October 27 - Joe Medicine Crow
October 27, 2024
“I was never a smart man to begin with, but I love to learn. This is the way to get somewhere in life.” — Joe Medicine Crow.
Joe Medicine Crow was born on October 27, 1913 (on the Crow Indian Reservation near Lodge Grass, MT) & lived until April 3, 2016. His parents were Amy Yellowtail & Leo Medicine Crow. Their culture is matrilineal, so he gained status through his mom’s side; his father became a war chief at age 22.
He was an incredible human being who I’ve looked up to for years. He was a war chief, historian of the Crow Nation (Apsáalooke), & author. His writings on Native American history are considered seminal works. He is best known for his writings on the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 (Joe’s maternal step-grandfather was a scout for US General George Armstrong Custer & an eyewitness to the Battle of Little Bighorn). Joe was the last surviving war chief of the Apsáalooke & the last living Plains Indian war chief. He was one of the founding members of the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders & Youth.
Joe was very interested in education, so in 8th grade, he attended Bacone College in Muskogee, OK & studied there until he obtained his AA in 1936. BA - studied sociology and psychology at Linfield College in 1938. MA - Anthropology from USC in 1939 (first member of the Apsáalooke tribe to get a Master’s). His thesis - “The Effects of European Culture Contact upon the Economic, Social, and Religious Life of the Crow Indians,” is very well respected. He began work toward a Ph.D. & had all the coursework completed by 1941, but because of WWII, he did not finish. Instead, he joined the US Army in 1943, became a scout in the 103rd Infantry Division, & fought in WWII. He wore his war paint whenever he went into battle (2 red stripes on his arms) beneath his uniform & his sacred yellow-painted eagle feather beneath his helmet (provided by a “sundance” medicine man).
He became a war chief by completing all four tasks: 1. Touched an enemy without killing him, 2. Took an enemy’s weapon, 3. Lead a successful war party, 4. Steal an enemy’s horse (he stole 50 horses owned by the Nazi SS from a German camp) & sang a traditional Apsáalooke honor song as he rode off.
The PBS series The War described his war service.
He returned to the Apsáalooke (Crow) Agency. In 1948, he was appointed tribal historian & anthropologist. 1999, addressed the UN. He was also a founding member of Little Bighorn College and Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY.
Awards: Bronze Star Medal and Légion d’honneur for his service during WWII (to name just a few) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009 given to him by President Obama, where Obama referred to him in the Crow language as “Bacheitche” or “Good Man.” Honorary doctorates were from Rocky Mountain College in 1999, USC in 2003, & Bacone in 2010.
Sources: https://americanindian.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/press_releases/High-Bird-Eulogy-JoeMedicineCrow-2016.pdf and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Medicine_Crow
Photo: “Bacheitche” - My photo I have dedicated to Joe Medicine Crow, the mountains above Lost Lake in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness, MT. Taken with my Nikon D850 and my Nikon 24-70 2.8 lens on October 2020. Panorama made with Lightroom. Apsáalooke, Nank’haanseine’nan, Eastern Shoshone, Shoshone-Bannock, and Tsis tsis’tas Ancestral Homeland.