War And Peace Of The Crow Indians

Essay, Research Paper

Most of the Crow Indians reside in Southeastern Montana, while many others are scattered among the Northern Plains of the USA. The Crow Indians have lived in this area for at least 300 years. Many problems arouse whether they had to do with war, politics, or land ownership issues. The Crow Indians are not known as a war-going tribe, but as a peaceful group who tried to avoid war as much as possible.

A war that had risen included the famed Chief Sitting Bull, who also strayed from war as much as possible. The war was described as an attack on a band of the Crow Indians, and both parties were prepared. Sitting Bull charged armed with a coup-staff, making him a perfect target for the rival Crows. When a Crow Indian approached him with an unloaded gun, the Crow then went and hid out of the crossfire. When Chief Sitting Bull realized that his adversaries had no ammunition, he threw his loaded gun over a wall, returning to his army.

Once, a party of Unkpapas was attacked by the Crow Indians, Chief Sitting Bull?s Father committed Suicide out of tradition. When Chief Sitting Bull?s father fell onto the Crow?s war leader with a knife, he was forced into a War Bonnet of Trailing Plumes. This ultimately means that one warrior or another, or both must die. Chief Sitting Bull took his life as well as the other warrior.

The modern-day Crow Indian faces only arguments over land, and bad credit. The Crow Indians are leasing land to ranchers, and are losing their own territory by doing so. The Crow?s poor economy and poor credit keep them from becoming an individual group, for they are under the jurisdiction of the Committee of Indian Affairs. To fix this, The Crows need to preserve their education, and rituals to become an individual group.

nah