Crow Tribe elder, historian Joe Medicine Crow dead at 102
|
| FILE
- In this Aug. 12, 2009 file photo, President Barack Obama leans away
to avoid the headdress as he presents the 2009 Presidential Medal of
Freedom to Joseph Medicine Crow during ceremonies at the White House in
Washington. Medicine Crow, the last surviving war chief for Montana's
Crow Tribe, died Sunday, April 3, 2016 in a Billings hospice at age 102.
Medicine Crow earned the title of war chief and a Bronze Star after
stealing enemy horses and other exploits as a U.S. soldier in World War
II. |
BILLINGS,
Mont. (AP) -- Joseph Medicine Crow, an acclaimed Native American
historian and last surviving war chief of Montana's Crow Tribe, has
died. He was 102.
Medicine Crow died Sunday, Bullis Mortuary funeral home director Terry Bullis said. Services will be announced Monday, he said.
A
member of the Crow Tribe's Whistling Water clan, Medicine Crow was
raised by his grandparents in a log house in a rural area of the Crow
Reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana.
His
Crow name was "High Bird," and he recalled listening as a child to
stories about the Battle of Little Bighorn from those who were there,
including his grandmother's brother, White Man Runs Him, a scout for Lt.
Col. George Armstrong Custer.
His
grandfather, Yellowtail, raised Medicine Crow to be a warrior. The
training began when Medicine Crow was just 6 or 7, with a punishing
physical regimen that included running barefoot in the snow to toughen
the boy's feet and spirit.
Medicine Crow in
1939 became the first of his tribe to receive a master's degree, in
anthropology. He served for decades as a Crow historian, cataloging his
people's nomadic history by collecting firsthand accounts of
pre-reservation life from fellow tribal members.
"I
always told people, when you meet Joe Medicine Crow, you're shaking
hands with the 19th century," said Herman Viola, curator emeritus at the
Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American Indians.
During
World War II, Medicine Crow earned the title of war chief after
performing a series of daring deeds, including stealing horses from an
enemy encampment and hand-to-hand combat with a German soldier whose
life Medicine Crow ultimately spared.
"Warfare
was our highest art, but Plains Indian warfare was not about killing.
It was about intelligence, leadership, and honor," Medicine Crow wrote
in his 2006 book "Counting Coup."
Soon after returning from the European front, Medicine Crow was designated tribal historian by the Crow Tribal Council.
With
his prodigious memory, Medicine Crow could accurately recall decades
later the names, dates and exploits from the oral history he was exposed
to as a child, Viola said. Those included tales told by four of the six
Crow scouts who were at Custer's side at Little Bighorn and who
Medicine Crow knew personally.
Yet Medicine
Crow also embraced the changes that came with the settling of the West,
and he worked to bridge his people's cultural traditions with the
opportunities of modern society. His voice became familiar to many
outside the region as the narrator for American Indian exhibits in major
museums across the country.
"He really wanted
to walk in both worlds, the white world and Indian world, and he knew
education was a key to success," said Viola, who first met Medicine Crow
in 1972 and collaborated with him on several books.
Gov. Steve Bullock said Medicine Crow was an inspiration to his tribe and others.
"Joe
was a Crow war chief, veteran, elder, historian, author, and educator.
His legacy will forever serve as an inspiration for all Native Americans
- and all Montanans," he said.
U.S. Sen. Steve Daines said Medicine Crow was a good leader and the first member of the Crow Tribe to attain a master's degree.
"Medicine Crow's spirit, humility and life achievements leave a lasting imprint on Montana's history," Daines said.
President Barack Obama awarded Medicine Crow the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009.
During the White House ceremony, Obama referred to Medicine Crow as "a good man, a 'bacheitche' in Crow."
"(His) life reflects not only the warrior spirit of the Crow people, but America's highest ideals," Obama said.
He
was nominated for the Congressional Gold Medal and was awarded honorary
doctoral degrees from the University of Southern California and
Montana's Rocky Mountain College.
In the years
leading to his death, Medicine Crow continued to live with his family
in Lodge Grass. His wife died in 2009. Even after his hearing and
eyesight faded, Medicine Crow continued to lecture into his 90s on the
Battle of Little Bighorn and other major events in Crow history.
