Crow Indian Reservation | |
|---|---|
 Welcome sign | |
 Location in Montana | |
| Tribe | Crow (Apsáalooke) |
| Country | United States |
| State | Montana |
| Counties | Big Horn Treasure Yellowstone |
| Established | May 7, 1868 |
| Headquarters | Crow Agency |
| Government | |
| • Body | Crow Tribe Executive Branch |
| • Chairman | Frank White Clay |
| • Vice-Chairman | Lawrence Decrane |
| • Secretary | Levi Black Eagle |
| • Vice-Secretary | Channis D. Whiteman |
| Area | |
• Total | 3,606.54 sq mi (9,340.9 km2) |
| • Land | 3,593.56 sq mi (9,307.3 km2) |
| Population (2017)[2] | |
• Total | 7,096 |
| • Density | 1.975/sq mi (0.7624/km2) |
| GDP | $1.9 Billion (2018) |
| Website | crow-nsn.gov |
TheCrow Indian Reservation is the homeland of theCrow Tribe. Established 1868,[3][4] the reservation is located in parts ofBig Horn,Yellowstone, andTreasure counties in southernMontana in theUnited States. The Crow Tribe has an enrolled membership of approximately 11,000, of whom 7,900 reside in the reservation. 20% speakCrow as their first language.[5]
The reservation, the largest of the seven Indian reservations inMontana, is located in south-centralMontana, bordered byWyoming to the south and theNorthern Cheyenne Indian Reservation to the east. The reservation includes the northern end of theBighorn Mountains,Wolf Mountains, andPryor Mountains. TheBighorn River flows north from the Montana-Wyoming state line, joining theLittle Bighorn just east ofHardin. Part of the reservation boundary runs along the ridgeline separating Pryor Creek and the Yellowstone River. The city ofBillings is approximately 10 miles (16 km) northwest of the reservation boundary.
It has a land area of 3,593.56 square miles (9,307.3 km2) and a total area of 3,606.54 square miles (9,340.9 km2),[6] making it either the fifth or sixth-largest reservation in the country (alternating with theStanding Rock Reservation depending on whether water areas are counted). Reservation headquarters are inCrow Agency, Montana.
The reservation is located in old Crow country. In August 1805, fur trader Francois-Antoine Larocque camped at the Little Bighorn River and traveled through the area with a Crow group.[7]
The contemporary reservation lies at the center of the Crow Indian territory described in the1851 Fort Laramie treaty.[8]
Pressure from Europeans north of Yellowstone River and aLakota (Sioux) invasion into Crow treaty guaranteed land from the east (the lead-up toRed Cloud's War)[9] made the 1860s a trying time for the Crow. "Oglalas underCrazy Horse andRed Cloud andHunkpapas andMinneconjous underSitting Bull continued to follow the dwindlingbuffalo herds west from thePowder River, while gold seekers travelled north into the [Crow] region along theBozeman [Trail]."[citation needed] Steamboats on theMissouri River brought additionalprospectors into the Yellowstone area.[10] The situation called for a new Crow treaty.
On May 7, 1868, the Crow sold around 30 million acres of their 1851 territory and agreed to live in a reservation.[11] The border to the south was the 45th degree of north latitude, while the 107th degree of longitude west was the eastern border. Both borderlines met the Yellowstone at a point. The connection of these two points followed the course of the river and made up the last border of the 1868 reservation.[12] It comprised about eight million acres.[11]
Major F. D. Pease was the first civil agent at the Crow reservation, from 1870 to 1874.[13]
Land cessions to the United States approved in 1882, 1892 and 1906 cut the western and northernmost part of the 1868 reservation.[14]
Crow chiefPlenty Coups,Robert Yellowtail and others stopped efforts to open the reservation in 1917. In a hotel room in Washington, D.C., they opened abundle over theincense of buffalo chips from animals in theNational Zoo and prayed for help. "The next day the attempted appropriation of their land was soundly defeated."[15]
Yellowtail made headlines when he became superintendent of his own tribe's reservation in 1934, the first Indian to do so.[16]
The reservation got its present shape after moderate land cuts in 1937 and in connection with the construction of the Bighorn Canyon Dam in the 1960s.[17]
During the 1960s,Pauline Small became the first woman Crow reservation tribal official.[18]
The value of the enormous amount ofcoal under the surface in the old tribal territory became clear to the reservation Crows after theArab Oil Embargo in the 1970s.[19] The Crow Tribe owns 1.4 billion tons of coal, enough to supply the United States for a year.[20] The reservation's Absaloka coal mine provides half of the tribe's nonfederal budget.[21] The single-pit mine opened in 1974 and employs 170 people.[21] The decline ofcoal mining in the United States has forced the tribe to lay off 1,000 of its 1,300 employees.[21] Every tribal citizen receives a $225 coal payment every four months.[21] Half of the reservation's adult population is unemployed.[20]
In 2013, the tribe andCloud Peak Energy agreed to open the Big Metal mine, which would have brought the company $10 million in revenue over the first five years.[21] PresidentBarack Obama blocked the mine and then imposed a moratorium on any new coal leasing on public lands.[21] In March 2017, theNorthern Cheyenne Indian Reservation sued Interior SecretaryRyan Zinke to stop his attempt to lift the moratorium.[21]
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The biggest attraction in the reservation is theLittle Bighorn National Monument. On June 25, 1876, combined forces from the Lakota,Northern Cheyenne, andArapaho tribes defeated theSeventh Cavalry Regiment commanded byGeorge Armstrong Custer. LocalCrow scouts defending their reservation guided Custer.[22]
Chief Plenty Coups (Alek-Chea-Ahoosh) State Park and Home is located near the town of Pryor. It has a small museum dedicated to Chief Plenty Coups and the Crow Tribe. The chief's two-floor lodge house and grocery store is preserved.[23]
Since 1904, the Crow have organized the bigCrow Fair, forming the "Teepee Capital of the World". By tradition, it is held the third week in August.[24]
ThePBS TV seriesReading Rainbow partially filmed its tenth episode, "The Gift of the Sacred Dog", on the reservation on June 17, 1983. The title was based on a book byPaul Goble and was narrated by actorMichael Ansara.
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1 No reservation in state, trust lands or legal status only |
