The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a tribe of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone river valley and now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana, and the current chairman of the tribal council is Carl Venne. Noted writer Joe Medicine Crow is tribal historian. The tribal headquarters are located at Crow Agency, Montana. The tribe hosts a large pow-wow, rodeo, and parade annually; the 87th Crow Fair was held at Crow Agency from August 13 - August 15, 2004. Native Americans (also Indians, Aboriginal Peoples, American Indians, First Nations, Alaskan Natives, Amerindians, or Indigenous Peoples of America) are the indigenous inhabitants of The Americas prior to the European colonization, and their modern descendants. ... Yellowstone National Park is a U.S. National Park located in the states of Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. ... Billings is a city located in Yellowstone County, Montana. ... State nickname: Treasure State Other U.S. States Capital Helena Largest city Billings Governor Brian Schweitzer Official languages English Area 381,156 km² (4th)  - Land 377,295 km²  - Water 3,862 km² (1%) Population (2000)  - Population 902,194 (44th)  - Density 2. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A chairman is the presiding officer of a meeting, organization, committee, or other deliberative body. ... Crow Agency is a census-designated place located in Big Horn County, Montana. ... This article is about a Native American gathering. ... This article contains nonstandard pronunciation information which should be rewritten using the International Phonetic Alphabet (see IPA in Unicode and Wikipedia:Manual of Style (pronunciation) for help). ... Marines on parade A parade is an organized procession of people along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by decorated vehicles called floats or sometimes large lighter-than-air balloons with complex shapes. ... August 13 is the 225th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (226th in leap years), with 140 days remaining. ... August 15 is the 227th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (228th in leap years), with 138 days remaining. ... 2004 is a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Crow language is a member of the Missouri Valley Siouan languages. They split from the Hidatsa tribe in present-day North Dakota either around 1400-1500 CE (according to cultural anthropologists) or 900-1000 CE (according to linguistic anthropologists). The Siouan languages are a Native American language family of North America. ... Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, also known as the Three Affiliated Tribes, are a Native American group comprised of a union of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara peoples, whose native lands ranged across the Missouri River basin in the Dakotas. ... State nickname: Peace Garden State, Roughrider State, Flickertail State Other U.S. States Capital Bismarck Largest city Fargo Governor John Hoeven Official languages English Area 183,272 km² (19th)  - Land 178,839 km²  - Water 4,432 km² (2. ...

The traditional shelters of the Crow are tepees made with buffalo skins and wooden poles. They are known to contruct some of the largest tepees. Inside they have mattresses to sleep on along the borders of their shelters, and a fire place, which the smoke escapes from through a hole in the top of the tepee. Many Crow families still own and use the tepee, especially when traveling. Crow Fair has been described as the largest gathering of tepees in the world. Categories: Stub | Buildings and structures | Survival skills ... A buffalo is one of several species of bovine. ...

Traditional clothing the Crow wore depended on gender. Women wouldn't dress very fancy because they were mostly around their shelters. They wore dresses made of mountain sheep or deer skins, decorated with elk teeth. They would cover their legs with leggings and their feet with moccasins. Crow women had short hair, unlike the men. The men dressed differently, with a shirt, trimmed leggings with a belt, a robe, and moccasins on their feet. Their hair was actually long, in some cases reaching or even dragging the ground, and sometimes decorated with certain items. This article is about the animal, sheep; for other meanings of Sheep, see Sheep (disambiguation). ... Genera About 15 in 4 subfamilies. ... The word Elk has several possible meanings: In Europe, Elk is the animal known in North America as the Moose (Alces alces). ... Moccasin is a Native American word, of which the spelling and pronunciation vary in different dialects, a shoe made of deerskin or other soft leather. ...

The Crow were a matrilineal (decent through the maternal line), matrilocal (husband moves in with wife's family), and matriarchal tribe (females obtaining high status, even chief). Women held a very significant role within the tribe. Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. ... A matriarchy is a tradition (and by extension a form of government) in which community power lies with the eldest mother of a community. ...

Further Reading

• The World of the Crow Indians, As Driftwood Lodges, Rodney Frey, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma, 1987, hardback, ISBN 0-8061-2076-2

External links

• Crow Tribal website (http://www.crownations.net)
• Crow Tribal Council Website (http://tlc.wtp.net/crow.htm)