What was in the chief's special room?

It was a Crow Indian tradition that men have a special place of honor in the teepee. This place was at the back of the teepee. Plenty Coups' had a room of honor in his house where he kept the things that were important to him. His room contained photographs, medicine bundles and many other objects. The upstairs room in the Chief Plenty Coups' house became his place of honor. In this room, he placed the possessions that were important to him. They were belongings that he held as an honor or as part of his spirituality, or they were items that meant something special to him. Using a photograph, the museum has tried to recreate the colored wallpaper in the room and has tried to put certain items in the same place that they were when Plenty Coups was alive.

Some of the items from Plenty Coups' room of honor include photographs from famous people, such as those from General Harbord and from President Theodore Roosevelt to Plenty Coups. He also accumulated medicine bundles that were very important to him as well as ribbons and awards and other objects. Many people ask about some of these items, such as the midget photo and the albino person photo. The only thing the museum can gather is that these unusual people were probably members of some of the touring circuses and side shows that Plenty Coups encountered as he traveled around the United States.

The Indian people believed very strongly in little people who were part of the spiritual world between their God, Ak-badt-adia, and themselves. Plenty Coups may have thought how blessed these people are that the little people live right among them. The significance of the albino person may point to a Native American people's belief that unusual people had very special gifts and special knowledge of the spiritual world. Everybody was taken care of in the Indian traditional ways. People with various handicaps or impairments were considered people with special gifts. As Plenty Coups saw some of these people, he probably felt that way also.

There are photographs in his room of honor from government officials and Buffalo Bill Cody as well as some of himself at various treaty delegations and trips to Washington D.C. If the museum had photographs showing all four walls of that upper room, we would see the other walls very similarly decorated. He certainly had many things that he considered either sacred or very important. From: Chief Plenty Coups State Park Museum Tour Content