- The purpose of this ethno-profile of the Crow Nation is to gain an in-depth awareness of some human group different from the one in which we live.
- I chose to write about the Crow Nation people because although more than one-half of all Native Americans in the United States live outside the reservation the Crow Nation is concentrated on their reservation. This makes them unique and interesting to write about.
- The physical environment
- The Crow Nation has a reservation south of Billings, Montana. They also live in several cities, mainly in western America.
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- The current Crow Indian Reservation is two million acres and contains various types of climates.
- Detail on the climates
- History of the Group
- Establishment of the current tribe and adoption of horses
- Brief other relevant details
- Explanation of the Social Environment / Social Organization
- Their social environment/organization is very similar to ours.
- Matriarchal
- Discussion of Cultural Beliefs and Rituals
- The language is disappearing
- Monogamy
- Religion
- The religion is Western mostly & monotheistic in nature.
- Rites of Passage
- Description of Baxpee ritual
- Description of men’s dancing ritual
- Medicine
- Baaxpee
- Medicine people
- Plants
- Mythology
- The trickster coyote creator
- Comparative Summary
- Vision quests=bad
- Governments = similar
- Pagan god concept
- Matriarchy vs patriarchy
- Consideration of the Future
- Change to English harming cultural unity
- Mostly analogous to western society
- Religion
- The tragedy of the commons
The Physical Environment
The Crow Nation has a reservation south of Billings, Montana. They also live in several cities, mainly in western America (“Crow Nation,” n.d.). The current Crow Indian Reservation is two million acres and is home to three mountain ranges and two river basins, as well as substantial natural resources including grazing lands, dry-land and irrigated farm ground, coal, oil & gas. Two million acres in size, the Reservation has two river-basins, three mountain ranges, grazing lands, and irrigated farm land (“Crow Nation,” n.d.). Montana has cold winters but a small number of extended cold spells. The wettest season in Montana is the summer; almost “half the annual long-term average total falls from May through July” (“Climate of Montana,” (n.d.).
History of the Group
The Crow Nation established itself in the Yellowstone River Valley as well as in the Northern Plains in Montana and Wyoming, where it divided into four groups. They adopted the horse very quickly after its introduction by settlers, and thus began to hunt bison more freely. When settler began to arrive in droves, the Crow Nation found itself vastly outnumbered and up against heavy pressure from its enemies. Crow warriors enlisted with the US Army for the Battle of Little Bighorn (more commonly known as Custer’s Last Stand) and were horribly defeated; the Crow Nation generally practiced friendliness towards the white men. The American bison was the primary food source for the Crow Nation. The Nation now has a three-branch government that was established in 2001 (“Crow Nation,” n.d.).
Explanation of the Social Environment / Social Organization
Crow children play together and go to school just like other American children. In keeping with long-held beliefs, women are important in their society (it’s a matriarchal, not patriarchal society). The Crow Indians council even has a woman chief for their Court of Appeals. (“Crow Indian Fact Sheet,” n.d.).
Population Size
The Crow Nation currently has over 13,000 enrolled members (“Crow Nation,” n.d.).
Leadership/Political Organization / Government
The state is centralized and is governed by three branches, and parties are elected by popular vote (“Crow Nation,” n.d.). Presumably, such a large number of enrolled members dictates that the officials be elected by popular vote (however, superficially, population size appears to have an indirect effect on the governing body of the Crow Nation – because the government is similar to the government of the United States, it appears that the design of the government was mostly copied from the governmental structure of the United States).
Economic Means of subsistence
It also appears that population size has little effect on the economic means of subsistence of the Crow Nation, aside from division of money earned from gaming casinos (“Montana Casinos,” n.d.). Finally, the dearth of information available about marriage patterns and family/kinship type appears to suggest that both aspects of the culture of the Crow Nation are similar to the culture of the United States and are unaffected generally by the size of the Nation itself. Under Christian missionary influence, polygamy is much less frequently practiced and a formal wedding ritual has been introduced (“Crow”, n.d.) It can be inferred, however, that the Crow Nation’s unique matriarchal system (in which women hold a high place in society) (“Crow Indians,” n.d.) is at least partially due to population size, as a larger population would probably have brought in more aspects of the patriarchal system of the United States because of increased amount of contact between citizens of the nations.
Marriage patterns and family/kinship type
There is a dearth of information available about the marriage patterns and family/kinship type of the Crow Nation.
Discussion of Cultural Beliefs and Rituals
Language
The Crow language is today spoken by more than 4,000 people living within the state of Montana (“Crow Indian Language (Apsaaloke, Apsaroke, Absarokee),” n.d.). 80% of the Crow Nation prefers to speak in English (“Crow Language,” n.d.). Presumably most of the enrolled members prefer English because the Crow Nation is mostly integrated into, and/or dependent upon, the United States of America (the US appears to be gradually filtering out the tradition and culture of some aspects of the Crow Nation). In A Grammar of Crow (2007), R. Graczyk claims that the Crow Nation is unique because many people still speak Crow and “at least some children are still acquiring Crow as their first language” (“Crow Nation,” n.d.). The clan system (which is tradition for the Crow) and religious ceremonies have kept the language alive via tradition and culture. This influence of cultural beliefs on language appears to be slowly diminishing, however: “there are increased efforts for children to learn Crow as their first language and many do on the Crow Reservation of Montana” (“Crow Language,” n.d.).
Religion
Most members of the Crow Nation have converted to more “American religions” like Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. However, many Crow continue to believe in certain aspects of a more traditional religion, which involved various spirits as well as vision quests. Formerly, the ceremonies of the Tobacco Society and the Sun Dance were the most important ceremonies of the tribe, and they are still performed in modern times. (“Crow,” n.d.)
Rites of Passage
The Crow still retain some ritual rites of passage: a special ritual is practiced when initiating a young boy into men’s dancing: it “brings his family together to honor him and wish him well on his life’s journey” and involves a miniature dancing outfit arnd prayers (Pickett, M. Mother Prepares for Son’s Rite of Passage. 2010, March 27.).
Illness/Medicine
Baaxpee, a medicine bundle acquired via a successful vision quest, is ceremonially administered during times of illness. Healing ceremonies are conducted by certain medicine women and men. “Medicine people” still have a variety of medicines and are publicly acknowledged by other community members. The Crow believe that both spiritual and natural causes contribute to illness. They use plants as medicine: for example, "bear root" is utilized in a tea for colds and sore throats, and becomes a poultice useful for swelling. Sweat baths are used ritually for healing as well. (“Crow,” n.d.).
Mythology
One myth involves Old Man Coyote, a trickster, who is often credited with creation of the world (outside of the practice of modern religion). The creation story runs thus: Old Man Coyote is alone in the universe, and wants to create the world. He asks ducks to bring him mud so that he may create the world and is rewarded with a small piece of mud. From the tiny piece, Old Man Coyote creates the whole world except humanity. Being lonely still, he molds an image he likes from the earth and creates man and woman. He also gives man and woman prayer, etc. (“Crow, n.d.”
Comparative Summary
Our system of government is largely similar to that of the Crow Nation. Both involve three branches of government: an executive branch, a judicial branch, and a legislative branch. However, the Crow Nation has an additional branch, the General Council. The General Council “is made up of all eligible tribal members 18 years old and older[and] makes decisions on behalf of the Crow Nation when convened at a duly called meeting or through the election process” (Crow Nation: Apsaalooke - "Children of the large beaked Bird". n.d.). Therefore, the General Council is the equivalent of the United States voting population and is more similarity than a difference.
We would also take issue with “vision quests.” Although it is unclear exactly what is entailed in a young Crow’s vision quest, it can be assumed such a quest involves either fasting or hallucinogens. In our largely Christian society, self-induced and drug-induced hallucinations for the purpose of garnering support from (what we would consider) a pagan god are generally frowned upon. We would also frown upon the use of “baaxpee,” the medicine gathered on such a vision quest, because administration of the “medicine” could also be considered worship of the pagan gods. Americans would disagree with their mythology, considering that it also appears to credit (what we could consider) a pagan coyote god with creation of the world and human beings. American society in general would also disapprove of their creation myth because it runs contrary to the scientific concept of evolution. Finally, we would seem to disagree with their matriarchal concept. Women are generally held in high esteem in Crow society; in American society, not so much. Females can hold positions of power in both cultures, but there is evidence women aren’t valued as highly as men in American culture, such as the wage gap between women and men: men consistently earn more. Consideration of the Future
The culture of the Crow Nation appears to have absorbed American culture to a large degree: most Crows are either Protestant or Catholic (“Crow,” n.d.). The absorption of culture has clearly damaged the cultural unity of the Crows as an indigenous group; no longer do they practice indigenous religion. Practice of Western religions necessarily indicates indoctrination into Western ideals. Although the group itself is not threatened particularly by the practice of Western religions, there’s no doubt that the culture itself (particularly pagan practices like vision quests and the different status of medicine men) is threatened by the practice of Western religion.
It’s common sense that the switch from the native language to English has damaged the cultural unity of the group (or, to put it more nicely, increased the rate of absorption of Western culture). English speaking appears to threaten the language itself to a degree, as 80% of the population now prefers to speak English (“Crow Language,” n.d.).
“The tragedy of the commons,” an economic concept in which communally-held assets are poorly managed because of a lack of individual incentives, also appears to threaten the Crow reservation. Only over 30% of the land on the Crow reservation’s 2.3 million acres is individually held, leaving the vast majority communally-owned. (Koppish, J. Why Are Indian Reservations So Poor? A Look At The Bottom 1%. 2011, December 13.) Private land is better taken care of generally, according to the “tragedy of the commons” concept, so logically much of the fertile Crow land is wasted – either planted and taken care of poorly or not taken care of at all.
Conclusion
The purpose of this paper was to gain an awareness of some human group different from the one in which we live. The Crow peoples live mostly on the Crow reservation in Montana. Generally friends of the white man, they have assimilated Western culture/religion to a large degree, although they still retain some cultural practices, such as the use of vision quests and ritualized healing. Their native language appears to be disappearing rapidly. They do retain a few cultural practices that the Western world would frown upon, however. The culture is threatened by the assimilation of Western ideas, and the reservation lands are threatened by “the tragedy of the commons.”
Recipe
The following is a recipe generally attributed to Native American tribes:
Indian Frybread and Indian Tacos
Prep time
5 mins
Cook time
10 mins
Total time
15 mins
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- For the Frybread:
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup water
- Additional ¼ cup flour for shaping
- 2 cups oil for frying
- For the Indian Tacos:
- 4 cooked frybreads
- Cooked pinto beans
- Taco meat*
- shredded cheese
- lettuce, tomato, onion
- hot sauce, pickled jalapenos
- Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together. Combine milk and water in a separate cup.
- Add wet ingredients to flour mixture and stir with a fork to mix well. You will have a soft dough.
- Flour your countertop well with the remaining ¼ cup flour and coat your hands, too.
- Shape the dough into a cylinder and cut into 4 pieces.
- Pat each piece out into a circle about ⅓" thick (1 cm) and 6" across.
- Heat the oil to 350 degrees F and fry breads one at a time, for about 2 minutes on each side.
- Drain upright.
- Serve topped with beans, meat, cheese, and vegetables of your choice.
(“Indian Tacos.” n.d.)
Bibliography
Climate of Montana. Retrieved from http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/narratives/MONTANA.htm.
Crow. Retrieved from htto://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Crow_(people).aspx
Crow nation. Retrieved from http://www.biggorin.org/crow_kids.htm
Crow nation. Retrieved from http:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crow_Nation
Montana casinos. Retrieved from http://500nations.com/Montana_Casinos.asp
Crow indian language (Apsaaloke, Apsaroke, Absarokee). Retrieved from http://www.native-languages.org/crow.htm.
(Crow. Retrieved from http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Crow.html
Pickett, M. 2010, March 27. Mother Prepares for Son’s Rite of Passage. Retrieved from http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/mother-prepares-for-son-s-rite-of-passage/article_4a19ed78-353e-11df-9176-001cc4c002e0.html
Crow Nation: Apsaalooke - "Children of the large beaked Bird". Retrieved from http://www.crow-nsn.gov/
Indian Tacos. 2012, July 10. Retrieved from http://hilahcooking.com/indian-taco-recipe/.
The Physical Environment
