Welcome to the 1st Station : Greeting in Crow

Welcome to the 2nd Station : Plenty Coups as a Child

Plenty Coups' grandfather named him Aleek-chea-ahoosh, meaning Many Achievements, because in a dream he saw his grandson counting many coups. To count coup meant that a brave had performed an act of courage against an enemy such as stealing a horse from an enemy's camp or touching an enemy in a fight with a coup-stick before getting harmed. An eagle feather worn in the hair of a warrior told all that he had counted coup. Because Plenty Coups was obliged to live up to his given name, he tried to exceed in everything while acting fairly. Plenty Coups was eight years old when he ate a piece of grizzly heart from a bear killed by his grandfather. Plenty Coups felt that he could always keep a clear mind and remain calm because a grizzly bear always kept a clear mind. Plenty Coups counted his first coup after touching with his bow the base of a wounded bull's tail twice without being harmed. No other boy touched the base of the tail. Plenty Coups felt that he was successful because he had the heart of the grizzly to help him.

At the age of nine, Plenty Coups lost his brother who was killed by Sioux on the Powder River. Plenty Coups mourned his brother's death with his parents. To avenge this death, Plenty Coups felt that it was time for him to seek a dream. His first attempt left him with a knowledge that he would have a vision but only in the right location at the right time. Shortly after his brother's death, the camp prepared to migrate to the Little Rockies. Plenty Coups left before the village. He neared two buttes and went to the south one. He had a significant vision at that time. A little person (dwarf) came to him and took him to a lodge. There were the Little People on the north and the forces of nature on the south. The Chief of the Little People told Plenty Coups to count coup. As Plenty Coups had never counted coup before, he was afraid but he did as was asked. The Chief of the Little People recounted for Plenty Coups two exceptional deeds. The forces of nature were most impressed and told the Chief of the Little People to give Plenty Coups some great medicine to return with. The Chief of the Little People said that Plenty Coups would need no medicine bundle as he had all he needed within himself. He also said that Plenty Coups would be adopted by the Little People and that the Dwarfs would be his helper. In addition, the Chief said that Plenty Coups would also become a Chief of his people. Plenty Coups awoke knowing that he would be great by using the powers that Ah-badt-dadt-deah, the Creator, had given him.

After many attempts, Plenty Coups had yet another important vision. In the Crazy Mountains, he fasted, cleansed his body, and this time cut off the tip of his left index finger. On this occasion, he dreamt that the Little People had come and brought him to the spot currently known as the Plenty Coups state park. There he saw a buffalo bull which transformed into a man person. Plenty Coups followed the man person and watched the buffalo disappear and many cattle appear. The man person then showed Plenty Coups an elderly man who was actually Plenty Coups himself in years to come beside the underground spring that lies at the state park. Suddenly the man person and elderly man were gone. Winds came up from all four corners of the earth. These winds destroyed all but one tall tree which held the home of the Chickadee. The Chickadee is a good listener but it seems to stay to itself. It is insignificant in size but great in the mind. As explained to the young Plenty Coups, the Chickadee represents the Crow tribe. It would survive by developing its mind and listening skills. Most significantly, the Crow people though a small group would remain the only tribe rooted to its homeland.

Plenty Coups, at approximately age 10, lost his mother, Otter-Woman, to a smallpox epidemic that nearly wiped out the tribe. After a short time, his father, Medicine-bird, was killed by a party of Piegans.

Around 12 years of age, Plenty Coups, had an entertaining, character-building experience. Through a series of events, he, along with seven other boys, learned a valuable lesson. The group of eight boys decided to follow, without permission, a group of warriors hunting for a Cheyenne or Sioux war party to get horses. As night came, the boys found themselves lost, tired, hungry and far from camp. To avoid heavy punishment, they attempted to find their own war party to get horses from. The boys did find an "unknown" camp. Plenty Coups went to the camp and discovered all were asleep so he and the other boys took the horses and found their way home. Upon returning home, the boys realized that the horses from the "unknown" camp belonged to the Crow warriors whom they followed. A council was quickly assembled. Plenty Coups was elected to speak for the group of boys. He told the Chief "Now we are men, and last night we proved it. We found that the old warriors sleep sound! Perhaps they need young wolves to guard their camp! The Cheyenne could have taken them as easily as we took their horses! But we are proud that we did not fail. We now wait for your punishment." (Hatheway p.10)

With the Chief's say, the boys were considered prisoners for a length of time and had to work under the women. In addition, one of the boys went on each subsequent party to be the young wolf to "guard the horses." The boy always returned hungry, tired and much wiser.

Despite some early hardship, Chief Plenty Coups maintained a positive and energetic attitude. He was well liked and a favorite among his people. He was usually a leader of his peers. In addition, he was welcome in any home.
From: Doss, Michael P. Plenty Coups.Austin,TX:Pinnacle Press, Inc., 1990.;
Hatheway, Flora. Chief Plenty Coups. Billings:Montana Reading Publications,1971.;
Linderman, Frank B. Plenty-coups Chief of the Crows. Lincoln/London:University of Nebraska Press, 1962. ;
Virginia, Alexandria (ed.). Defiant Chiefs. Richmond,Virginia:Time Life Inc.,1997.

Welcome to the 3rd Station : Plenty Coups Becomes an Adult

How did certain animals help Native American people?
Butterfly Young boys chased butterflies and rubbed their wings over their hearts, asking the butterfly to give them their speed and grace, which were both necessary in hunting and war.

Beaver Young boys slapped their joints and muscles with a beaver's flat tail in hopes of gaining improved swimming skills.

Grizzly Bear The crow considered the grizzly bear to be cool-headed and ready for instant battle. Every Crow warrior has eaten some of the heart of a grizzly in order to develop strength, self-reliance, and self-control.

Chickadee A voice told Plenty Coup that the chickadee was the weakest in strength, but the strongest of mind. The chickadee was willing to work for wisdom, was a good listener, had sharp hearing, minded his own business, and learned from the successes and failures of others. From: Linderman, Frank B. Plenty-coups Chief of the Crows. Lincoln/London:University of Nebraska Press, 1962.

Snakes A man who survived a snake bite thought he had gained the support of the snake, and he would offer his services as a doctor of snake-poisoning.

Legends Old Man Coyote once gathered all the animals to play the hand game. At that time the earth was always dark, so the birds played for daylight.
In another legend, a man orders his wife to tan and embroider a buffalo hide in one day. As she sits crying, animal helpers appear. Four female beavers and four badgers stake the hide; female rats, moles, mice, ants, bees, and flies remove the flesh, dry, scrape, and smooth it; a skunk, the beavers, and the badgers make it soft; a porcupine lends its quills and completes the embroidery with the help of ants. Then the beavers rub the hairy side, the porcupine scents the quillwork with "some yellow stuff from pines," and then they roll up the skin for the woman to take home.

Help on a vision quest When a Crow Indian was having a crisis or problem in his life, he or she would often go on a vision quest. An animal spirit might appear to him and give him the wisdom to deal with his problem, or might actually help him to deal with his enemies. Sometimes animal helpers appeared to the Crow without being sought on a vision quest. There are Crow folk tales involving people being helped by various animals. The Crow did not worship all animals, and the animals that appeared to them were as varied as the people they helped. From: Lowie, Robert H. The Crow Indians. Univerity of Nebraska Press, 1935.

Welcome to the 5th Station : Plenty Coups Becomes the Chief Among Chiefs

Plenty Coups was one of the most important Native American leaders in the history of the Western Plains/Rocky Mountain region. His influence ranks with that of Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, Chief Joseph, and other well known leaders. He is not as well known to the current American public because he led no wars against the whites. Instead, he was a mediator within Native American and United States government circles during his own lifetime, and he was influential and respected in that role.

Plenty Coups lifetime was a time of constant change for the Crow people. Plenty Coups was born in 1848, the same year that gold was discovered in California. The 1849 gold rush brought many white people through Crow Country, especially to the south where the Oregon Trail, or The Great Medicine Road as the Crow called it, passed adjacent to Crow Country.

After the Civil War, the number of white settlers in the region increased. Indians in the entire region were stirred up by the encroachment of non-Indians, as well as by the destruction of game, food and wood. So, in addition to fighting the White invaders, Indian tribes also fought each other more often for needed territory.

Like most other young men, Plenty Coups was a warrior, and accomplished many brave deeds, or coups, in battle. The four deeds that were needed to become a chieftain were: being the first to strike an enemy in battle, capturing a gun from an enemy in battle, capturing a tethered horse from within an enemy camp, and leading a successful war party. Plenty Coups accomplished all of these deeds many times, and became a chieftain by the age of 26.

Between the years 1870 and 1900, the Crow accepted a reservation, and were forced to change their lives greatly. Instead of hunting buffalo, they now were required to trade their land for a living. It was during this difficult time that Plenty Coups emerged as a "reservation leader," at the age of 40 to 50 years old.

In 1879, Plenty Coups was asked to head a group of 5 other Crow leaders to travel to Washington, D.C. President Rutherford B. Hayes asked the Crow to move to a new reservation in North Dakota, but Plenty Coups refused, wanting to stay in the Crow homeland. His philosophy was guided by his earlier vision about the chickadee: the chickadee bends with the wind instead of trying to fight it, and therefore can survive the worst of storms. Plenty Coups believed that working with changes gave better results than fighting changes.

Plenty Coups made many more trips to Washington, D.C. during his lifetime, meeting with presidents and testifying before Congress, each time trying to defend the Crow way of life against new threats. Plenty Coups frequently corresponded with government officials, as well as leaders of other tribes and business people from around the United States.

In 1921, Chief Plenty Coups was asked to represent all Native Americans at the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C. President Warren Harding and leaders from Great Britain and France were present, as well as many other world and national leaders. Plenty Coups placed his war bonnet and coups stick on the tomb, and gave a speech that many people thought was the best speech of the entire ceremony.

At this ceremony he earned the respect of many world leaders, as well as the respect of many more people in the United States. Plenty Coups now received letters, gifts and visits from many famous people who wanted to learn more about his ideas about getting along peacefully. They were interested in learning how this man who was such a great warrior early in life had become such an advocate of peace.

By the time he died in 1932 at the age of 84, Plenty Coups was known and respected on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. From: Heidenreich, Adrian C., Ph.D. Historic Perspectives Study on the Life of Plenty Coups, Chief of the Crow Tribe. Unpublished.

Welcome to the 7th Station: Keeping a Tradition Alive

The Crow Sweat Lodge
According to the history passed down through the tribe, the Crow people believe that the sweat lodge was given to them through a dream that came from their ancestors. It could have been given by Red Woman or Old Man Coyote. It has belonged to the Crow people since before the time of the mystic warriors as a way to get in touch with the spirit world. The sweat is used in preparation for an event. It is used to purify the mind, body and soul. A young man would go into a sweat in preparation for becoming a warrior. Before a sun dance, the men would cleanse themselves in a sweat. Only when you have been given the right may you build a sweat. The ceremony in the sweat may vary according to the family handing it down. Some elders were known to have performed healing rights in the sweat. Those people were highly respected. Today, the sweat is used much the same as hundreds of years ago. People use the sweat as healing and purification for the body and the soul. From: Vincent Goes Ahead, Jr., Museum Tour Content

Medicine Bundles
Medicine Bundles are an important part of Plains Indian religion, culture, and life in general. Crow Medicine bundles served a wide variety of purposes historically, and are still very important today.

What is a medicine bundle? Before talking about medicine bundles, we first have to talk about "medicine." Medicine to Native Americans means a type of spiritual guidance or special power. People gained their medicine through visions. Anything of great power could be said to be the result of a certain medicine. Medicine bundles come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, but generally they are made up of sacred objects wrapped in a cover. The covers were usually made by women. It is an honor to be asked to make a bundle cover, and is thought to bring good luck to the maker. The cover is made according the instructions of a man who had a vision. The cover can be made from a wide variety of materials, including deer skin, buffalo hide, or the skins of animals such as weasels, turned inside out.

The covers may be decorated with symbols and colors, the significance of which may only be known to the visionary who is planning the bundle.

The contents of the bundles can include almost anything that the visionary believes to symbolically represent supernatural beings or forces in nature. Contents can include necklaces, special face paints, horse hair, elk teeth, and many other objects.

Medicine bundles have been classified by some researchers into 11 general types. Although this is only one interpretation, it can help us to understand the many purposes of medicine bundles.

The eleven general groups are:

1) Sun Dance Bundles - which were used in Sun Dances

2) War Medicine Bundles - to bring success in war and in horse raiding

3) Shields - Important in war and elsewhere

4) Skull Medicine Bundles - contained human skulls

5) Rock Medicine Bundles - contained a sacred rock; these had many purposes

6) Medicine Pipe Bundles - these contained special pipes

7) Love Medicine Bundles - these bundles could attract women

8) Witchcraft Bundles - these bundles would help to gain revenge on enemies

9) Healing Medicine Bundles - used for doctoring the sick and healing the wounded

10) Hunting Medicine Bundles - used to bring success to hunting of buffalo and other game

11) Society Bundles - these were used for ceremonies of different societies, such as the Tobacco Society

While some bundles were owned by certain people, many bundles could not be owned by anyone. Some belonged to societies, and some belonged to the tribe as a whole. People were selected as guardians of certain bundles, but they did not own these bundles.

People needed to have the right to open and use certain bundles, and this right was often passed down through generations. Special ceremonies sometimes needed to be performed to open bundles, or even to move them. Crow people today still have a very high level of respect for medicine bundles and the power that they contain. From: Wildschut, William. Crow Indian Medicine Bundles. Museum of the American Indian - Heye Foundation. 1975.