I believe for the majority of crow households it’s the woman who is in charge of many of the things in the home and so today I just wanted to uh tell you about a story that my husband just touched on very briefly uh we were on our way to uh Boseman Montana many years ago and as we were going through uh on the highway my mother looked to the left she and I were together and she said those are the Crazy Mountains and I’m going to tell you a little story about the Crazy Mountains and so as I listened she told about the time that the crows were camped around the Yellowstone River we as the crow people know Yellowstone River as the Elk River Asha that’s the name of Elk River to us Crow Indians and there’s an encampment uh that was always held right on at the edge of the river in a certain area near living Stone Montana and every year the crows would end up there for a period of time and they would would Camp there and I imagine the times that they were there were uh in times of Summer well on this particular summer day uh one of the men of the village decided Well he was going to go on a Vision Quest and so preparations were made and he went in a sweat bath and got himself cleansed and the elders prayed with him and so he made ready to go and finally I believe it was the next morning he left and he went up towards the Crazy Mountains not taking anything with him just as he was and he continued and he walked for I don’t know how many days without food or without water but he was seeking a vision he was seeking uh the great spirit to lead him to a place where he could come back and tell his people what he had heard and so as he went and continued on up toward uh the preves of the mountain and continued on for some days he became so faint that one that he finally just killed over and fell into uh the a crevice with a o a rock overhead and so he lay there for some time and while he was in in that area under that rock he uh was in a trans and he then had this vision and a voice came to him and the voice said uh uh I want you to listen closely and what I tell you you take back to your people who are camped there uh along Al River and so as he listened The Voice told him there are many many people that are coming people that you have never ever seen before they are coming and they are going to be so numerous that you will not be able to withstand them and so my advice to you is when they come that you will be a friend to them and he gave him uh an illustration like it today it must have been a hot day like today and this voice said when you see a buffalo carcass out on the pr Prairie and the meat is just there in the hot sun uh there will be flies that will be flying around this Buffalo carcass and pretty soon as the Flies are just swarming over this Buffalo carcass pretty soon these uh fly will lay eggs and they will turn into worms and then pretty soon this Buffalo carcass will be overflowing with worms that is exactly what’s going to happen to your land these people are coming from afar and they’re going to come just a few at the very beginning just a few but they’re going to keep continue to come they’re going to continue to come and you’re going to know that as they come the Buffalo is going to be gone the Buffalo is is going to be wiped away and they are bringing another animal that have white faces some are black some have spots but they are not the Buffalo they do not look like a buffalo they are smaller than a buffalo but these people are coming with their animals so I want you to go back and tell your people these people are coming they have a different color skin than you do their hair is a different color even their eyes are different but when you go back back you be telling them that we can you cannot be fighting against this people that’s coming because they’re going to overtake this whole land that is now yours and so the man woke up from this trans this vision and he got up and he found enough strength to finally get back to the crow Village and he had to Fort the Yellowstone River the Elk River and as he came to the river he must have just been so thirsty and so warm out he no undoubtedly jumped in and was refreshed and as he crossed and got back to the other side that evening uh the as the Tepe fires were burning and um Elders of the crow encampment came together he then related this story that there is a people coming and we have to get along with them because there are going to be too many of them for us to go against and so we must always remember that we have to do whatever we can to live together on this land because this is what’s going to happen the Buffalo are going to vanish and our way of life is going to change and so this was the advice given to him on his vision quest he came and told his people and I believe that may be one of the reasons today that we as the crow people The Crow Nation have never been at war with the US government and I believe maybe that’s why today we live in a beautiful area we have three mountain ranges we have a Blue River uh River Blue Water uh filled with fish that many come from all over the world to fish at and truly what Chief PLU said we are in the right place and so that’s the story that I have of the time that my mother and I motored to Boseman and I’ve never forgotten it and it all has come to pass and so as I mentioned we are a matrilineal so Society we women take uh take uh the lead in many things and even today that is the case I believe it’s us mothers that try to uh push our our children on to get higher education to do what they can to that they would be successful in this time in this world in which we live I know that happened in my own family my grandmother U didn’t have an education but she worked as much as she could and so she finally was able to send her children to go and get an education and so they went on and got college degrees and so today this is what we need to do is to encourage our young people to go and become skilled that they will have a cable skill that they can be employed and be a contributing member of society in the society in which we live today uh another story I just wanted to share was uh way back in the days when uh we were still a nomadic people and uh the people would move they’d follow the Buffalo and they didn’t all stay together there was the river Crow and there was the mountain Crow and in this particular story this is the story of a mountain Crow woman and she was a woman that was very uh um very exceptional everything she did she did to the best of her ability if their lodges were all there and you went in her Lodge it was was so neat and even the Buffalo uh shoulder blades that were used for cooking or for eating as plates they were so white and so clean she did everything meticulously well as they moved one day it was a time of berry picking like it is right now our people out in the prior Valley are going out berry picking and I believe this is happening throughout this reservation for service berries and so it was at that time and so they finally I got moved to another place and people were setting up camp and uh this woman was setting up her camp and getting everything together and one of the women was woman was so anxious to get to the berries oh she just hurried and she just put up her Camp just halfhazard and as quickly as she could because she needed to get to the berries and uh this uh Other Woman put everything up the way it should be and did things in border and but this woman she just put her Lodge up and put things in threw things in there and off she went over to where all the berries were they were just hanging from the bushes just purple and um so inviting and she was over there and as uh they were still working and this woman was over there trying to get uh as many berries as she could she uh she heard the women at the camp heard a scream they heard someone crying and yelling for help Big B and so here a bear had come a bear had come and so this woman that was so anxious to go and not waiting for the others went and she was already very much injured and eventually lost her life and I believe the uh the message to this story is that we need to do things decently in order and wait for others not always to be the first one to run and get as much much as you can and so that’s the uh the story about uh the berry picking at that time I do have other stories that I plan to share when we get to Pomp’s pillar but at this time I believe we have 10 minutes and if there are any questions and answers I mean questions will uh attempt to answer them is what I should say and again I want to thank all of you you have any questions do you have any questions for Sharon or Patrick well I just feel that this is um beautiful Endeavor the ls and Clark expedition uh came and as a result I believe that we as native people have had uh a change in our lifestyle and today uh we are out in uh American society being a part of this great nation and uh we are so happy that things are going well for our people people have jobs we live in dwellings not tepes like we did back there and it’s wonderful to go and on a cold winter morning just turn up the thermostat and uh house gets heated up and warm and to turn on the faucet and to uh get running water we have all the niceties that all Americans have and that’s a privilege to all of us I also would like to thank him the the group here for inviting us uh I think we come from a special place that I should mention prior and we got the name prior from this group that came in 1806 when they were camp at pomp pillar one of the members satday Nathaniel prior came and explored prior Creek and all the way up to uh PRI mountains and as a result it’s PRI Creek and PRI mountains and PR Montana so when I was when we were looking at this in our youth history class uh some of the kids don’t even know where the name prior came from and uh when I begin to tell them you know they they learn to appreciate that there is an ownership of this Expedition for us prior people you know we uh we uh got our name from it again I want to say thank you very much and and uh appreciate the time and effort thank you all right well uh with that um we too would like to thank you guys both Patrick Stan and Sharon Stan oful for coming and speaking in attended many voices today um it’s been a real privilege and it’s been really nice to hear what you’ve had to say and the stories You’ shared and I’m sure we all look forward to next week at pompy’s Pillar where um we’ll get to hear a little bit more from both of you it’ll be really great um I do want to let everybody

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Tent of Many Voices: 07220604

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:36:00 +0000

everyone Discovery 2 core Discovery 2 is a national traveling exhibit it’s been on the road since January of 2003 traveling along the Lewis and Clark Trail we’re actually on our final final leg of the journey we’re headed towards St Louis will’ll be wrapping up core Discovery 2 in September late September we wrapping up core Discovery 2 what we do here in the ten many voices is we invite in a wide variety of presenters to share different aspects of the Lewis and Clark expedition but also to talk about the culture and history of all the different American Indian nations along the Lewis and Clark Trail and we have with us this afternoon we have a collection of crow storytellers to share some of that Crow history and culture with us and we’re start first with Patrick and Sharon Stan over bowl and Sharon is going to start with the first story show and good afternoon I would like all of you to uh do the sign with me today is a good day today is a good day and so I would just like to share a little bit about being a Crow Indian uh I was raised as a Grassroots Crow I’m proud of my Heritage that’s what the uh the great spirit the good Lord uh chose me to be was a crow woman and so I’ve learned many wonderful things over my lifetime from my mother my grandmother and her mother and so I feel I’m very rich in my Heritage and so as we look at our Crow people we are a people that’s a matrilineal people the woman has a lot of uh uh say in the family life I’m sure it was way back in our Warrior days as it is today we have the responsibility many times that are a little bit overwhelming at times uh during the days of the Buffalo when our men were out in the War uh Waring and uh going to get Buffalo and um stealing horses and all the things that it took to be a warrior we the women were at home we were the ones who were the Tepee uh we the ones who kept the Tepee we when the people moved and we were a nomadic Society at the time uh it was the women that put up The Lodges was the women that uh reared the children was the women that disciplined them was the women that cooked the food was the women that got everything ready before their men went out to battle one of the uh things that they always made was pikun I don’t know how many of you have heard of picun but it was so rich in nutrients and vitamins it would sustain our Warriors for many days and so the women played a very key role in the household of the Native Crow people and so um even today that carries on I believe among the crow the women are also very important they make a lot of the decisions sometimes uh I guess we might be a little bit too forward but nevertheless I guess as we look back at the time when our great great great grandmothers lived They too had to be strong and they had to go and do all that they could well today I’m going to tell you a story story about a story my grand my mother told me I was on a board for uh at Montana State University of which I’m an alumni in Boseman but one day we were motoring up to Boseman and as we went by the Crazy Mountains my mother told me this story and it has stayed with me all these years and she said there was a time when uh the crows camped here and it’s um before you get to Livingston there’s a kind of a area that is circular and the crows often went encamped right there by the Yellowstone River which we crows know as Elk River eash Asha can we say it eash Asha that is the the crow word for the Yellowstone River well we were all camped by the banks of the EG gash Asha and while we were there there were many lodges that were pitched at the Tepe fires were going there was joy in the camp people were very busy doing what they needed to do to get the camp uh to a place where it was comfortable as comfortable as they could get and which was um Gathering wood and being sure that they had enough food maybe there might have been some meat out there draw drawing and so as uh we were camped there it was uh a time I believe it must have been uh during the warm season because the men were going out and this one man in particular decided Well this was his time to go on a Vision Quest and we must visualize this being the time when there were no people but native people in the area that was all there were and so as this man was going on his vision quest uh he crossed EG gash Asha Yellowstone River went across and started up toward the Crazy Mountains and these are the mountains that are are located near Big Timber how many of you know where the Crazy Mountains are okay near Big Timber and he started out and uh of course taking no water no Provisions with him but being dressed you know very minimum and then he went and he went for days I don’t know how many days but finally he came to a point in his uh Vision Quest where he fell I believe he fell under a crevice of a rock and then he was just there and in the track that he was in while he was there then someone came and spoke to him and this person that came and spoke to him said this land that you treasure this land upon which you and your forefathers have lived for many many years I guess as we would sit for eons of time this land that you so dearly love there’s going to be a great change coming and so then the voice that spoke to this man said uh I’m going to give you an illustration when you’re out on a um out hunting for buffalo on a hot summer day it’s probably a day like today and you’ve killed the Buffalo and maybe there’s a piece of meat that you’ve forgotten or decided Well I don’t really need this piece or maybe you were so busy that it’s still there well this meat is there under the hot searing sun and pretty soon the fly are everywhere and they start to get up this piece of meat and the Flies are there and then what happens afterwards you know there’s the maggots and then the maggots turn to worms well pretty soon this whole piece of meat that’s laying out there under the hot Prairie Sun pretty soon this whole meat is going to turn into a bunch of worms it’s going to be crawling with worms and that is exactly what’s going to happen to your land there’s a people that you have never seen before and they are coming and they’re going to come but there’s going to be a very few at the very beginning but they’re going to come a little more and a little more and pretty soon you see this meat that’s all covered with worms that’s what’s going to happen to your land and so I’m telling you in advance when these people come they are going to be so numerous that you will not be able to withstand them you they will come and they will they will have yellow hair some of them some of them lighter hair they’re going to be lighter skinn than you they’re going to have eyes that are blue they’re going to be people but they’re of a different tribe and they are coming and so my advice to you is when you get back to the encampment I want you to tell them when they come you need to be friends you need to be a friendly people because it’s coming to a time that you’re going to be overrun and so the best thing that I would advise you to do is extend your hand of friendship and so the man on the Vision Quest returned and returned to his people and that evening they built the fire and all the elders came around to listen to what the man had learned as he went up to the Crazy Mountains and when he uh we got everybody together they all sat down and he said this is what I heard from the voice that spoke to me that there’s a group of people coming and they’re going to be bringing an animal that is not the Buffalo the Buffalo are no longer going to be as numerous as they have been and in time the Buffalo will not be here and that’s going to be a very sad day because we have our life in our sustenance from the Buffalo we follow them and wherever the buffalo go that’s where we go because back then we were a nomadic people and those days are going to be gone but in its place there’s going to be a new animal that we have never seen before some of these animals are they’re smaller than the Buffalo some of them will be white faced some will be brown brown with spots some will be black but they’re coming and so we need to get along with these people and so over the years as time went on and of of course um different ones came also Lewis and Clark as what what we’re celebrating at this point in time uh well then the people the Europeans started to come and they became more and more and as uh the man was told in the vision our land started to dwindle and it became smaller and smaller and so here we are today I believe we started out uh with all the area Yellowstone Park the whole area but finally now today the crow people live on an acreage that is two and a half million Acres compared to what it was many many many years ago but I believe that as these men went out and they uh looked for advice by fasting and going and seeking uh I believe as he came back and told his people that our people uh listened and they listened very with a very uh uh with with concentration they didn’t just Slough it off but they took that advice and I believe today that’s why we as a Crow Nation have never had an h a battle with the US Army in fact uh you know there’s many times even during the time of the Little Big Horn battle we had some of our Crow men the crow Warriors that were scouts out there and so I believe that crows had a listening ear there are friendly people and today I believe just like P Chief plen cou said the last chief of the crows that it is so important that you and I and all the people that are here that we live together in harmony and that we are going to have a life together and we’re going to do the best we can to continue this friendship throughout the time that the Lord gives us on this place called Earth thank you I’m going to sit down if you don’t mind I have a problem with my back and I can’t stand too long but uh I want to thank the the park service for inviting us here uh to speak what little we know about the crows the crows have no written history everything is oral that’s why some stories are a little bit different from another version nevertheless there is a history that we have our history I’m a history teacher retired three years ago my information is basically from other guys researchers and what I do research on myself and I finally put up with a a document I’m about so sick which I don’t want to carry with me today I pretty much have it up here then I don’t have much time time for another reason uh there’s so much to talk about when uh our culture and our history 15 minutes is such a minimal time to try to explain but I will give you a little bit of History contemporary history and then go back just a few years actually I can go back to 1500s when I when we first recorded the some of the written history that we have some that were written and before that you know there was no written history everything was oral and so thank God for uh Joe medicon Crow and uh another forgot what the other guy name they went and got their master’s degree and uh rote their Caesar on C culture and Co history some of my information come from there plus what I have on my own so I taught uh many years at pentac Cruz High School for history I want to kind of pick up on where Sharon left Shar my wife and she just spoke and she mentioned about the man that had a vision that was told to be friendly with the with the Europeans when they came you see the one of the results I can show you today is that of all the Indian tribes in America the crws probably aside from the the SEMO that’s down in Everglades in Florida there are only two tribes that have never been prisoned of of war the rest are prisoners of War so many times those Russell means and I have go into round and around arguing about some of these things is that the crows the reason we friendly is that look at the land that we have uh no vitals in 1500s said this Crow line is placed by the good spirit in the right place we have three mountain ranges we have three river valleys at one time we owned the largest wheat farm in the world the Russians and the Chinese came up there on the on the bench of the heart born River where they come and they learn about dry land farming from the crow land so you see that we have a history that’s very very blessed by the great spirit uh we are very fortunate we can hunt you round we can fish year round and uh we live in a in a in in peace with Mother Earth so to speak and so I’m going to sit down and continue here uh the crows had three bands there were three bands of Crow tribe one is the kicking abilities they are located from around LOD gr some of you know where LOD grass is at that area around up to the brig briger Trail on the other side of the mountains that is their habitat the the the kicking abilities don’t tell me don’t ask me where they got the name Joe medon Crow has a version for that then I’m a mountain Crow from the Big Horn River this way up through the bman trail around around Prior that to the bori up to bman that was where the mountain Crow habitat is then we have the river Crow around croen and black LOD and all the way up to up to the Milk River up North toward toward belnet that was the river Crow habitat so we have three bands my chief was the last chief of the crws his name is Chief penu and he was uh designated the chief of all chiefs at one point represent all the Indians in America and so we have a history that is uh uh well I guess blessed it would say and as we come along our reservation being friendly with the with the the the the The Westward Movement the the Wagon train and so forth when go was discovered in 1849 and the Pikes Peak Discovery in Colorado the Black Hills and the different areas the goal was discovered there was an influx of miners came and there was a push of the PLS Indian from our hunting area and because of that we uh we had to uh uh go back and look at our our treaties our first treaty was in 1825 called a friendship treaty it was with the US government it’s no stipulation of a land area whatever was designated all it did was it said that we would protect these wagon trains when they come through on their way to the West Coast that the crows would ride alongside them but PR PR them from the black feet and the different tribs around the area the next treaty was 1851 it was comprised of 9 million acres of land the southern boundary went all the way down to land of Wyoming the northern boundary was all the way up to almost by popular Montana the Western the eastern boundary was up to the the pow River in Black Hills and the Western is all way up to the national park for we have 39 plus million acres in that Treaty of 1851 okay 17 years later in 1868 the government says hey Congress never ratified that treaty we’re going to go back to negotiating tables and talk with you ples Indians and the reason for that was it was a great push from the through Indians from the from the Black Hills when Black Hills was discovered they were pushed by the white Miners and there were their hunting grounds were deprived they were depleted and so they looked to the planes and they saw the land that we have plenty of Buffalo elk deer and they said hey you know let’s take care of those Crews let’s take the line from them and so because of that the government are trying to prevent a Warfare which they never have they went back to the negotiating tables and this time they said well we’re going to draft up a new treaty new reservation boundaries and this is going to be our land and our chief at the time was a chief named chief sits in the middle of the line or a chief black foot they went down there to laramy Wyoming and by the way this laramy is not in the city of laramy Wyoming the laramy is Fort laramy is over by torington on the Southeastern portion of state of Wyoming there was a a fort called Fort laramy and that was the treaty all these Plain Indians went down there and they cut our landine by 30 million Acres our delegation came back their line was from 39 million Acres they came back with 9 million Acres and so the majority of the Indians don’t even know even our delegation couldn’t even speak English but there was an interpreter name of by the name of Ching I believe he was a French half that that lived on the cor reservation he was The Interpreter to me this is my personal opinion I believe he was the one that that wrote down all those those uh Provisions in that 1868 treaty depriving us of 30 million acres and so we have 9 million Acres when we come back six years later the crows had a had a kind of a Town Council all the people got together and they wanted to reval that treaty that was that was written they went over it and chief sits in the middle of the landine sit there and said I never said that that was never in our negotiation somebody put it in there 6 years was too late too much water under the rich those speak and so our reservation was down to 9 million Acres okay and there in Wyoming some from the Wyoming border Montana Border North up to harden today in that area there was 9 million acres and so the influx of the the the Pioneers that they headed west the government would come and negotiate with our leaders we’re going to need this for Homestead are they call them seated areas for we lost the Eastern the northern part of our resent called the SE strip was given away and then this line right along here from the midle part of ow Stone to bosan was given away for about a million dollars around the 1900 and so these lines were given away piece by piece not much of it was we got a claim a while back and they paid us at cents an acre they paid us for the price back in 1800 and so it was a very disheartening thing but again there was too much water under the bridge by that time you know the place was settled and everything was all in plays and it was hard to negotiate we made a claim and the government said all I will and so this is a short story and I’m trying to keep it short of the CR reservation history contemporary history that we are we are today that we still got the three bands of C we still got a lot of our our uh values that we’re trying to keep and people tell me that what is your culture how many can have a let me see how many of you can see or Define what the word culture means anybody want to anybody want to take a shot of that what is culture okay people think culture is bunch of feathers and we dance at cow Fair time that’s not culture what is culture culture is your language our culture is our only identity that we have and the culture that we have if when we speak our language we know who we are self-identification and so it’s important that we keep our language when we’re losing quite a bit I taught Crow language for 10 years in high school it was hard because a lot of our younger generation are not interested I couldn’t get him motivated so I I I taught Crow history to have him an ownership and there was a little bit of motivation but in majority the language is 99% gone I would say my family my kids my grandchildren they speak Crow and it’s important I I believe to say that who we are is how we speak how we our language you take 10 different PLS Indian tribes tribal members together you take a shy you take a sue you take a black feet put them all ATT 10 in a row dressed in an oldtime regalia and they the white man any one of you can say hey tell me which is a crow you can’t even tell the difference once you see an Indian you see them all the only way you can tell the difference is their language we all speak a different dialect okay with that any questions I’ll leave it over for my brother Gran over there any questions all right thank you thank you and thank you to Pat and Sharon STS over the bowl we’re going to move on to our next set of speakers here and we’re going to have with us we’re going to have Grant bolale and Linda door bolale to continue with some more Crow storytelling so let’s give Linda a warm welcome the ten voice good afternoon ladies and gentlemen my name is Linda Bale and I’m reading this story for my husband uh Grand buale the story is called The Creation story of The Crow closer oh okay there I’ll start all all over again my name is Linda bolale and I’m reading the story for my husband Grant bolale the story is called The Creation story of the crows it’s an old story that was told by one of his great great uncles or grandfather’s yellow BR the sun looked down on the earth the earth looked blue in the distance there seemed to be something special about the Earth the sun the sun kept looking down on the Earth but only saw huge waves of water and storm clouds the whole earth was covered with storm clouds the sun had sensed that there’s something was trying to communicate with him something was happening at the bottom of the sea the sun came kep looking down toward the Earth but there was only the Sea and the clouds then ever so slowly the clouds parted for a long time nothing happened finally the sun saw a pointed Rock standing out of the ocean then ever so slowly the sun saw some being moving about the rock the son wanted to see for himself what was happening under the clouds the sun became per personified that the sun changed the sun changed himself into the figure of a man the Sun shaped the front part of his hair into the shape of a tobacco plant he parted his hair in the middle and braided the left side and tied unequal dowy feather dyed red in his braids he wore the right side of his hair loose and a chicken hog was tied to the back of his head long stems of grass were stuck on the top of his head he painted his fa forehead in the red paint and yellow for the lower part of his face around his neck he wore a man many strands of necklace made out of bones with large round aalon shells tied to the top of the necklace his war shirt was decorated with weasel skins along the sleeves and the front of the shirt the shirt was decorated with dyed porcupine quilts he wore his lakans with stripes of red pain from the front part of his waist hug the neck and the head of a wolf at the back of his waist was the back part of the wolf his moccasins were decorated with dyed porcupine quilts from the hills were Fox tailes everything he wore looked bright and cheerful he carried his pipe the sun landed on the flat surface of the surface and sat down on a cushion of a buffalo rope he took out his pipe and shouted at some of the at at some ducks in the water he said little brothers come and sit and smoke with me in all the waves there is nothing better to sit and smoke with friends and talk about different things there were three Ducks there was a large duck a middle duck and a small size little duck the smaller duck came willingly however the large duck duck was reluctant the large duck said how is it that you came down before when we needed you we were calling you you never came the sun said in all the universe one of the good things that we do is that whenever an elder brother is in trouble we dropped everything and came to his Aid the son and a duck sat down and smoked tell me said the son to the ducks in all your wonderings have you ever suspected anything being other beings on this Earth the smallest duck answered the sun yes there are some beings under the ocean that wants to live good that’s what I wanted to know said the sun with your help I can create life on this water stated the sun if one of you go to the bottom of the ocean bring me back some mud I can create land land and living things he said the oldest duck puffed up his chest and said I will go that would be fine it is always to have ceremony in everything that we do said the son the son made made the duck stand in front of him and sang a song over him and blessed him the son then told the duck to hold his breath close his eyes real tight on his way down to the bottom the son told the duck to bring back as much mud as he could he also told him the dug he also told him that the dug would be able to tell mud by the soft quality the duck Dove Dove down until only the bottom of his wet feet could be seen then the duck disappeared into the murky dead never to be seen again the son waited and waited finally he said we must try again then the middle siiz duck went down in the water in the same way the sun waited until the duck floated to the top with a seaweed in his mouth what I suspected was true there are some beans in the bottom of the ocean in all the universe one of the good things that that is we we should not attempt anything over four times when we fell on the third at at a temp it is good to stop said the son looking worried the sun began his ceremony again the little dug walked around and Drew in huge gulps of air the duck went down into the water and disappeared the dug went down down until he felt something soft the duck knew that he had found mud he took as much as he could and his web foot and his beak the dug went up until he ran out of air and became unconscious but the duck floated to the top the sun quickly grabbed him and pulled him out of the water and revived him the duck coughed the water and became disappointed with himself elder brother I found mud but I lost it on the way to the surface stated the little duck come here let me see said the son the son examined the little duck and found small amounts of mud on his web feed and on bead we have enough mud I can create land and living things said the sun the sun rolled up the mud into a ball the sun sang his creation song then he blew on the mud wherever they hid on the water became land that is why we have small Islands to huge continents if there was more mud there would be more land than water when the son sang his creation songs immediately to the east he heard a wolf hauling the wolf wanted to live so much it took a little creation power to make him come down to life then again they heard a coyote yeling at the distance why that must be a old man coyote sking about said the son oh man coyote would make Mischief when I make my children go and be on guard against him said the son to the duck whatever men do in this universe there is always an opposing sight go and be in minister to the old man and coyote said the son the son looked about the land and he said it would be good if there were living things on the land the son suth the wolf and he said to him go to the west and create the things that you like then he told the duck to go to the South and create the things that he liked the wolf went to the west and hurriedly create tall mountains large rivers lakes trees grass grasslands then he created large animals that could run fast the wolf was in such a hurry that he missed large areas and they became deserts the duck went to the South created an environment that birds like he also created tall mountains and trees rivers and lakes he made mistake of creating ex insects and reptiles so that the birds could eat them in the beginning there were only insects and reptiles in the South the sun lighted what the wolf and the Ducks created so he went to the East and created a combination of what the wolf and the duck have created the wolf had finished creating the Western lands then he saw that they had forgot in the north he quickly ran to the north and create the same TI of type of land he created in the west but before he could finish the time of creation had passed this is the reason why there is more snow lands in the north that is how the land that we live on had been created this is no story told by yellow BR a cousin of my husband’s grandmother Grant Bol thank you L thank you Linda for sharing that uh creation story of The Crow people and the Crow Nation here in the ten many voices thank you and let’s thank all our storytellers let’s thank all our storytellers Pat Sharon Linda for sharing these different aspects of crow culture and history with us here in the ten many voices remember folks that we do have programs each hour

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Tent of Many Voices: 07100602

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:36:00 +0000

good afternoon ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the tent of many voices my name is Aon I’m one of the Rangers who gets to travel the country with this huge exhibit we’ve been traveling for three years took us three years to get here to Browning and U we’re going to end our year this year and end the entire Bicentennial Comm ation in September at St Louis so join us there if you’re interested so it’s going to be a great ceremony there we’ve had a great time here in Browning had lots of presenters in the Ten of many voices this is going to be our last presentation of the day and of this venue if you want to continue on with us we’re going to Crow agency next week and pomp pillar the following and then we have a whole series of other venues after that but at this hour we have mayard kicking woman who is going to present to you some more drums and music from the black feed Nation some other people here to to share with you their drumming and some singing as well so let’s welcome them to the tent of many voices well first first of all I’d like to uh say you know that uh I’m great grateful and honored to be part of this uh exhibition that’s going on here I was told about this about a week ago and um you know there are so many events that are taking place every weekend in Indian Country a lot of our groups such as my group such as his group are off running to another group to another uh celebration so this is kind of like a a bad time but I want to apologize that um um to you folks that we were unable to bring a big drum here to show you uh a few things above our drumming well I’m going to explain it the significance of this drum first of all my name is Mayor kicking woman I’m here black feet tribe I was born and raised here um back in 19 I’d say about 1973 I became involved in our traditional way of life I started paying attention about what was going on around here why are we singing why are we dancing why do we do these things a long time ago I remember back when I was just a little boy I came across a drum like this I always wondered what these drums were used for I was a total stranger to our our indan way of life here never never even down on me of what I would be doing something like this my grandfather used to tell us that all the elderly people we used to live in the community what’s the Browning here down in the bottom there there was a a Coy that run miles down the road and each place there was a community a a family group that lived in one little community and um each little Community had their own little Park where we play and my grandfather used to sit out there well he was everybody’s grandfather and his grandfather way back they used to sit out early in the mornings they wouldn’t have a drum but they come up early in the morning and they would sing songs and they would pray ask blessings and ask the Creator for a new day giving thanks and you can hear them songs from far away I mean you can be sitting it was so quiet in that Valley you can hear this person well this person used to sing old man picture an old man in your mind little tiny eyes and skinny bra junifer old person John bis these are just some of the elders that we had that made songs and they belong to different societies now what I mean by Society it’s an organization that was put together by a certain group of family and they carried on that way so when you wake up in the mornings and say all of a sudden maybe you guys ended up in someone’s home and you might wake up you’re going to hear somebody way back go these were Camp c songs these songs were used in a gathering such as this that just took place over here we used to have people walk around the camps early in the morning okay that father be he’d beh around and if you’re not really familiar with that and you came across that you heard that you probably think that guy is crazy but actually it is our way that’s just the way we were brought up we hear these Camp criers theyd be singing and then they had groups drum groups will come together young people they still do that today in some tribes they’ll go to your camp and they’re going to sit right in front of your camp and they’re going to sing hey he heyy hey hey heyy hey hey heyy these are songs that they used to bring up your spirits this is why when they go to your camp they’re going to keep on singing these songs like this until you come out and give them something a gift blanket tobacco food whatever it may be a lot of people will come out and the Kee and pull the door open and set a basket of goods out there and close it go back to sleep that was the only way they can get you to get out of their place so they can sleep Camp criers is very is very significant to the Indian people but for those of you that don’t know what c chiring is this is what it’s about way back when I started 1973 I started learning I started learning I started asking questions just like this young man here he learned that by listening and paying attention when are they sitting around that drum now when I was hitting the drum like this they have a drum 10 times this size sometimes 12 13 people sitting around that drum can you imagine that 13 people you can be dead to the world in your C and all of a sudden 13 people come by and hit that drum and start singing it’ll scare the heck out of you what’s going on and then you know that’s a camp fire the only way you’re going to shut that camp fire up is you got to gift him that is what it is gift giving when a young person comes and talk to an elderly person like myself they’ll come and they’ll ask you questions they’re going to ask you can I sing this song There are some songs you can’t sing but they’re going to come and ask you for that and the best way you can do that is you bring them tobacco offering because from what I learned our Indian people made the Mother Earth all the herbs medicine all the plants was food and where I where I started learning I started picking that up okay I want to be like that guy I used to admire groups topn singing group I mean they were so popular they were in big demand it was pretty hard to have him come and do something like this and these young people such as this man here they’re carrying on that tradition this is how we keep things going on and on and on we pass it off to our younger people and they pass it off to their younger people but getting back to this drum when I was learning how to sing inan I didn’t sing very good we used to sing sing any way and people used to make fun of you and say you’re not singing good you don’t know how to sing and I said to myself in my mind there’s going to be a day there is going to be a day I’m going to be called upon to talk about my tradition what I learned it took me all that time to just recently I have my own group called The Kicking Woman singers we cook up our names there’s a lot of drum groups that have names and those names sometimes came from the family young greyhorse to medicon late squatted Eagle singers heartbe Society all these are groups even on the outside Badland singers Eagle whistlers coad Keon Ramblers Blackstone Northern age you hear just some of the songs that some of the groups actually going to hear you might go to a up here or some place along the way and you’re going to come across the same thing they drumming and you’re going to hear bunch of people hitting their drum and S that there’s no words the blackbeat people did not use words the only time they used words is when they sang A Gabite song and that was when they put a baby to S and and then sing and they Rock their babies that’s how they used to put their babies to sleep you notice that drumming is all different the first presentation that we had was round dancing ourl dancing social dancing where you came together what a big drum imagine from being about this side about 10 people I learned the hard way how to become a singer because I made some mistakes in my time as I was going along and the elderly people that used to tell me about these things they used to say be careful there’s a lot of songs out there be careful who you sing what you sing what kind of song you sing so it was very frightening because I had my children they were just small and they used to sit at the drum and sing and the old people that’s good that’s good to see those little kids druming singing so as time went on I started earning different rights earning different things I say if you work for so many years you’re going to earn a promotion that’s the same way with singing and dancing and doing all kinds of things there’s a lot of ceremonial things out there you can be part of but you have to earn that I’ve been singing for 35 years long time since 1973 I picked up a drum today I’m going to tell you something to us Indian people the drum is very important to us that’s the heartbeat of us a dancer a singer can be a thousand miles away and they going to hear that beat and they’re going to come and the event that took place right here over the weekend over 400 dancers can you imagine 400 dancers heard one drum beat and they all came but I learned why is this drum so important to us I’ll tell you this raide is not just ordinary raide we were taught to respect a drum when we put the drum down to sing about 13 people 10 people around it around here and they’re sitting there and they I always tell those drummers that come to my drum it’s not a foot stool it’s not a coffee table it’s not a closet what I mean is you don’t put stuff on that Dr you stand it up and you cover it with a blanket take care of it why because at one time this animal has walked the earth a four-legged animal sacrificed himself to better ours to provide good music for you people and when you provide good music there’s a lots of song the song I just sing that I’ll sing again to you that’s the same song but it’s it’s a long it’s a song That’s supposed to pick you up hey hey now these songs if a dancer or even you was attending some power and you heard the same song but the same beat but it’s going to be a different song that’s going to make you want to get out there and dance this is how it makes you feel good that’s why I always tell people no matter who you are no matter where you from no matter what color you are when you come to an event such as this one that took place over there and is your time to sit down and think about those people around you the people in your family all around you when we used to come out and dance I used to dance at one time and I used to just come out and dance just for the fun of it but then I found out later on in years dancing was very important you are dancing for people out there who are sick people out there who are involved in all these crazy stuff there’s a lot of commitments you have to make when it becomes a singer there’s a lot of commitments that you have to make you go to ceremonies and you pray you pray for your people the sweat lodges the suances all these things that we have that’s just like what you have if you see a grass dancer we always like to in humorous way we always say you guys got Michael Jackson we have a grass dancer you guys got Elvis Presley we got kicking Woman singers so all these things kind of work together you notice the songs that you guys have you guys got words they talk but we don’t we just sing that’s just all verbal stuff you have to learn how to use your voice if you ever pick up a drum you if you pick up a drum and you started singing carry that beat I just came from a a um a deal that was for you students in Federal Way Washington I just come from there last week and I did a presentation just like this and I asked them they all made hand gums whatever school at they came from all the way up to Bellingham Lingham all the way on the nurse Co and they all showed up in Seattle for a workshop and who did they get they called me paid my way there and they put me up when I started talking to them about drumming they were all like and they were Indian people they’ve lost that they’ve lost that tradition lot of the younger people made drums and they look better than this they were making drums and you know who they were they were white kids and the Indian people over there made drums and they were just every H and I asked that one boy I said can you sing and he said yeah have you been singing he said well I try I said show me in front of 300 kids he got up with his drum and he got single the song didn’t sound right but still he had an idea of what this drum was used for and I said I want you to come up here and sing and one of one of the students I asked it was from U bellw Washington I don’t know if you guys are familiar with a north northwest coast but he was from B and he was an Indian he said he was partus and some tried from BC and I asked him you guys you should be pretty good you got all this Blood mixed you should really be good what did he come out there and he I asked him you want to show me how you can use this drum or come and sit at the drum over here he said I can’t I said let me tell you something in Indian countries in our way there is no such word as I can’t you’re an Indian if you say I can the elderly people going to get mad at you say what means an ending is that I’m saying to this young man this young man is good for what he’s doing and it’s good that he’s carrying it on I asked that young gentleman I said if you were in my country and you said I can’t you’re insulting the elders they don’t do right and the elders always used to say if you can chew gum and walk at the same time you can sing and drum if you can’t there’s definitely something wrong with you that’s what we always say well in Indian Country I’ll tell you something humor goes a long ways it’s good medicine you hear some of these MC people talking in the power they’re talking and then they’re they’re throwing jokes at you they’re not criticizing you or nothing but they’re throwing jokes at you it’s to get the people going even the drummers and a big drum when you got 10 people sitting around that drum that drum was made out of a full elk hide Buffalo hide spear hide whatever hide that you can use that’s what that big drum is made out of and the hoop is made out of wood some of the Hoops the frames are handmade just like you see that boat sitting out there that was handmade but you know it’s good to have these kind of things come here because because when I was little I didn’t know who in the heck uh L and CLK was and every time I used to talk like this on the highway I’ve been driving down the road and I see somebody standing there with a hat on like that gentleman and pointing and further down the road I’d see the same gentleman went the other way I said um man this guy was really lost I’ll tell you but you know that’s just something that we need to laugh about we need to we don’t make fun of it we don’t criticize it but when I I’m just talking about how I looked at it before I even know who knew who he was i’ be driving down the road and my kids would say look at that sign that guy’s pointing over that way and we go down the road about another maybe 20 miles down the road and they say there’s another sign and he’s pointing in a different direction and I’d say to myself why this guy was lost he was really lost no wonder why they had you know uh Wars and and running into indans you okay didn’t know which way they were G but the Indian people were very wise the Indian people used to say if I can walk a mile if I can save one person I’ve saved a million but I’m going to tell you something I take my work serious I don’t fool around with it just before I came here just before I showed up here I smudge myself with sweet grass which we use and this young man knows that you smudge yourself whenever you’re going to do something and you pray you ask the Creator Watch Over Me Protect Me Guide Me What I’m about to do that it will be okay I’m doing the best I can to tell you what the significance of the drum is that’s just long time ago we used it to dance this social dance We Gather up in in a little Hall and we dance nothing else just that people used to come all over and visit put food on the floor sit down there the elderly ladies wearing bandanas like mine would sit down and make a plate for you here or sometimes you bring your own they have these dances they call giveaway dances I will not sing any of these ceremonial songs it’s not right in places like this these songs belong in ceremonial grounds but I’ll tell you just when they come together they feed you but as time went on in the year of 2000 the Indians started discovering microwave ens Satellite Dish remote controls and you notice that every indan on the reservation has a tummy FL all they do is just sit there they spoiled us we can’t work no more we can’t even get up and go and pour a cup of coffee we just hit a button and the coffee starts perking and it’s getting so now you can get hot coffee you pour hot water and just throw a spoon in there and Scar it it who if the elderly people were still here that we lost years ago and seen it they said Ah that’s so coffee which means it’s not good because a long time ago if you wanted a cup of coffee you had to wait almost 2 to 3 hours first you got to go to the creek all the water bring it over get spank couple times quack around put it on a coffee stove put your coffee in there and wait for it to boil but I think this is the reason why all these things come together in one Circle we do everything here in circles we had the four directions even our homes are po but the drum I don’t care where you’re at I don’t care where you can be I’m going to tell you something our traditional Indian ways is everywhere you can walk in the president’s office you can walk into the Oval Office and you’re going to see a picture of a hand drum setting up in the president’s office this is how powerful the drum is it’s everywhere everywhere it’s in our Institute it’s in our rehab it’s in California it’s even in Los Angeles in Hollywood even in Hollywood but you know I used to talk I used to say that guy there he’s not singing in this guy here he’s just he’s just making up that song but they do have idea and as for myself I became a singer in 7 three to today I’m still doing it whatever chance I get my children grew up with it and now they are out my children has put on their Indian offense and they became Champions you’re probably wondering well let’s see he’s talking tradition and he’s talking Champion but let me tell you something when money was introduced in our ways there used to be an old guy whose name was John white grass he was very very very strict don’t go to that ceremony they’re not right don’t go here and he used to always tell us these are the kind of songs you sing these are the kind of songs you use this is what that drum is used for so this is how we all got our knowledge is from listening to elders and so when we put on our outfits money was introduced into our Indian Wass some of our tradition went out the door the younger generation today don’t really want to believe that it’s getting so now we have to compete money is kind of more or less in the way that way my grandfather would say it’s ruining you it’s spoiling you and we’re becoming commercial now we got people like Hartford Connecticut Mass tribe California all these big casinos are getting involved in it now millions and dollars that’s getting sold now this drum is bread and butter on the table for us that’s a job because a lot of our Indian people don’t work all they do is they hit the circuit it’s just like a rodeo circuit now this next song I’m going to do it’s a song that um you hear all all over the place it’s a song that was way before my time if I can remember the song while I’m talking about it it’s um I think that was made by John B an old man that used to live out star school you can hear him pounding on his house wall and he’d be singing and that old man raised everybody in scar School even me when I had no place to go when I was small went to that old man kids sleeping all over stoor and he enjoyed that and he used to sit in that house and he pound on that wall you kind of picture that dark house with a kerosene lamp little wood sto just one big room and this our closet was just a big pile of clothes over here whatever look good we put it on but that old man is hey now these songs are old but they’re still here today people still sing them I don’t care how old it’s going to get when you start passing on your tradition and ending ways this is what’s going to happen whatever you know you’re going to tell your people about it when you’re already gone to the spirit world they’re going to carry on that tradition you have all those Traditions that you have your I don’t care who it is you tell your kids about it they pass it on their kids pass it on this is how we keep things alive but like I said when I was small I didn’t know anything about LS and cl when I first drove into town here to come back to our po I seen this big thing here and I said what’s going on over there and I met one of the people that work here uh at the swimming pool he talked to me about it I said sure So I think that when you go to a a reservation always ask if there’s a power going on it’s free you can go over there take take Park have some traditional food fried bread all this Indian stuff when we come to the end of this program I’m going to close the song with some of the songs that we use some of the songs that we use that we sing such as the frag song is similar to your national anthem these are the songs that we use to start an event and to end it we always have people that come out andly people person that we will point out to come and close it this event over here there were drums thousands of drums hundreds of drums roaming around over there like kiss and they were all singing there’s all kinds of beats a new kind of beat today has a has a beat my that this man knows that that’s it’s a new new generation coming everything that we do we can hear it in a different tribe we’ll bring it back home oh that sounds good oh that’s awesome and they start singing and then now we’ve got round song and I think um I came across this one guy he said um I want s this I want to sing this song to you I said sure and he had a big drum and he was that big drum was sitting on a floor like this and he was leaning on it and he was singing and that song went he he he he he and these songs like social that these songs are made to uh relax you just like if you put on an old Square dad or old Walt song or you heard a song um with that heartbreaking music you got a few sad the same way that Indian people so long as the Grass Grows the river flows things like that and then they this guy is pretty well known in Indian country but he’s not a black creep they come from another reservation when he made out a CD and he sang solo most of his songs were about Bingo reservation cars snagging I don’t know if you guys are familiar with that word snagging snagging in Indian country is when you um take your fishing hook out there and you’re looking for some fish but anyway these songs when we come out we our dance we round dance we rabbit dance everything that we do is according to this animal it brings us right back to drum so whenever you hear a drum 2,000 miles away You’re Going to Hear drum these songs is to bring you in bring you people we call it Grand entry so whenever you go to a power go over there and see what it is I was taught Indian way I know most of you people have your own way of being taught but I was taught that whenever you pick up a drum and you start singing whenever you’re getting involved whatever it is we need to pay attention to what goes on around us lot of us know somebody can say something boom right in front of you half hour later you’re going to forget about it what did that guy say what was he talking about the old people used to say the which means in your world at stage of who you’ll be doing something and you say I was here but the elderly people long some time ago used to say the creator has just gave you that opportunity to stay forward for a little bit or back this is why we always wonder when you start singing when you start singing lot of the singers it’s like a computer right here all the songs are right here what are we going to sing how would I do this oh they they they’ll have their songs right here that’s the same thing so whenever you come across something you say I’ve done this before I was here never Indian Country it’s a spirit just kind of came to you real quick and gave you that opportunity to see forward or back just a little bit and when I was told long time ago I always told you put your stuff down and you pray about it for a little bit give thanks imagine if we can harness that ability we’d be dangerous I mean we’d be so powerful I mean I there are some people today elderly people that we still have with us today who can actually sit in a sweat L and pick up a hot rock you know I never used to believe it but I’ve seen it done where I was brought up is what I have today my knowledge I’m always happy to share it I’m always happy to pass it on CU that’s just way we were taught this young man you see sitting here has come from a welln prominent family his grandpa was designated chief of our reservation lot of you know who I’m talking about he’s a well-known person he has held the higher up seat for years and years and he was our teacher when you heard that man behind a microphone going that mean he was feeling good about it he’s telling you you try harder and that drum is really going and everybody’s dancing even that he’s up there dancing around with his microphone that’s why I say when I ask someone to come and help me they never turn me down they never refuse me I don’t care where it’s at why it’s because you people will know who these people are next time you come across arm and Edward clean across the country you’re going to say hello I’ve seen you in Browning so with that I was just like to say that you know it’s really been a great honor and I hope that you know whatever I talked about here you take it back with you you score it in your mind so what I’m going to do tonight this afternoon is that I had four days of exhaustion working over here because I was a public address system person so what I’m going to do now is I’m going to close this with a song that we use to close our ceremonies to close this session and so I was just like to say you I really thank you people this are kind of these are some of the things that you need to know these are some of the things that you need to have anytime we sing these songs you are you are supposed to be gifted but in this case I’m going to ask my my uh my cousin here who is going to um help me do this and George will uh uh tell you what what’s going to happen here to Clos it and I thank you folks for taking the time I thank all of you people that has come and puted this up and did this show here really thank you for that and I’m honored to be part of this I’m honored to be part of this and so uh I want to thank George for uh inviting me to come here like I said we never refuse our younger people when they ask us to come here and I’m at the age now where uh I I’m I’m looked upon as an elder and I’m not afraid to share my way and uh one of my people was at the power U house last night said you’re going to go do a presentation over there you need a suit and a tie I said no I’m Native American I’ll go just the way I am I said yeah that’s where I I feel comfortable about it and again once again I want to thank you and those of you that are watching this I hope you have learned something don’t be afraid to contact anybody in Indian Country right now the significance of the ground and again in inan way they say a let’s give Mr kicking woman and Mr Edwards a big round of applause thank you Mr kicking woman uh we’re going to kind of do an impr promptu closing ceremonies here we’ve had this uh C two here uh at the beginning of July 4th and celebrating I guess America’s birthday and we’ve been working with them the last few days and all the logistical work of getting it set up with Mr Dick bash and uh the Rangers making sure we had the presenters and you I think you found if you’ve been to some of these over the few days at the black feed are great orators it was uh many years ago on the down at Judith Gap when they were doing the treaty with uh In 1855 with uh with Stevenson and he was going to other tribes and making treaties and and in terms of the land and all that and there was a gentleman that was with him who has relatives on the black reservation and his name was Henry kenerly he was a clerk that that accompanied Stevenson and he was marveling at at at the oratory skills of of the of the people are there and he compared them with Roman Senators they would get up and they talk for for hours and sometimes we do talk for hours and you have to uh cut us off but uh but it’s good that’s our that’s our history and we’re known for our prowess to be able to do that we want to thank uh again uh the National Park Service the the national of the Lewis and Clark uh Historic Trail the all the national Bicentennial Council the circle of tribal advisor all the people and all these agencies that have put this this U exhibition together they’re heading down to the to Crow country and put putting up that exhibit and then there’ll be to the a national signature event and Billings and at Pomp’s pillar called Clark on Yellowstone so on behalf of the blackbeat tribe as the coordinator and my assistant ton of white grass we again our are glad it’s over we didn’t have no hail storms and our famous winds didn’t uh kick up past 35 understand once it’s 35 and they actually have a wind gauge out here uh crossing their fingers I guess they close things down it kind of shows uh how the park service are they are are ruled by the uh uh policies of the government just as we had to experience with the National Guard it was kind of interesting where we’re on our side are a little more laidback and things so again thank you for uh coming to this final event and if you get the chance as they move on down the river it’s our job now to send them down the river so they’re going to be out of here by tomorrow and and uh again thank you coming us Indian people Warriors and we’re going to do a song that was composed uh for just got purpose Warrior song and then we’re going to go into a flag song and uh like I said George said you know we we’re always willing to do what we can to help you guys this Warrior song oh now the frag song The IND National Anem you are heyy thank you very much again let’s thank mayor kicking woman and Aran Edwards for coming and sharing with us and thank you for having us as your guest George heavy runer we would like to thank you for uh putting this on and helping us to come here we really appreciate all your help thank you for having us as your guest onto your reservation we are going to be here for about another five minutes open to the public and then we’re going to hope the wind doesn’t come up too much and start to take these tents down and move on to our next destination so again thank you for joining us and have a pleasant afternoon

The post Tent of Many Voices: 07100602 appeared first on Lewis & Clark Research Database.

Tent of Many Voices: 07300605

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:35:58 +0000

ten Min voices and of our programming this hour we’re going to hear from William big day and William big day is an artisan from Crow country we have a really special treat here he works with oil paints watercolor acrylics and Earth paints and he kind of specializes in producing War Shields so we’re going to learn a little bit about that and see some of some of the artwork here he was also been an art teacher um he was an art teacher for six years he taught grades K through 12 and so if you’ve worked with kids you know how challenging and fun that must have been for uh William big day so please help me welcome William big day Artisan from Crow country to the Ten of Min voices hello welcome to they call this place that’s what my grandfather would always tell me this is a place for the Abalone hair tie this is the place where the river Crow used to be camping here in these high riches these high riches and so the old people and my grandfather they would always talk about this place where it was something that was the creator had given them the hair tie that was given to them and this is for the place they call the and today I I’m very excited here and you know I’m very honored here so as we go on uh I I do a lot of research when I was working on my undergraduate my undergraduate studies I was doing the crow art history because there was very little but my grandfather would always share stories with me in the crow language and before when I was younger I never had the opportunity of speaking in this second language because the second language was another communication skill for me so that way it took a long time but when I got to got went over to college world I was happened to start learning a new different set of language in a in a communication skill you call it so here I am with challenging my new language learning my new language and wanting to be an art major and as I was doing that it took me a while to communicate in this language but later around down down as I keep going you know going to school and you know start practicing my language and finally I was able to communicate in that language but many times I was in a library so many times the librarian usually worries me because he would ask me why am I staying in there too late but but uh library was my number one resource because whatever research I do that’s where that library was it was always a supportive area for me because I was happened to I was happened to receive many more many more materials to learn about and as I was doing that I was happened to started listening to my grandfather’s recording because my grandfather used to have a a rear to rear uh recording because my grandfather he was born in uh during the 1800s him and my grandma because my my grandfather he was born in uh a town called Bridger and framber because uh General prior wanted to move everybody to that prior town that General prior he’s the one that wanted to move everyone because when the absor when that first treaty that fort in OB zor they wanted to move all everyone to Prior so my grandfather was born during that period and then not too long his younger brother Henry Henry big day he was born here at the first agency too and they call him the one that borned with the white Calvary they say but that was his teasing name but he was born there and so my grandfather had all these stories that he always shared with us but it was in a crow language because after I mastered in my second language it took me a while to translate that language into my language in the crow language and it took me well but after I started visiting with the BM people national forest and all those different other uh forestry people so that way I can able to see all these rock art and Rock petography and paintings that’s what I was my main thing was so what I did was I started doing all these research in these different areas so for an example uh here’s a map from from the Yellowstone Mountain the Yellowstone Park all the way to the to the Missouri see what happened was the crow people were uh people of migrating people during summertime during during Springtime they would always migrate to places and so this is one of the areas they call it Bena this is where the Bona P was because every year there was a flood that comes in so that’s why they always have that they always camp on the High Sight they said so that’s why they call it the Bena P here and then the the name that after years down the road then they then the the name of that the headband the Abalone headband was found here they say but uh during those time so when I was studying that in those areas so I started going through all this area to locate the pector graph and pectra drawings because when I became a art teacher for kindergarten and 12 gers I was talking about the crow art history because I they wanted to know more because the only artists they know was Rim Bram and Donald Leonardo you know those are all Europeans I said no you know you need to you know understand the the native art people you know the were come from here you know the in the United States so what we what I did was during my lectures during my teaching my usually I what I do is I test test them with the Native American artists here or the areas where they’ve been learning about because the the environment of this art art history was part of their part of their gift and finally you know during my first two like my second year finally everyone started to realizing what I was trying to communicate with that classroom so what I did was I started making more Shi because uh these War shields were made out of the elk and so this elk gr height was part of the warshi and so what I did was I started working with my students about how the Cur style of making these War Shields so these War shields were simply cut the height and shave the hair and let it dry for so many days until they’re like hard as an iron and so what happened was that was simply that and then all my students were like you know not realizing what was the significant of the symbol and it was a significant of this symbol was the significant of protection and that was part of their guidance because the Creator uh what he did was gave him knowledge gave him spiritual guidance and so that’s why they have these War Shields during those days during those times so when I was started doing that I started getting into it so that’s when I started started bringing out my studies of rock art the PPH and pector graph drawings and so what I did was I started combining ING with my artwork and study studying the rock art so any kind of a art rock during that time for 200 500 thousands of years ago my ancestors what they did was it was part about their art history uh during that time when they were studying about these rock art it was part about their symbol the symbol of bravy the symb of guidance you know there was part that they protects with and as they were using these rock art it was part about the significant of their symbol so so when I was sharing my students with these War Shields and then and then it started happening for them and it was working for them and what happened was after they started Ed realizing what they have in these areas so what I do is I start making lectures on these pector graph drawings because it’s been quite a few years when I was studying about these pector graph drawings because there were so many areas in these where the crow people were migrating and where the summer migrating and or during the buffalo hunting or or elk season you know during those days that’s what they they’ve been studying about but that’s according to my language because after we become bilingual we were able to talk about these areas where it was part about their uh religion I guess for them it was a religion for them it was something that they respect and then so what I did was was I started combining these rock art into my paintings and it was part about my studies putting it together this one is called a uh this one and the abstract one some of my students were able to to see the differences and we were doing our comparison so I was sharing them this was comes from a a rock art and a song when during a time when when the river crows and the center Lodge people Mountain Crow they were all getting together in a town called Billings they were getting together in Billings and as one Elder started singing he said you know you’re coming to a place where the creator has given you this song he said the white weasel is going to sing his song and so as he was singing his song and this is part about the painting and so that’s where I started doing that with my students and that was something for my students you know it was very exciting for them this one I call it my red bear during the time when the mountain Crews were up in a they were up in a uh there was a small town called WTI the East entrance of Yellowstone Park up on that high mountain on the top they camped there they said there was a 100 100 tepes there the mountain crows you know they were appreciating the gift during that early in the spring so what happened was in those days when they were up on that rich the highest rich and so the old people they were they were giving thanks to the Creator and one one gentleman from the river Crow here went over to the mountain crows because he was married to a mountain Crow woman and they said hey your brother-in-law he’s coming over here to the to the high mountains so he he said uh he seen a boat and everyone was a boat you know in our language he says he says Basha it’s a wooden thing it’s got cloth on there he said whatever it is he said that wooden cloth that wooden boat in that cloth every time when that wind changes it picks it up it moves down that River he said us us River crows we see a we see a wooden wooden thing that’s floating in that River he said he was all shock and uh the people the mountain Crow they said wow did you see what is in there and he said yeah he said I seen some good horses you know us crows we like good horses so you know the first thing he seen he wasn’t paying attention to the people but he was paying attention to uh the thir bread come from England and they realize the Queen of England gave some horses to Louis and Clark they have good horses so the crows they said hey yeah yeah that’s good then you know but they they didn’t see those people in a boat because he they when they went back to the when the elders were talking he said maybe we could go and see more he said ah every morning just soon as Sunrise comes up there was a lady jumps in the river swims back down he goes back home but they didn’t know who it was but the crow people they said they thought it was a frog lady uh sa AIA you know they thought she was a frog lady because every morning she’ll jump in the river and swims back down and they said hey that guy whoever that person is you know every morning she jumps in that Creek swims off I don’t know why so this Crow guy this guy goes this River Crow guy he said yeah come on you guys let’s go and check see what’s going on more so these Mountain crows you know they say wow this coming fall we’re going to need some good siiz elk so we might use those horses good good so this boat same thing again towards evening they were all up on this High Rich this High Rich out here the high Rich they were all sneaking up and in that boat again and then they were waiting they said let’s wait and when that morning star comes up we unload all those horses yeah yeah so so loose and CLK and his other buddies you know all his people they got off from that boat I guess they were doing Expedition areas in this area so these Crow guys Mountain crows they come over and they all waiting for that morning star soon as that morning star showed up they all went in that water here they call it that’s uh Yellowstone River you know we call it the the Elk River uh the mountain cross they said uh the Elk River were going to go in there and get closer so they did boy these nice looking horses Bo you know they were tall horses and so they unload them all those horses from the boat and they brought it to the land and they said you want to camp here they said in this flat area they said no the river Crow guy he said no get him out of here take him to the mountains you know and so they took all the horses they’re good horses you know the the the THS I guess during those days but they said they were tall horses and they were the best ones they said when they were doing their buffalo season you know that’s what they use because they took them all home and then soon as the Sunrise he said all these little bitty wooden things coming out and they were yelling and here they were yelling who are the horse thief who saw the horse thief you know but uh we were we were the ones I guess after 200 years later I confess you know that was a good conu you know but the crow people you know we we say that was a kungu that was a good conu because it was all different when that boat had canvas like this you know and they said it’s got something on there every time that wind that wind comes in you know then that wooden thing start floating around and it was pretty amazing to them and and so during those days you know in this area when they were on those High riches they would always pay attention and as as during those days you know when I was doing my studies in those areas there was an old guy named Sue Connor he’s about 80 90 years old these an archaeologist in these areas back in 1950s during the 40s Sue Connor and uh Lauren dorf those two guys you know they’re about 80 90 years old they used to do a lot of expedition here so I was happened to I was pretty lucky that time I met up with that Su Connors and I I asked him about that I said hey my grandfather had stories like this and so him and I were comparing stories you know because that time I was in uh uh University of Wyoming I was doing my uh uh masters of Fine Arts out there so as I was you know doing those studies because usually every year the archaeologist they they have a big Gathering there and so that’s when I was happened to be in that right moment to to be a part of that and it was good so as I was doing my studies on these rock art then I started putting into these abstract forms the the essence of that art from that art rock the rock art so what I did was I started paying attention to more of that rock art but what happened was the reason why Louis and Clark got involved in my studies all these archaeologists and all these sinologists they had studied in those areas because they had evidence in that Pomp’s pillar but we call it the this Ma that Wooden Boat was there they said I don’t know what he’s doing they said but he for some reason see those days it has to be a shaman or somebody important that carves the carves the wall and they said this guy he carved the wall you know he had no cigarette no you know he didn’t talk to the Creator but he went ahead and carved it why is he doing that they said the crow people that’s what they said and but you know that’s why I my during my studies that’s where I what I run into and it was very important but the old people you know during those days it was something new new discovery it was something new expression when he got off from that boat and you know he had all these soldiers and as he was doing that and then so what I did was I started working with these colors and what I did was I started adding symbols symbols of these animals the animals of what we believed in back home and a lot of times my parents are still very traditional people and sometimes when I come over to visit this area I I tell them US river crows we I come to visit the river crows here you know so I come over here and visit people here I say and they laugh because you know they they consider themselves as a center Lodge people now you know uh and what I did was I started working with that and then these paintings that I’ve done it was part about the the expression the the expression of abstract I guess according to the Europeans they call it the abstract expression artwork they call it you know whatever that comes from the heart or the mind you know like uh Picasso a lot of the revolution war he does you know he expressed himself on those paintings you know it was more detail but for here in this America we do the abstract the symbolism the symbolism of our religion and here are one of the studies a lot of the lot of the crows when they they were were studying about their symbols of the pector graph or the ple drawings it was part about during during Sundays when you go to church the the person opens up a Bible and he prays about whatever it’s in a Bible it was written it was written so that’s why they call it the Bible it was written from the from the new religion new testimony all those were written during those time so the crow people this is our Old Testament this is our religion this is our our art religion and so as they do that there was symbols symbols of The Bravery The Bravery is pulling the a gift back home and then this is called the the shaman the shaman is looking over the man while he’s pulling a gift to home it was a gift and then the great Buffalo the Buffalo the Buffalo Society one time I I my dad and my client uncle back home we still have our client uncles they say uh kingship they call it uh my kindlings you know my little niece nephews you know I have some uncles back home I asked them I said you know what do you mean you know by that symbol it was meaning of a a a wise man A wise man during those time and it was a gift it was a gift from the Creator he said so what they do is they symbolize thems in those great way and that’s how they share with me my uncles CLI uncles and they say this Society was all breaking down you know during a time when maybe you heard it before the the crow people we were happened to all died off when the small pox got to US during the time of the during the 1800s many of them there used to be during that period during the 1800 periods we were pretty close to 15 to 20,000 of Crow Indians because of this uh the riffer crows the center Lodge people Mountain crows the Black Lodge all the way to the borderline of Colorado we were all there the black lash people were there and they said one time we had this small pox and we all died off they said and so what happened was the very number one thing was the rock art the rock art was very important for the old people because that was part about their belief that was their healing healing of Art and so what happened was as they were moving along the great Shaman talking to the assistant shaman that was the symbol of his communication in that way of that spiritual way and as they were moving on the great man the great man that the eternity that Circle The Eternity of life of a human man he said he said I come to give you that gift because I’m a Healer he says uh I guess a medicine doctor like you go to to the clinic like you go to dentist or uh the different kind of surgeon like you you have a CO and you go to this doctor and you go to him and he’ll say I’m a doctor I can find whatever the either the head co or sore throat or something you know but those days those days the crow people that’s how they symbols that’s how they draw theirself and he said I’m a great man of a good healing he said so that’s why the eternity of life but if donello or Leonardo they’ll put Halo they put Halo on that but cro Indians this is how they represent themselves as this symbol this great circle of eternity life this one I call it my grandmother’s Dream It’s on a oil paint it’s uh six feet by 5 feet long when I was an undergraduate my art history teacher he tells me he said Mr big day you got to do a research on cro Indian art because of that oil pain this class I took it’s called the lecture lecture and research they call it this it’s a it’s a beginning class and so I went over to uh musle shell uh mstone the boom Mountain they call it uh when I was doing I went over to the BLM and I visit with them I said you know uh I like to do some studies here so I went out there and during the time when the first small pox came to the crow people the first thing what it got was the children the children were all dying off and so what they did grandmother went up to the high mountains to the high hills the boo Mountain he went up there all to these high places and asking for a good healing for his children and this this new upcoming sickness they don’t know how to get rid of that new sickness they said and so all this rock art it’s about 20t 20 ft across 20t down and all this hand painting was there all in a small baby hands in red pain in red pain and so I come home I come home I brought that home I shared it with my people first I talked to my dad I talked to my clan I said you know why is that and so they explained it in a crow language that what I was speaking in English and so what they did was he said all the grandmothers were worried during that time so it was part about their healing of that rock art this one is called going to parade it’s on watercolor so a lot of times many many areas that so this the significant of a woman uh like the queen when he described herself she has all these diamonds and she’s got this diamond wand and she’s all pretty with pretty dress so down those rock art what happened was the Cru Woman This Is How They draw himself in a in the rock art when they’re doing prograph or petlift drawings that’s how the croww woman described himself there was an area way back in uh there’s a small town called uh Power whelming in that area there was a cruel woman described herself in a rock art like this and then this one is called my charging boo so charging boo in my painting this is a 6 ft by four feet painting oil painting and uh charging boo what I did was I compare I compare my painting my oil painting in that way of that formation of the the style that Contour style back to the Europeans you know back to Picasso and leonado donello you know the the drawings the drawing were contour drawings fulfilling the colors but according to Picasso study he said the native had the Contour before before time he says before his time during the time of their study and then leado Donal that’s what they were all saying he said the native people were the one to bring the Contour concept and so that was just about in the European art lectures you know during those days days but according to the crow people this style it comes from the rock art there was no uh impressionistic or you know new age style you know it’s not like that but it was something that’s all original because it’s inside of us so every time when I’m doing some work either you’ll turn out to be very abstract or very colorful with the paintings and so many many times I’ve argued with my instructor they’re expecting a crow guy to do a detail work it’s not Insight me but I’m learning that that’s part of the the tradition tradition art that we go through this one is called the couple going home this one is in uh out in Helena because in Helena I did a lot of research there too because during that time my grandfather he said the the what did they call the continental divide the Continental Divide in those areas they call it the among the mountain among the mountain and all the the newly wood I guess that’s where they go honeymoon but but the new uh they say couples during that time they write through there because it was a it was a gift so that way when they turn back and they look at over here to the river Crow they look over here and they say yes you know thank you they say among the mountain thank you you know but that’s one of them this is another uh 6 feet by 5T oil painting too this one I call it the BP spiritual this is a lithograph yeah a lithograph they call it uh it’s uh unlimited and what I did was I started working on it and so my instructor when I was a undergraduate at MSU billings I was an undergraduate so I asked my instructor I said you know wh why how can I express myself you know so we were asking we were doing compare compare contrast and so he he came up with with this uh man named uh a guy from but he was a nardis he was an abstract expressionist him and Picasso met together because he was from be right so he wanted to learn about abstract expressionist so this Mt artist met with pakaso and both were arguing about this abstract expressionist so you know can you imagine about me too you know this 20th 25th Century you know arguing with an instructor me trying to be somebody that I was you know I’m already here and so what I did was I started creating this comparing with my rock art again this I call it my bisp spiritual this is when when they say the old people they say when when a man is in a battle or when a man is serious with his preparedness he turns into half animal and half man so that way he has good home or bring back good things and so that’s that’s what they call a bisp spiritual same thing with this one what I did was I ran into this rock art this pector graph drawing what happened was see usually us Crow people we are very very respectful what we did was we at make offering we make offering to the to this land and to this air to the skies you know and to this mountain and what it did this is talks about this man the Creator came came from his soul and as he he came out from there he started helping him with his enemies and how powerful himself how he described himself and here’s another one they call it I guess the Europeans they call it the aity the great Shaman I I don’t know that but but the people they call that the great Shaman so he described himself with the the younger people and as the the younger people or I should say the little people he talked to him he said I am I am the master of you you know and so as he was doing that he this is how he described himself in that symbol and here’s more during a time when warriors were out hunting maybe a lot of men when you go elk hunting or deer hunting or antalope hunting or gone fishing you want to talk to your creator you know hey Creator yeah help me out with my hunting but this is what it talks about during his hunting season he was out going out hunting and he they gave him this dream where to go on this mountain so this is how he receives this message the the medicine rapbit you know the medicine rabbit was part about the during those days when there was one one time they said this land was all dry no water no flood no no plants growing and they said you you know the Creator he said to the shaman he said what have I’ve got you know he said I have nothing and he said the mountain you you people you go to the mountain and you give thanks give thanks to the to this upcoming weather so he he they went up there and he said you know what do I feed my people he said the great rabbit is going to come to you and it was part about our food areas to too and so this is how it was represent in his way of during the hunting time the wolf so if if there’s any questions or anything that you know you would like ask you if you do have a question please just raise your hand and uh we’ll get a uh okay here we go we’ll get a microphone you I I’d like to ask um what it is that um inspires you to do such huge mural siiz paintings the reason why is uh the reason why I do these large paintings were freedom of expression this Freedom expression you express yourself you know to be a part of that painting uh it comes from being a part of the rock art during those days they weren’t Bond or they weren’t yeah they were freedom freedom of their their way of their style and so that’s where I got the influence in my studies that’s why we have another question here okay uh where can you view these paintings and are they for sale or what yes yes yes they are for sale yes yes yeah uh well very good prices yes come on over to this building yeah yes they are yes uh see what I did was many times I I taught in a summer school in a Pima tribe I went to the Puma School in uh State of Arizona because they needed some Native American Indians to give Art lectures out there as as a cro Indian and they wanted to listen to the way how we express our artwork and so that’s why I I was happen to have that opportunity to go over there to share with the here in the state of Montana of how we express oursel in the art World okay see yeah hold on where are the actual paintings then where are the actual paintings oh the actual paintings yeah there’s I got some I got some in this uh building uh and then the other one I got some at uh University of Billings monana at that University they have a 7 feet by 7 feet oil Paine there and uh and then the others were in a permanent uh areas were in state of Arizona yeah and then some in Washington DC and so they’re all in 7 feet by 7 feet okay we can do uh we’ll do one more um could you tell us more about your beautiful horse brooch your PIN oh yes yes like uh earlier earlier I was sharing with the symbol the symbol of the significant of who I am or what I do I become part of the horse Society because during those days I just confessed earlier about stealing loose and Clark Sy breads you know my ancestors were one of them so you that’s why I have this significant of this horse and but I got some more horses for seale yes well yeah I think unfortunately we’re about out of time but let’s give William big day a big round of applause for that program and I think we all know just a little bit more about Crow art history thanks to your efforts and of course if you do want to talk with William Moore and see some of these works I think it’s the home show building that you’re set up in so kind of make your way over there and then you can get a look up close and personal at these fine pieces of art um and just some other things to let you know we have about 15 minutes till our next program is going to begin and in a a rare kind of event it’s not going to be in the tent it’s going to be kind of straight behind me to the left of the TP we’re going to have um Mr garrettson there with Stone Age Technologies so you’re welcome to join him his program is going to last a little bit longer than the programs in here it’ll be about an hour and 15 minutes and it’s quite a performance along with many Hands-On things many props so you’re welcome to join Mr garrettson with stone age Technologies almost right under the tree to the left of the tee um because that program does run over I also want to let you know about our six o’clock program it’s still going to happen in here and so if you were wanting to follow the trail of Lewis and Clark plants with Ranger Mary Ellen uro she will be in here at 6 o’clock and start that program so I unfortunately I have to leave it up to you as to where you want to be because being in two places at the same time is really tough but that’s what’s going to go on and of course please enjoy everything else around us we have lots of food vendors we have lots of Artisans with items for sale we have lots of little exhibits around here to explore take advantage of it all and like I said if you want to see William big day talk to him a little bit in person see his artwork firsthand make your way to the home show building so thank you once again for being great audience and

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Tent of Many Voices: 09240603

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:35:56 +0000

and join us for the very last program today I want to welcome you to the core of Discovery 2 traveling exhibit and this tent of many voices I’ll tell you a little bit about us if you’re brand new to the tent I would be surprised I see a lot of familiar faces here in the crowd and I thank you all for coming back joining us for today and joining us for the past few years that’s right we’ve been traveling for four years on the Lewis and Clark Trail starting in January of 2003 in monachello Virginia we went all the way to the Pacific coast and now we’re back to St Louis just as Louis and Clark did 200 years ago yesterday they returned to St Louis well as we’ve been traveling the trail to various towns and cities along the way this is our 95th stop bringing presenters here to the tent of many voices to share their voice with you about Lou and Clark expedition and the people and the cultures they met along the way 200 years ago Lewis and Clark stayed with the Chinook and clats up people on the coast and with us today is a very special presenter he’s the chief of the chanuk people and he was our very first presenter in the tent of many voices 3 and a half years ago in monachello Virginia his name is Cliff Snider Chief Cliff Snider or grey wolf and it would be my honor if you guys would give him the biggest Round of Applause and welcome him to the tent thank you thank you very much I’m overcome have a SE have a SE yeah yeah CL you everybody because I’m seeing so many people I’ve known over the past few years I hope you uh don’t mind if I take a minute to welcome all those guys in the canoe that came down the river yesterday Captain Clark and his whole crew what a marvelous Landing down there what a great celebration I was with you guys in St Charles last night boy did we have a good time my friends my friends from Pacific County and Washington are here I’m certainly glad they’re here we were you know that particular group were the friends of uh uh sister city with Charlottesville Virginia I had a chance to be back there with them and they’re here in the crowd today thank God you’re here I appreciate it very much and all those people with them from uh Pacific County down the coast at the end of the trail I want to make sure that I recognize that you’re here I also want to recognize my chairman is here my vice chairman is here there’s some chinuk Indians here I have some clats up Indians here they’re all back here from our particular native land and I’m so glad they made this trip out here to the Mississippi River I’ll try and get going now the speak speaker before me I have in trouble with this the speaker before me is so good that he doesn’t need a note I’ve got pages of notes because I’m about 30 years older than he is I’m 80 years old now and I have to kind of look down once in a while if you don’t mind if I get lost just wait a few minutes and I’ll catch up with you this I know I’m going to for get some people like try to catch up with Terry last night I know the people who are taking pictures and everything I if I’ve forgotten you I’m sorry I’ll meet you out back and and we’ll talk it over anyway I’m going to mention some other people in the crowd later on people that had something to do with the beginning of this Trail this is the end of the trail what a wonderful day the great spirit gave us to have this final occasion no rain we hear about rain all the time from these people who work here but today look at it sun’s out nice calm Day Lewis and Clark on their return met at the Yellowstone and Missouri rivers and they begin the final leg of their trip back they dropped off Chicago AIA sakaia chachaa whatever you want to call her depends on what tribe you’re in they left her off in the Mandan Village Knife River with sharbono and her baby pump they continued up the river and they run into a couple of French Trappers they pick them up they picked up Chief Shahi at Knife River the chief of the Mandan tribe they’re going to take him back to see President Jefferson and they were on their way and they got to rushing you all took psychology in college you know about gold gradient don’t you the oh horses when they went out on the trip the closer they got the barn the faster they went well that’s what was happening the big rush was on we got to St Charles and look out in the pasture there there’s a moo cow we know that we’re getting close now and oh the joy St Louis in sight I kind of changed that a little bit but here we are in St Louis what a beautiful place to be one of the good reasons I like being on this Trail for 78 years is because now I get to see them Missouri I get to see the Mississippi I get to see the Grand Arch and then there a wonderful place I love St Louis as onary Chief the Chinook Indian tribe there’s a difference between a chief and a chairman we have a chairman with a beautiful uh uh Indian Council I was on the Council for 25 years fighting for recognition when I retired the tribe named me honorary chief for life so if you’re working on the internet you’re trying to find our leader it’s not me I’m just an honorary person our real leader is Ray Gardner sitting in the audience today we have come full circle and it’s time for everybody to celebrate I distinctly remember when I first began I was in partnership with the United States fish and wildlife and we’re having a meeting in Leon Idaho and we just had to introduce ourselves as we went around the table there were probably 50 60 people in this big round table and they were discussing what we were going to do on the Lewis and Clark celebration which was coming up and I was just there merely as an associate when I got around to me and I introduced myself as a chinuk Indian a member of an unrecognized tribe in United States of America everybody kind of looked at me Rod ARA white was next to me ly Shon he says we are also not recognized by the United States government who makes those decisions it’s not made by Congress it’s not made by executive order of the president but somebody in the Bia and nobody will take the blame for it and that’s why we were we were there we’re just talking about other things the next day they had another meeting that meeting the same thing happened they got around to me and I said uh I can’t see that we should be calling this a celebration and the word started moving around and the Indians felt that we couldn’t celebrate the Caucasians taking land from us and it by that by vote they started to call it the Comm commemoration and that still stands to this day I was proud to be part of that the second part of it was they’re unrecognized Indian here are all these Indians sitting around they’re unrecognized what are they doing here you remember what uh people were saying you know Indians should have uh equal rights and and anything that’s happening here and so uh they decided to include all Indians on the Trail whether they’re recognized or not out of that meeting was about seven or eight years ago I can’t tell you exactly but what a wonderful feeling to see that’s still happening today and then when Gerard Baker came in and he started talking about what the Indians are going to do on the trail he says we are not going to be p uh we’re not going to be involved in this unless we have equal rights we don’t want to be looked down on as second grade citizens and Gerard Baker is still my hero today for saying that give that big guy a big hand now most of you are acquainted with the Lo and Clark Trail by the authors that we had and the history books that you read and I bet you 99% of you know know more about the generals and I do I know a little bit about what the Indians thought and sometimes my thoughts are quite different than the history books because I’ve been talking to Indian leaders for eight years they’re telling me these little legends that aren’t even written down in the beginning our third president of the United States which by the way was born in England President Jefferson made the deal of the century by purchasing all the land that was to be all the way to the Rocky Mountains doubling the size of America he paid what $15 million 18 c a square mile for all that Land wait a minute am I missing something here who’s living on that land out there are the French living out there did na Napoleon really really uh own that land now the Indians felt this way and it’s the land was not owned by anybody we belong to the land and if any of you guys out there are part Indian and have Indian Heritage you know what I’m talking about we could not buy and sell the land it was not for sale we belong to the land so I just want everybody to know where they got the land from and what they paid for it and who really lived on the land maybe I have a little favoritism there I don’t know I’m going to El light over something because we’re going to have some some ceremony here after afterwards and I don’t have Sammy Meadows from Colorado to give me this I’m just going to have to hurry through it I talked a lot like to talk today about it says on the program I’m going to talk about the chip culture we’ve always been given the privilege to change the title around a little bit what I’d like to do is tell you about the Indian tribes that they met on the way I’m going to miss some but I’m going to put some of the important items and I’m going to put in there about some things that aren’t in the history books the stories are going to be different and I got this from Roger Wile who portrays droillard on the trail these are the Lost journals of Lewis and Clark right Roger and so I’ve been using using that your phrase for a long time because I’ve been in these Indian Villages and they’re telling me these stories and later I’ll tell you how they might contradict the history books that we have well you know the rest of the story Jefferson pointed Lewis and Clark and uh he didn’t have the slightest idea of what Li was lying ahead he had never been over the mountains he had been 200 miles west of monachello he didn’t know about the rivers the mountains and all those things terrible animals and things and above all he didn’t know a thing about those wild Indians that were out there we have to be kind of careful of those guys we don’t know whether when we go through those Indians are going to kill us or whether they’re going to help us or what’s going to happen so that’s the interesting part how did the Indians help Lewis and Clark go through this whole trip and back as a unit and why weren’t they eliminated and that’s the reason we’re all here today because they did make it I’d like to talk about some of the couple of the first tribes I met you know all the things they went through about going through France and and when they could leave St Louis and all that kind of thing but there were running into Indians right away that had seen white people before when they left St Louis and some of those Indians were oage Indians had a good opportunity to talk to some of them while I’ve been here and the Shaun some of my friends dark rain Tom and her husband beautiful Chinese uh sh people and then they ran into a team called uh I’m saying team because I’m an ex- coach but I ran into a tribe called kapoo now the only time I ever knew about the kapoo was from Lil Abner when I was a kid and they remember they used to drink kikapu joy juice and that’s where I got that name from I don’t know if any of you know about kikapu enjoy Jews I like to try it sometime then they ran into the omahas and the otos and they’re back there and they met with them and had a counsil and they were telling them how good our president was and so now they’re going to be that was their new leader and you know where the name Council Buffs came from when they talked to them and now they run into the yton Sue boy they likeed them they had They carried them on Shore with big carriers straped with skins they went to the camp and they danced and they had a great time no problem there some white people had been there before so they knew about him so far so good now there’s no problems with those wild Savages but they’re running into the ton Su and black Buffalo and you all know the story they wanted more tobacco they wanted more supplies because they were going to take a toll to go up the river and we’re not going to let you go by and so Clark says no way Lewis said no way so they drew the bows and arrows well Clark took out his saber Lewis ordered the cannon on board ship to be trained on the Indians that was in that battle right there and so they finally agreed to let the women on board the kill booat and take a small trip with them and they proceeded on is the way I put it but just think what would have happened at that particular point if they had got into a scuffle and there been a lot of people killed well it didn’t happen so good for them so now we reach s raras I’m getting a little warm with this blanket so glad to have it though the riod tribe and they saw this guy that was on the stage just before me they saw York they couldn’t believe it they come up and they rubbed his skin and they couldn’t rub it off they just didn’t understand it and I must say then that some of the Legends I discovered by talking to people that there were some seual interchanges that took place between the core and the Indians but I can’t confirm that but I just wanted to tell you that was something that I read how the winter was coming the reached Knife River they reached the mandans you all know that story they nearly starved they built a fort there that was a longest stay they had on the on the whole Trail and they said to the core there’s not much food here because of buffalo have gone but if we eat you eat and if we starve you starve and so that went on they made it to the winter they had a 3-day Buffalo dance and all of a sudden the Buffalo returned and that’s how they made it to the longest winter uh longest day they had on the whole journey at this point was the most fortunate thing that ever happened to him on the trail in my belief they hired Chicago WEA shano as guides and interpreters to continue on wait a minute now there’s a baby too and you know they had a dog now they got a baby that’s going to go on this trip it’s amazing they ever let that happen but what they did is they told them all what was going to Beall him on the trail ahead about the huge Falls that were several miles up the river we’re talking about the Great Falls when they got there well that’s just going to be couple days and we’ll get around the falls and we’ll continue on you people have read all the journals s was almost a month by the time they got around where those dog gone in Indians when they needed them where are the grow buns they were up in the hills they were watching them the whole time but they were suspicious and they didn’t want to come down and get killed but anyway the crew made it on their own and passed on well now we reaching the end of the River it’s like a creek that can jump across and the next thing you know they run into the Shon ly shonis if you were here in the last session you know how they were greeted how they were welcomed in the camp this is Chicago’s tribe and she recognized a girl that was captured with her and they felt like well maybe uh that Chicago had died had would never return and then of course you about the meeting with her brother C8 and so they hugged each other well that’s a good end there’s going to be a good chance we can do some trading now that they know each other in one of the sessions they say that a brother wasn’t necessarily a brother but it was just someone like a cousin or something like that so I can’t be definite whether it was a real actual brother or not well how are they going to to trade now we got no more water that’s the end of the water passage we got to go over some mountains to get to the Pacific we need horses well you’ve got horses well how did they trade with the Shi Indians very simple Lewis talked to leish in English leish talked in French to shano shano talked in Hadas to Chicago WEA Chicago WEA then talked to Kamaya in Shoni and then in the reverse took part can you imagine that they picked up 29 horses and a mule and they had a dog well they got a guide with them they’re going to go across the bitteroot mountain sometime but they run into the Flathead Indians flaad Indians received them very warmly some of the horses were giving out so they gave them uh some price horses seven or eight of them and some were Colts then they went over the bitter Roots boy there was a place that was probably one of the worst places on the whole Trail and how they got across I don’t know they nearly starved to death they had to eat some of the Colts but they finally made it nearly starved the made the way up Prairie on the clear waterer River and they ran into the nzp Indians our friends over there I’ll tell you what a welcome site we had they had fish and enjoyed a good meal but the young guys said oh boy look at all this stuff there’s guns there’s ammunition there’s horses and there’s trading Goods let’s kind of let’s kind of take some of that stuff and just destroy all these white guys wait said this lady who had been with the white people over in the plains and as an old woman she returned to the npar her name was wat kuis and she says they are good people do them no harm there books out about that I’m so proud of what she did and so the neps decided to let them go of course they made the canoes went down the Clear Water went down the Snake River and I’m going fast now because I’m omitting a lot of things but I want to tell you they did go upstream and and they uh met the Walla wals and they met the yakas and the WAMS and they were turning the corner on the Columbia and they looked over there there’s an Indian with a sailor jacket on red and blue my goodness we must be getting closer and there were other Indians wearing sailor clothing wow we can’t be too far from the Pacific Ocean but they kept running into these funny looking Indians they’re only 5 foot five tall and they had flattened heads who are these people we know them today as chinuk Indians but we’re coming to these Falls it’s called salila Falls nowadays it’s only 48 ft wide they met the Indians there and the chuks started ringing their hands and crying we’re all going to be killed here come these bears with upside down faces my goodness what are we going to do wait the Chicago whe there’s a woman and she has a baby this can’t be an armed group we can deal with them well let’s see them go over the falls which is about 30 ft tall you know and then when the canoe tips over whatever floats over at the beach we’ll just kind of take that and Stephen Ambrose really wrote about that how the chinuk Indians were kind of Thieves you know they smell like fish and they were kind of the thieves and our feeling was you know whatever is laying loose that’s for the taking it’s not the way we look at it today but that’s the way it was then well finally they just decided they shut the canoes over the falls and and the Indians helped them Portage and everything turned out all right they said look out for those Chinooks down there you know how many Chinooks on the river at that time 16,000 chinuk Indians at the mouth of every stream on the Columbia Gorge was a chook village with the canoes up on the shore there might be 40 people it wouldn’t like sitting bowl with thousands of Indians around them 40 people 60 people 20 people you got married you went and lived with your husband and his band I hate to call them bands because United States government frowns on bands of Indians they like the word tribe period we’ve run into that problem several times times anyway just imagine this if any of you have ever been to Oregon or even if you had to Heaven there’s these huge Cliffs on each side of the Columbia Gorge you’re floating down there in your canoes at night and on the shore you see all these canoes and now you’re going with the current and you look at all these canoes and look there there’s a fire here and a fire there this 50 fires in this one Village and you’re going silently down creek what a beautiful sight that must have been and now we’re getting closer place called Portland Oregon Vancouver nowadays they stopped in all these places they got by Beacon Rock whoa there’s a tide change we can’t be too far now tide changed from the Pacific Ocean scwr upt there on down they went they finally got down there and my fourth great-grandfather I can’t Indians don’t like to use the word great that’s just my grandfather from now on my grandfather discovered Lewis and Clark as they came down the stream not the other way around we were already there we discovered him just like we discovered 28 ships had been there before him had come across the bay my group gave them some fish dismal Niche showed them a place to Camp they went over at the beach and raved their name on the stump and searched around the weather can you believe the weather was so terrible and I’ll tell you how long it was later but it was raining there MO ERS were completely worn out their clothing was terrible they hated salmon by this time they didn’t like the smell of it what are we going to do are we going to Camp here Station Camp no we’re working on that now chairman on station G but let’s have a vote Stephen Beckham and leou and clar college doesn’t like to call it a vote he just took a poll who wants to go up to Vancouver area who wants to go kamak area who wants to go uh over to the other side of the river whatever well my grandfather said well you don’t have much to trade we’ve been trading with 28 ships that already come in why don’t uh why don’t you guys go on the other side why should we go over there well there more elk over there besides that if you a ship comes in you can see it better and you’ll be out of our hair too well they went down to Pillar Rock when my mother was born and they crossed over there because the dog gone Cano you know how it was going through the locks yesterday coming down did you know that there going to be locks on that River coming down from St Charles well those canoes didn’t do very very well in the mouth of the Columbia and sometimes you were in a boat with a lot of freeboard you still wonder if you’re going to make it well they went down to where there’s some islands got around up to tongue Point cross over and they built that Fort at Fort claton my clat of brothers are back there now they know that history we all spoke the same language and so sometimes we feel that we’re just like Blood Brothers there but they went across there they set up the port and they stayed there the second longest time on the whole trip and that was good but they had elk meat and they they described it in the journal say poor elk meat p o r e because evidently it didn’t last very long in that kind of weather they saw 12 days without rain and only six did they see any sun at all you know about the salt K and the whale story and all that but they made it through and I made it through because the clat of Indians were helping them every day with food and and doing everything they could about directions and I must say something now about Dick bash his fourth or fifth great grandfather Chief cab or kol who was a classup chief at that time now he’s the director of the tent of many voices and we both served together for 25 years on the chook Indian Council my salute to Dick bash back there I love that guy on the way now I have to check my notes see where I am sometimes I get several Pages ahead of myself byway I’ll tell you by memory we just took off they uh while they were there a ship did come in Over the Bar you know there’s 10 and some ships buried out there I don’t know how they made it across in a tall ship it was called the Lydia and the Lydia came into Port was there for a while my grandfather told him oh where’s they has for Lewis and Clark oh heck they went back they’re already gone so the lyia Trad with them and then left and went around I always say they miss a good bus ride home and they had to come back by horse and B can what a shame that was but in a way there’s more stories on the way back I’m just going to tell you one or two the one or two are on the way back they tried to get a canoe from the clat spion they couldn’t do it they wanted to trade women they wanted to trade sexual favors and wanted to trade everything else and it just couldn’t happen so Lewis and Clark’s crew stole a Cano and they left and they were going up the creek and as they’re on their way up the creek they got into this Channel and they look back and here comes a clam Chinook Indian just pedling like mad to catch up with him what’s going on we stopped we talked to him this is a no in slooh here that you’re in the main river is out there you got to go back and by the way that’s my canoe that had you stole my canoe well good thing they had some extra elk skins so they traded him for those elk skins and away they went again the other one if you’re were in the crowd before Smokey was telling about only one man died on the trail and that’s a story that I learned by Legend from the blackbeat tribe the pans young I imagine young boys you know probably 15 to 23 something like that camped with ls and Clark that night and they slept with him they got medals they got the American flag but early in the morning they started to take off and they were stealing their guns and they were stealing their horses and they were taking off with them uhoh so I think it waso not Floyd but it was one of the guys and I’ll think of he’s nameing a second after I’m done but anyway he Fields Fields shot one and he got his stuff back and Lewis ran after one and he stabbed him So when you say Floyd was the only one killed on the whole Expedition it’s not two there were three people killed on the Expedition so I’m sitting in my home Portland Oregon I get a call from a man in a black foot drive he says come and through come have coffee with me and we had we’re were talking about those things he says that’s not true either I said how come he said the one that Lewis St uh shot I mean the one he shot recovered and then died so only two men died on the ls C Expedition that’s why I call them the Lost journals because they’re just a little bit different that you read about in the textbooks well I’m getting down there near the end I want to thank Diane back there for getting me here I want to talk thank everybody that’s responsible for the T of many voices dick bash and his boss and I want to leave you with one thing and I speak for the chairman of My Tribe Ray Gardner my vice chairman Sam Robinson I want to speak for them and say don’t forget the seven chinuk directions and those of you have been listening to me for the last several years know what I’m talking about seven directions are east and west north and south up and down in the directions of your heart cop from my heart Kaka so be it amen thank you I’ve got my drum here anybody wants to help me celebrate I can use the word now celebration is ready to gok if you have any questions for chief Snider you’re welcome to raise your hand I do have some colleagues out there with some microphones and um the chief Snyder can take your questions so go ahead and put your hands up if you have a question there’s a guy come on up in the back am yeah I’ll repeat it yeah I think I know where go ahead he asked if there were any sign language on the West Shore uh but but all only way we could communicate because the Chinooks had a guttural language that was even hard for anybody from one Village to another to understand I always put it in this perspective like England and there’s whales and there’s Ireland and there’s Scotland they all spoke the same language it’s difficult for everybody to understand each other any of you are watching the writer cup now you know what I’m talking about you can’t understand what those guys over there are saying but we had a lot of different dialects which started at the mouth of Columbia and went all the way to wishram and uh they had a kickish form of dialect up there the only way I can figure out that they even communicated because that language even Chicago didn’t understand the only thing that they could do is point and draw in the sand and and try and just beat it out of each other by sign language now when I’m with Roger back there and we’re talking to different schools he will do sign language with me like from my heart I’m talking to you you know things like that and that’s about the only way that we can communicate with each other from the old days and I think that’s what they had to do like this was be me I’m talking to you and which direction are we going that sort of thing that’s all I can say but we definitely they did not understand our language but on the trail there had been some white people in before that French Trappers and so forth and so they had some idea of a couple of words they might throw that in in the meantime any other questions I have a drum up here uh I’m going to set this down and when I’m when I’m talking to the kids in the school I also work for the Confluence group with my Lynn out of New York that did the Vietnam Wall so I’m talking to a lot of schools all the time grade schools high schools colleges all that and I always let the kids play the drum so I have it here and I can pass it around if you guys want to beat on a chinuk drum I’d love to have you do it this gentleman here I know would like to do it take this and and that anybody else any of my girlfriends out there I want to thank all of you for coming out I just wanted to mention I know that all of the Rangers would agree with me in saying that our family is sitting right here all of you are family to us you been traveling with us over the years you’re very close and dear to our hearts so I’m very glad to see you here for our very last presentation in the tent of many voices um before I get too far I would like you to give one big round of applause for our last presenter Chief Snider thank you stay right where you are okay at this time uh we were we’ll be preparing for our closing ceremony which is a very special time and I want to kindly ask the folks in the front five rows we’re going to um we’re going to make those reserved seatings so if you will have a seat but don’t I’m sorry don’t let anybody move yet oh excuse me we’re going to do an honor song I’m sorry it’s snooze I got just say one thing first I didn’t see them but my friends with the uh and I left that little part out in my speech about the circle of tribal advisers Bobby don’t run away I’m talking about you and Sammy these two ladies right here are just wonderful to the leaders of the circle of tribal advisers and they made it possible for all the Indians along the trail to express their views and respected their views and so that’s what happened over the last three or four years and I’m so proud of you guys I was glad to be part of your group thanks for coming and uh uh Diane Diane you can come up here too as the chair of classs close cloudia till comes con n King Chacha Jeff painter Nang I’m Jeff painer I’m one of the cultural resource Specialists of the clat up tribe and uh this is our chairman and vice chair and we just really want to honor up Grandpa Cliff here for all the work he does for our people and uh he’s a real healer and uh does a lot to make things come together between people that might be having disagreements and uh and I just had a talk with Ray and he said it be okay for us to do this so this is an honor song to honor to this man this song was composed in the 1700s when one of the epidemics came through our village at NL and the meaning of it it sounds like uh eii o vocable words but there’s a meaning with that song and it means you’re all so valuable we can’t afford to lose one of you and that is directed at that Grandpa over there but also to each and every one of you that’s witnessed this journey you know the talks today you’ll take that back to your community whatever uh culture that you’re from you’re all very important you’re all witness something here today hey he he

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Tent of Many Voices: 07250606

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:35:53 +0000

core of Discovery 2 tent of many voices this is one of the many parts of this exhibit that is traveling across the country following the Lewis and Clark Trail we have been traveling for three and a half years on this Trail and stopping in various towns and communities along the way just like yours here and bringing in presenters into the tent of many voices to share their perspectives of the Lewis and Clark expedition 200 years ago as well as the cultures and people they met along their Journey so with us at this hour are some dancers singers They’re here from The Crow Nation and I want to introduce Darren old coyote who is going to introduce the rest of the dancers and singers so if you welcome everybody to the tent of many voices good afternoon ladies and gentlemen uh at this time um before we get started I’ll be explaining some of the dances as we go along but before we do members of this dance group are from the great OBS soliga Nation Crow Nation as you guys know it we call ourselves OBS Solan Nation and at this time I present to you the dancers from the great OBS solaga Nation singers anytime you’re ready let’s bring our dancers in he heyy here they are dancers from the great of solaga the first style of dance will’ll be presenting to you comes to us from the jibble people in the Great Lakes area among the jibble they say there was a young lady who had who who got sick about six years old and they say through a vision through a dream they saw this dress and the young girl was healed and just a few years back she died at about 100 years old so this dress is known as a medicine dress among the jib people and with that we’re going to go into a song by our singers for Jingle dress there you have it jingle dress dancers the next dance style that they will be going into is what is known as the woman’s dance among the jib people this in their language this song that the singers will be singing is known as the woman dance so with that a woman’s jingle dress round dance there you have it the woman’s jingle dress the next Style dance that will’ll be presenting to you is known as the grass dance the men’s grass dancers as they make their way out there this was a dance during interal Warfare the individual men would tie the scalps to their waist and then through the ears whether because of the smell I don’t know because of the you know the the spirituality behind it they tied grass to their waist and then Through The Years you know we’ve adopted and adapted to many ways and today we use the the cloth and that’s what the fringes are representing the scalps of long ago so with that the men’s grass dance singers anytime you’re ready men’s grass la there you have it the men’s grass s the next song that these dancers will be dancing to is what is known as the single s Le beat and many tribes have referred to this dance as the crow hop so with that they will be dancing the single beat croop heyyyy dance the next song that the dancers will be performing for you is a a dance that a lot of you are familiar with but with a Twist of Indian in there um this dance comes to us uh is known as the push Dan they say back in early 1900s a gentleman by the name of uh plenty Hawk traveled back East to New York City DC looking at the sites and they say he he went to a a ball where they were uh dancing the Fox Trot the twostep and he brought this dance back and he you know back then they all they knew was singing dancing and the The Crow away and he said they had the non-indians have a dance which is a social dance and he showed them the dance and the crows you know improvised and being very creative uh sang some marel dance songs with uh love love love song um it’s this kind of a Love Song seraing Song and with that we’re going to go into a push Dance for for your enjoyment singers anytime you’re ready push dance for our in my for oh h there you have it push NS the worst of that song says uh my love they don’t want me to come over but I’m going to come over anyway meaning they come over to see their love the next style we’ll be presenting to you is the women’s Crow style and the style of dress is uniquely Crow no other tribe in United States Canada where you see this type of and this dress represents the wealth and the pride of the family there’s only two elk teeth in a elk you know one elk has only two teeth and some of these dresses uh you know from 300 400 elk teeth Adorn these dresses and that goes to show how great you know the men folk were and how you know um the crow men would go out and hunt and that’s how because back in those days they would have to hunt and uh to get the the hide for the for The Lodges for their clothing and so there’s uh we take a lot of pride in this dress you know the crow people wherever you go among Indian people you could always you know pick out the crows because of their the way they’re dressed and you look at the bead work no two designs are the same um a lot of love and you know hard work go into these handmade bead work the Beauty and the pageantry Behind These be work and the mothers you know take a lot of time it takes a lot of time uh hard work and a lot of love goes into these outfits and the creator of these outfits you know they among the crow they say if you have a good outfit it’s because your mother loves you that much so with that woman’s Crow Style hey there you have it the woman’s Crow the next dance style that these dancers will be dancing to is what is known as the double beat songs of The Crow and many tribes have have referred to the song as the double beat songs or or the Crow Hop and among the crow we refer to this dance as the double beat so with that woman’s Crow style double beat or Crow Hop that is commonly loan there you have it women’s Crow Style dancing the double beat songs of The Crow the next dance style that will be coming out is the men’s Crow style and this dance Way Comes to us through the hia of North Dakota this uh dance way was bought over by jolet present day jolet Montana there’s pictographs right above uh in a hills in jolet there’s a pictograph of four dancers with tow feathers and they say the crow bought this dance way the T four tow feathers from the hia around the late 1800s and the crows uh bought this dance way with 400 horses they gave hiat 400 head of horses uh I believe they might be the same ones we stole from Clark but uh they say the crows um bought this way and since that time the crows have danced this way the the hiats about this hot dance away from uh the Santi Su the Santi Su in turn bought this dance away from the Omaha of Nebraska the Omaha and so through those different tribes this dance way has come to us the roach represents the Rays of the Sun and it’s made out of uh porcupine hair they say that the bells represent the hoofed animals and you know uh ever since Santa Claus came around we use bows nowadays but uh before that they used Hooves and then the fur around the ankles represent the fur bearing animals and the belt represents the uh reptiles and represents a snake and so we this is all about nature we sing and dance because we’re enjoying life here on Earth on Mother Earth and they say the armbands and the Cuffs come to us from the Cowboys and the way they dressed and so the crows saw that and they you know made it part of their regalia today and it’s part of our uh the crow style way of dress and the tail feathers I talk about um our sacred tail feathers of the crow so with that men’s Crow style singers any time you’re ready wherever you go in Indian Country you can always pick out the crows because of the way they yeah the men Pro style the next dance style that we will be dancing is uh the same as the lady dancers dance the double beat Crow Hop and in this dance they’ll be emulating the prairie chicken uh and if you watch the footwork that’s what um these different dance styles if you watch the footwork that’s where they differ in all the dance styles and the body movement with the crow style you know uh this is the double beat croww so anytime you’re ready singers that will be kroop there you have it men’s Crow Style dancing the double beat kroop the next Style dance that will’ll be going into is what is known as the stoop dance song and this dance they say during inter tribal Warfare when enemy would shoot at the crow they would duck down as to avoid the being hit by uh an arrow or bullet so that’s what the where the song comes from is from uh Inbal Warfare and with that stoop dance songs for our dancers anytime you’re ready singers song there you have it the men’s Crow style stoop n song the next song that the cro men’s Crow style will be dancing is uh what is known as the ruffle dance or ruffer ruffle song so with that the men’s Crow style ruffle song for our dancers in this dance they’re emulating the prairie huah there you have it the men Crow at this time we’re going to go into a general dance with all of our dancers how many you enjoyed the men’s Crow style dancers let’s let him hear it all right singers anytime you ready General dance for all of our dancers hey what l all there you have it solaga Nation dancers I would like to introduce our singers at this time Jeff McDonald Gordon planb tonone failen Ty backbone Merl big medicon Larry Eastman Steven house Randy failen and Edmond oldc these are your singers and I I was going to introduce all the dancers but it was too hot so they went for the shade but that’s all of our Barry Glenn report to Sergeant pcel Barry Glenn report to Sergeant pcel

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Tent of Many Voices: 07250605

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 00:35:50 +0000

gentlemen welcome back to the tent of many voices we have some dedicated visitors sticking around for some of the very last programs here at Billings Montana at the pompy pillar um if you haven’t been in our tent yet welcome to the core of Discovery 2 we have been traveling for three and a half years and all the Rangers here have quite a few experiences to share with you however at this hour we have a different presenter who’s going to share with you about the Native American history here at pompy’s Pillar his name is Howard bogus and he has his own biography for an introduction so bear with me Howard bogas is an enrolled member of the Crow tribe of Indians he’s the former director of The Big Horn County Historical Museum at harden he’s a former board member of the museum Association of Montana a board member for pompy’s pillar Association here board member for Yellowstone County Lewis and Clark commission as well as the Yellowstone County Museum as well as the chief plenty coup advisory Council where he is a charter member and the frontier Heritage Alliance in 2002 he was awarded the Montana historical society’s trustees award for contributions to Montana history and Indian culture and in 2003 awarded the Montana State parks’s volunteer of the Year award for research of the core of Discovery and the crow and volunteering in changing the display at the chief plen coup Museum to involve Clark on the Yellowstone and the Crow Indians in 2004 he was awarded the Peter jagen Jr Award of achievement by museums Association of Montana for furthering museums into being more important to Montana tourism by research of the history of Montana in 2005 he began working with Elias goes ahead on researching the Battle of Arrow Creek through a grant of the frontier Heritage Alliance from American Battlefield Protection Program he has walked and mapped the old Indian Trails of Montana and studied Indian battles that were Indian to Indian the trails of Trappers in the military and Indian battles that followed and led to the trails of the immigrants that came to settle Montana one of the greatest things he had studied was the Indian drawing of the people who lived here 1,000 years ago that tell the stories of the battles the history of the life of the people their attachment to the Earth the Stars the moon the Sun and their religions excuse me one second the religious beliefs these paintings are the stories of the people and how something that was painted a thousand years ago on sstone Cliff tell us the happenings at that time many of the same images are used today on canvas by young Indian artists of today who have never studied the artwork of their people today we call them the the American Indian so let’s give Howard bogus a nice warm welcome to the tent well I say sh uh welcome U welcome to Crow country and uh you know and uh this be the which is is Poppy’s pillar we call uh p p is be a ma because of the of uh the mountain lion’s head that’s in the Sandstone up on halfway up the pillar which most people don’t get to see it’s not marked or anything but it’s very very visible right there but most people walk by it and don’t really stop and look back at it cuz it’s thing that you you see it on the way down or when you’re going up you have to stop and turn around but uh that’s what we call this place because of uh of this stone mountain lion head that’s that’s halfway up up there it’s natural just blown in by the wind and the Sandstone the weather whatever it took but uh anyway when uh C Indian people have used this pillar uh we did a little dig right out here where that piece of lawn is out there and uh in that there we found stuff 10 11,000 years old I mean so uh you know the Indian people have been using this pillar for for for a long time and uh what we what we seen was uh we found out uh there was chips there was some arrowheads uh points uh other little things but uh no it was kind of a a very neat dig and it was very neat to find out what it was I talked to a farmer here yesterday and his father farmed this area right here up right up the belly here and uh he said my dad told us he said when I broke the land we when we farmed the land he says you can still see the teepe Rings you know at this time because where people use the land it changes the color of the land it’s kind of hard for them to see them but you he like he said from from sitting on the tractor and looking straight down on them he says you can see that these or these old Tepe Rings and Things was uh cro Indian people used the Crow Indians the sue the shyenne the rapaho the shason almost all of the tribes used the Yellowstone River the Yellowstone River was the highway we didn’t use canoes none of these tribes used canoes they used horseback and they traveled Up and Down the River or they or before that they used dogs and travys to go up and down the river uh so that was the way that they was traveling here but uh one of the things that the Indian people would do uh the pillar here is is a place like no other place travel the entire Yellowstone Valley from the very far reaches of the headwaters south of Yellowstone Lake or all the way down to to to the mouth down at the Missouri you will not find another place like this pillar where there’s just a big Stone coming up out of the ground there’s none no place else uh there’s one up the other side of Livingston that I was told it was like this but I went up and it had a little neck going out to it from the hill so it had not uh got to be just an island like this pillar has uh but the croan people and all of the tribes of Indians would stop at the pillar they would rest and camp and we have to remember it was a it was a very very important Landmark very very important Landmark uh where the just on the other side of the pillar where the old bridge is that was the crit River Crossing we don’t know how many million years that River Crossing is it’s old it’s been here for a long time and uh the Indian people used it the Buffalo used it I always like to tell people I would like to sit on top of a pillar a million years ago and just see what went by that would be great for me but uh no it was this was a place that was always well used by lots of uh under the cow Indian people uh when they come up here and do the Vision Quest or prayer uh when they came to do their prayer they came before the sun rose they had to watch the sun rise and they had to say in their pray prayer thought until they could turn around in the evening and see the sun set a prayer was from sunsrise to Sunset and it was and as it was told to me if you didn’t stay and do the entire day there then your was more than likely then your prayers would not would not be heard and listened to and and would not come true for you and your prayers is always something that you did so that you could uh set the guiding lines of your life uh so that uh you you would kind of wish for things or you would and a prayer wasn’t always said for just myself if I if I go to there to do a prayer I don’t say it for myself myself I say it a lot of times I will sit there and I will include all my friends or other people that I know that need help or from or for my tribe people uh so you know a prayer wasn’t for just you a Vision Quest was a thing that was done by the C Indian people on the pillar when you do a Vision Quest normally they’re done three days and three nights there’s no uh if we don’t do the full three days and three nights then more than likely your vision uh Quest won’t come true either a Vision Quest is is is is something that you do to see what what’s going to happen in my life ahead of time you know uh am I going to be an important person or I’m just going to be somebody no nobody nobody or what am I going to do am I going to do things or not and and most of the time uh people who did their Vision quests uh they they did them and when you did your vision quest at that time you had to feel the physical pain and uh the physical pain is from Sun the wind the rain the cold of of the night you have to suffer all of these pains and uh when you did a long time ago uh two the stor that was told me when you did A Vision Quest you was only allowed a small piece of buck skin to set on that was all you were not not not allowed no clothing or anything such as that and uh Vision Quest have changed a little bit uh I think to this very time uh but uh but the crow people still do pray go out to do prayers they they still go out to do Vision quests I just talked to a young man yesterday and he said you know he says we I need to go out and do this just by myself he said so I can sit and learn more about myself what the what what the prayer and The Vision Quest really was a lot of it was about uh was to learn more about yourself to get to know yourself and to really to get to like yourself you know if you don’t like you why should anybody else and that’s that’s the way the old Indian people looked at it I mean is that I have that I have to do things for people uh so that I am liked uh like uh Indian people do a lot of gift giving they give gifts all of the time and uh when I give a gift I mean it’s I never want walk up and say I gave that to you no when I gave you the gift I give everything away for it I don’t have anything in my mind ever that I ever owned that or was ever Min No I gave I gave everything away uh one of the things that happened uh it makes the cro Indian people pluz was one of these people you know Chief plenus who was the last chief of the croan people he wore a headdress went all the way to his heels had lots of eagle feathers on it and uh say I wanted to honor Mr pluz and I had five eagle feathers and I would say well you know I I’ll give these three eagle feathers to Mr pluz and I know why I got each one of my eagle feathers I had to earn my eagle feathers you do not wear an eagle feather unless you earn that eagle feather and uh but anyway if if you want when when you gifted these eagle feathers to Mr pus and I went out and I stole the I said I stole no crow never say they stole a horse we captured a horse we didn’t steal horses we captured horses it was an honorable thing for us to do in our standings was a very honorable capturing horse it’s one of the most honorable things you could do okay but uh when I went out and I captured this horse I touched this Brave and I did something for each one of these feathers when I give the feathers to Mr PLU I give all rights to these feathers and plenty cou can say when I stole this Cheyenne horse when I stole this Sue when I touched this Sue in battle or I I or I fought the arapa hole and I earned this feather them stories are are plenty cruises they totally belong to him they’re totally out of my mind forever I cannot ever say I did this I want if I talk about I’ll say when Mr pyus did this I never claimed it in any in any way and that’s the way gift giving is amongst the cian people when we give a gift it’s it’s isn’t that we we don’t hold no no ties to it at all but uh on the pillar up here uh it’s got some very very interesting sites on it uh uh it’s a virtual history book the pillar is from the Indians uh back to the days of the shield bearing Warrior they’re painted on the on on the pillar up here back to if you if you read Mr Clark’s diary I wrote I I carved my name into the pillar and when I carved my name into the pillar there was two painted Indian paint painted markers right here there are two Shields a red shield and a gold shield and both within two feet of the left hand uh side of his of his uh signature so but the Indian people have been using the pillar like I say F uh 10,000 years we know because of the items that’s been found right here at the very base of the pillar uh in in our own collections at home we got lots of photographs of the of the pillar and things uh there’s some very interesting ones uh according to the Diaries uh but Mr Clark did not allow his men to sign the sign sign the pillar but uh we have a photograph at home and his cross tomahawks like this and uh and this photo was taken back in I’m not sure just how long ago it was published in a book that was published 1951 and uh but anyway it said that the the the men who were with Clark on the Expedition carved the cross tomahawks for Saka Jia now in Crow we say sagawa so every time that you go to a different reservation it’s going to be said to you differently because we don’t talk the same and Zakia when I look at that that that’s kind of a French it’s more of a French word we don’t we don’t have any kind of words like that in our Co tribe so we just say sagawa um in our Crow stories uh there was a young lady that was captured by the crow by the cow Indian people uh she lived with a crow approximately two years and uh when she lived with the cro Indian people she uh you know she was she was she was uh she was treated well uh she but but the thing of it is at that period of time when if you captured a woman then you then most of the time time you would use her take her down and and you would use her her she would be tray goods and there’s very possibility CH chance that Zakia was probably captured by The Crow and then taken down and then traded uh in the stories that I have at home so it’s it’s you know there’s there’s different theories of of of uh how she came about all we know is that it it was sure was lucky for Lis and Clark that she did because they have never made it without her but I I I always have looked up here for that but there’s a rig Rock that’s caved off in the last 50 years or so up here and I suspected that’s probably where that cross tomahawks was at and how old that photograph is we don’t know and I’ve never seen the original photograph only the print that’s in this magazine that was like I say was painted in 1951 but the crow people would come here and do their prayers and stuff they would paint their the shields uh most of the shields that are on this pillar for some reason are are gold and uh I’ve been I’ve been researching uh Shields and stuff up and down the valley paintings carvings in the Rocks we have found over 400 in this Valley here uh and that doesn’t mean it’s a short distance that means from for Sight all the way up the Yellowstone then tributaries but when you studied the paintings you always kind of look to try to figure out what does the painting mean uh when I was a child I first time I came to pomp spell was 1946 came here with my mother reason we came here my we my we was going to we was living at Warden Montana my dad worked up here at the experimental farm for about a year and a half two years and uh but the reason we was over there was uh my mother took me along and because she didn’t want to set up throughout the entire day completely by herself but she came we came early that morning and stayed the entire day and it was to say thank you because she had four sons and three brothers returned from World War II that’s what it was for and uh places like this are still being used like that for the by the Indian people uh no we very much believe in doing pray prayers prayers and uh and and things yet today it’s a and different families have different places that they go we don’t all go the same place but what wherever we do generally go it’s a different type of a place like I say this pillar is the only one in this Valley so so that makes it you know totally different than any place El and when I did my vision quest uh I was taken up there by a clan uncle and an uncle and when I did my vision quest um I was taken up on a a pred eagal point and I was left there for the for the three days and three nights you know it’s it’s it’s in a way it’s it’s a very scary thing to do because you have to be less than 10 you have to be about 10 years old you have to do your first Vision Quest before the time of puberty uh Vision quests are done by both men and women so it’s not something that just one one one of us does uh a lot of times some sometimes people will uh a man and a wife they’ll go out on to to do something and maybe they will be within sight of one another but they’ll saay their time and do their prayer and stuff but they don’t talk to one another they don’t visit I mean they just both sat there and uh like I say the whole thing the whole thing about it is to think about what’s going on in your life what is going on in the life of the crow people what’s going to the in on in the life of your neighbor or maybe you have a young friend that’s not doing very good you sit and you do your prayer for all of them but like I say you have to go from the sunrise to the sunset for it to come true uh when I came used to come up I mean we we walked up an old trail we started up right there in the corner there and actually it goes up underneath the stairway about four different times you cross the original trail that the Indians people been using for thousands of years uh when you go up the the the the stairs but uh one the the croan people we had at one time we know for sure that we there was three bands of the Crow Indian people there was a kick in the belly who were on the Powder River they were on the Plat River across NE Nebraska uh they were all actually on the Plat River and uh according to uh superintendent records from 1850 uh the superintendent records talk about the coow people being almost near the Missouri River down the plat so they was they was very far east at one time uh through the superintendent records which kept track of the tribes in the 18 50s the crow people were near near Minnesota they were near uh Iowa it was in in eastern South Dakota it was in in h in the panhandle of Nebraska Northeastern Colorado and Wyoming so theyve were scattered over a pretty large area uh in the treaty Treaty of uh when they C Indian signed their first treaty was United States government and when they signed that treaty in 1827 or 1826 I’m sorry when they signed the treaty in 1826 the cro Indian people didn’t give nothing to the United States government the United States government asked for nothing it was a treaty of peace between two Nations the United States government recognized the crow the crow as a nation and uh it’s the same as we have treaties with Nations today but uh that was the first treaty we signed and then it was in the 18 1851 we started uh working on the the second treaty well at that time well maybe I be back here a minute Treaty of 18 26 uh when uh everybody was all the treaty was all signed and everything all it came back up they they asked the croan leaders they say well where do you live where did we find you I had no idea as where we were and uh at that time they told them they said the crow set our lodges with four main poles we we are the only tribe that uses four poles rest of the tribes all use three for their main poles yeah we have the bear cougar um The Owl and uh can’t put the other one right off hand but uh we have the four main poles all named and they and we get power from all of from all of these oh the other one’s the bear I see bear okay but anyway when uh we set up our our our four poles we set up our first pole near the mouth of the Yellowstone River across the river we set up our second pole in the gap for the Buffalo come through the gap for the Buffalo come through I’ve researched it for 25 years and I finally had a a person who used to live over there uh she was a work for the National Park Service over there and I was telling her about that one day and she says oh I know where that’s at Buffalo Gap South Dakota it’s on the Southeast corner of the Black Hills that’s where the second pole was set and then the third pole uh was set at uh the gurgling Waters and the gurgling Waters uh is is south of Green River w in near the continental divide the fourth pole was set at the near the Three Forks of the Missouri the headwaters of the Missouri where the Three Rivers come come together that’s where the four po do come from but they sit but you know you remember a lodge is round so the lodge goes out much further than the poles and uh the crows were on the Milk River going up into can Canada it was at the headwaters uh they were way up the Missouri River uh going up to Sun River we have records of them being of the crow living on the Sun River which is now near Blackfoot reservation and uh at that time that they was constantly fighting with the black feet over to keep the Sun River area and then to the Southwest I mean we was they was fighting the the shonne to keep that corner of the of of of of their land so the crow were they were uh they were constantly on a move they never stayed in any place very long because they was always moving here they would go over here and they would move the shonne back go over here move the black beet back come over here move the Cabo back the sue the shyen they was always trying to keep their borders and uh what actually happened is the small poox 1838 uh when the small pox came up on steamship uh it uh what actually happened was uh 10 days out of St Louis the captain noticed that this one guy was kind of ill Captain immediately recognized the man as having small pox when he uh he quarantined this guy put him in a little room stay there there don’t bother nobody don’t touch nothing stay away from everybody but in at that time the the steam ships did not travel at night they always tied up at night so everybody went to bed at night well this guy that had the small poox would get up he would separate his blankets these will be traded to the Sue these will be Cheyenne the shonne will like these all of the different tribes because we all like different colors we like different designs he knew which ones it want he was separating his blankets this is how the small pox got into the blankets by the man getting up at night with the small pox handling the blankets all of his trade goods at that time it’s hard to believe but the Northern Plains Indians were almost 70% destroyed near 70% % over one man having a small pox and trading his Goods uh Billings Montana there’s a place up there that that we call uh where there’s a burial site where where many many of the crow people are buried that had that got the small pox so I I say you know uh Little Things grew into great big things you know it’s hard to believe that uh that one man getting the small having the small pox moving these Goods around he destroyed 70% of of of the of American PLS Indians because we have to remember at that time all of the trade all of the tribes of Indians went to Fort Union to trade and we all knew what time to be there the year when we went to the trade we got along when we got back to our own country then we was back we was into the territorial thing again and uh when we when we got to get being in our territorial things in we was very bit bitter enemies but when we was there we got along we we didn’t camp together but but we tolerated one another uh one of the things that many of the Traders would do up there they would say okay the Sue can come in today and trade tomorrow the black feet can come in and trade the next day the crow can come in and trade or the Asino they would let the tribes come in One Tribe tribe at a time so that they wouldn’t be arguing over the the goods or anything and one was always probably thinking that the other got more for his than the other one so there was a lot of little things like that took place but I’ve uh been doing history near all of my life I’ve actually got papers at home that I started collecting when I was seven eight years old uh from Robbie Robbie yellow tale I have papers from him to me they’re very very valuable Today curlyy Was A Good Friend of Robbie yellow tale when she was young she was his secretary and did all of his typing but uh I don’t how time do am I getting in my time here okay maybe I better stop for some questions then okay well is there any questions that uh anybody like here on this I I always enjoy yes okay there was the kick in the belly the river Crow and the mountain Crow but uh like I say you know they were spread out very very long long distance uh when I uh started studying the paintings that the Indians have painted here I go to one painting that is carbon dated 950 to 1,000 years old it is Crow stories on painting it’s it’s my Crow family our Crow life our our things that we believe in for every day that one painting is 950 to 1,000 years old so the crow have been here for a long time I in my own way of thinking I don’t believe that the mountain Crow ever ever left the mountains I think the river Crow went into Dakotas Minnesota into Canada that was the river Co I believe that the kick in the belly were the ones who made the journeys to the South because we have uh in our Crow stories we have we have stories actually uh where we was probably more than likely in Alabama Louisiana Tex southern Texas uh the according to them stories they they say this they these people left and it took them five generations to return 100 years 100 years yes okay hold on let me come to you so we can all hear you up is the pictograph State Park some wonderful artwork up there could you tell us a little bit about what took place there and who did that artwork what tribes uh okay he’s acting about pictograph state park near billing south Billings great place to go visit uh it’s it’s an easy place to get to pictographs most of the places you you climb over rocks and climb up mountains and side Hills and sand and dirt and whatever to get up to them but that is very very easy to get to since they got good trails and stuff going up to them but no there’s a okay the turtle is on is is is in there the turtle is uh our calendar we it it has you know how many of you how many of you have countered the the blocks on a turtle’s back yeah there’s all in in in in our River Turtles here there’s always 13 okay that’s our calendar in the early uh Indian people when they was using the Buffalo hides to uh make their lodges they use poles uh there’s thir you know we have 13 full moons so I mean 13 is a very very good number for croan people I am not superstitious about 13 or 12 when I got 13 I’m always kind of delighted you have any other questions just uh raise your hand we’ll get a ranger to you with the microphone okay is there any uh animosity between the river Crow and the mountain Crow oh boy well let’s put it this way a mountain CW oh I see them River Crow no we get along but you know there’s tradition there uh 1871 when United States military went down into the lower Yellowstone Country gathered up the river Crow and they brought them back up here the mountain Crow were already at Fort Parker and the crow called Fort Parker where where we lined our our lodges in a in in a straight line and that’s what they called Fort Parker but anyway when they brought the river Crow up there they was just going to let the the river Crow set their lodges up in the in in in a line straight across from them well before the sun set that night they had every man woman and child that could carry a r a rifle in between the river Crow and the mountain Crow because we were going to go to war we were going to fight in 1868 treaty the mountain Crow were given a treaty up here the 1868 treaty that the river Crow signed with the Asino they was given a Tre given a reservation on the mouth of the Yellowstone up The Milk River so the mountain Crow didn’t want to share with the river Crow because they had a reservation already yeah no we and it’s still when when you go down to Council today if you go to the council River Crow and Mountain Crow uh the kick and the belly Clan I I’ll just get into the kick and a belly Clan right now the kick and a belly Clan uh in about 1850 in in the 1850s they had had so much pressure put on them by this Cheyenne coming from the north out of Kansas the Sue who were in in Kansas and eastern Kansas were coming to the north they was put so much uh pressure on the on the Sue or the crow that was on the on the Plat River then that they started moving to the north moved over onto the Powder River then they was finally given so much pressure onto on the Powder River that they moved over the Big Horn mountains into the Big Horn Basin with the mountain Crow and uh what I’ve been told that uh that within the recent years here now that the river Crow I mean the the kick in the belly Clans are completely gone so we don’t no longer have 13 clans because we uh well Crow had a had a clan system okay our clan system was that uh I’m a whistling water so my mother was a whistling water my grandmother was a whistling water my great-grandmother is a whistling water and uh you always get you always become a member of your mother Clan never your father’s Clan you are a whistling water and the child of your father’s Clan whatever your father’s Clan was of the of the of the 13 clans yes play else hold on let me come over here I’m always interested in lame College a wonderful Indian college and uh I just I noticed you were talking a while ago about these tribes coming together uh could you tell us a little bit about how that lame Deer College uh came to be over there in that area and uh is this where the tribes came together that you were just talking about when when the reservation was established okay he wanted to do about how the dull knife College come came about over at Lamer well uh I’m not really for sure I mean they through they start out with federal grants and then uh then we we have to run them off of actually other grant money that people donate to the to the colleges uh almost every reservation has got at least one college uh the Sue have three colleges it’s be and the reason why they have three is because they have one in Southeastern South Dakota they have one in northeastern South Dakota and one up in North Dakota so that they’re and and that’s where they’re they there they the Sue is uh they call themselves bands uh there’s seven bands of Sue and and they’re pretty well scattered but uh no the the crow have have their college Little Big Horn college and it’s basically run on the same situation as the doll knife is uh roseb on on on in in uh roseb and uh in on the Sue reservation they’re all the same I mean uh they are constantly on the search for for dollars to keep their doors open yes anybody else um how did the Indians make their paints how did Indians make their paint okay I’ve really been looking into that and trying to figure it out and my own theory is and uh stories that I have been told by Elders from a long time ago they use the ochers that are in the Sandstone the ochers in the Sandstone are tree roots there’s there’s uh several different we have to remember at one time this this was swamp I mean this there was a lot of you know swampy type vegetation up in this country there’s a lot of water up here and uh this was million years millions of years ago but anyway what uh what ochre is it where I found it is in sand rock and it’s a tree root and it was probably just sand at at the time when a tree grew there 65 million years ago and then when and I’ve I’ve always wondered how they mixed it I was told that they would take their saliva their urine their blood to mix mix it because you know them are the three things that probably stain worse than anything in the world and they get that mixed in with there and I’ll tell you these guys didn’t pack a jug of water along with them they didn’t have a water bottle and uh when they went up there to draw these paintings they used whatever they had and their urine was pretty probably pretty handy but I’ve always said and uh and I would like to see it pro in one of these days but I really feel that there’s a possibility you could take a paint chip off of these thousand to 10,000 year old paintings and get DNA okay anybody else are the little people just on the crow reservation or are they on other reservations too well we kind of her her question was is the crow people on the crow reservation or other reservation yes we’ve inter married into other reservations and really and that’s nothing new uh the Clark Fork River of the on the ystone which is just south of uh of uh Laurel Montana Clark Fork on the river is known as the valley where we all came to dance that mean the Cheyenne came there the Sue came there all of the tribes came in the crow we all got along in there they done Sund dances in that Valley there was also marriages took place between the tribes and so people moved into with with other tribes in the very very early days as they still do today we have time for one more question if there’s one out there otherwise you’re also welcome to ask Mr Bogus any questions you have after the program yes sir uh would you say that after all these hundreds of years there has been a like a formal type of healing between what was done to your people by the white Invaders I mean has any uh ceremony been done that would more or less res resolv I mean is there any hard feelings left even now after 100 of years or has that been pretty well healed up now well I’ll tell you what as I was taught in my life you know you don’t dwell on these things that happened to you a long time ago they happened we today we ain’t got nothing we to say to change it any no we don’t really dwell on it no we do we do have a a little fit once in a while and we think you know we really got cheated out of this and we really got cheated out of that cuz you you take now remember I just how much how many millions of Acres I just described to you as what the original Crow Nation was uh in the trade in the Treaty of 18 1851 we was 39.4 Million acres in the Treaty of 1851 now we are less than 3 million Acres we treated it all of the way to the United States government with a broken promise I’ve Al I I brought my shield bought this with me today this is my little and Clark metal this is the type of a metal was that was taken I’ve always looked at this very very funny and thought about this I have a pipe that’s upside down Indian people when I turned my pipe upside down I dumped out all of the piece there’s no more piece left in that pipe I also have a tomahawk I bash in somebody’s head with Tomahawk I have two military uniforms that always tells me the United States government wanted to break the peace they wanted to fight bring in the military they did and it’s all all of it was on this medal this is a medal that Mr Jefferson sent with ls and Clark so like I say it’s always been a broken promise with the government with with the Indian people but you know we don’t dwell on you know hey we like we like new cars we like to get on the airplane fly to Washington DC you know used to be we went to Washington DC you know I I mean just just a journey back there you know that was was that two- Monon thing for us to go back to Washington DC now we fly in on Monday morning we’re home home on Wednesday night Mr Bogus thank you we all thank Mr Bogus for coming to the tent all right if you all have any further questions for him you’re welcome to address them at any time after the program we have about 10 minutes before we start our next presentation it will be the ethnic diversity of the core by one of our very own Rangers Trent Redfield

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Kakawissassa (Crow at Rest)

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 17:42:25 +0000

Kakawissassa, or “Crow at Rest,” was a principal chief of the Arikara who met with Lewis and Clark in October 1804 as the expedition passed through Arikara territory along the Missouri River in present-day South Dakota.

The Arikara were sedentary agricultural people who lived in earth-lodge villages along the Missouri. They had been devastated by smallpox epidemics in the late 18th century, which severely reduced their population and political power.

Kakawissassa was receptive to the expedition’s diplomatic overtures but the Arikara-American relationship would later deteriorate. In 1823, Arikara warriors attacked William Ashley’s trading party in one of the most significant armed conflicts between Americans and Plains Indians prior to the Indian Wars.

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