American Indian Heritage & StoryCorps 2011: A Crow Warrior vs. The Nazis

Joseph Medicine Crow, about to enter the dance arena at the annual Crow Fair, holds a dance stick representing the horses he captured from German SS officers in World War II. (Photo by Glen Swanson.)

 

To commemorate Veterans Day, we're sharing this story from Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow, above, who grew up on the Apsáalooke (Crow) Reservation in southeastern Montana hearing the stories of his grandfather White Man Runs Him and the other aged veterans of the Indian wars.

Raiding an enemy’s horses is a tradition that survived even into 20th-century warfare, and during World War II, Dr. Crow got the chance to capture an enemy's horses in the finest tradition of a Plains Indian warrior. Now in his 90s, he tells his story of modern horse-raiding.

 

Joe Medicine Crow - Click to Play

 

"In World War II, I managed to have captured fifty head of horses. These were not ordinary horses. They belonged to SS officers, you know? During the last days of the war over there, there was a lot of confusion, so a bunch of these SS officers got on their horses and took off ... They were heading back to Germany. And here’s that old sneaky old Crow Indian now following them, watching them. So they camped for the night. I sneak in there and took all their fifty head of horses, left them on foot. So I got on one, looked around there and I even sang a Crow victory song all by myself. Crows do that when they think they’re all by themselves, they do things like that. So I sang a victory song."

 

Native Americans have served in the U.S. military since the American Revolution, and by percentage continue to serve more than any other ethnic group in the armed forces. For these reasons and more, Veterans Day is an especially significant holiday for many tribal communities across the country.

In 2009, Dr. Crow was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama for his services. He will join fellow Native veterans at the museum on Dec. 2nd for a symposium to talk about his experience fighting for the U.S. military . The talk will be webcast live at www.AmericanIndian.si.edu/webcast. For more information, click here.

 

Audio and transcript re-published with permission from the museum's online exhibition, A Song for the Horse Nation, as part of the museum's partnership with StoryCorps for Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month and the StoryCorps National Day of Listening.

American Indian Heritage & StoryCorps 2011: The History & Diversity of Indian Country

A former executive producer at NMAI, Rob McIlvaine now works for the Army News Service at Fort Meade's Defense Media Activity, where he was asked to write about his Native American heritage. He shares this story with us:

Tom Miles, the author's grandfather, is shown holding the football for a kick at Carlisle Indian Industrial School, ca.1911. Miles was a freshman when his cousin Jim Thorpe was a senior on the team. (Photo courtesy of Rob McIlvaine)

Rob writes:

Although November was not designated as National American Indian Heritage Month until 1990, I grew up knowing about my Indian heritage by hearing stories from my mother, who was born to a French woman from Quimper and an Indian descended from Chief Black Hawk. I and my Sac and Fox cousins didn't play cowboys and Indians growing up. We played at "taking back our land and restoring our nation." We imitated our ancestor who tried to do that in 1832, giving the future President Abraham Lincoln his only battle experience during the Black Hawk War.

We knew we were playing, however, because like so many of those who had gone before us, not only had the names of Indian places and people become destinations and football team names, the people had become assimilated, too.

It's a fact of life.

After warring with people, we all begin to become "one", even though some insurgents take longer than others to understand this rite of passage. Or, as we jokingly said of ourselves, "our Indian blood had become polluted." For instance, the Lenni Lenape, better known as the Delaware Indians, had assimilated long before William Penn came to Philadelphia on his ship, "Welcome."

However, when my grandfather, Wapahmak -- Dark Shining Object on Still Water -- took me fishing or watched me play football, I knew the eyes of my ancestors were upon me. When we played at war and performed stunts, such as diving through windows, climbing rock walls, swimming in cold springs, catching fish with our hands and holding onto electric fencing, we knew we were testing ourselves.

My Indian grandfather did the same but it wasn't play. He was a deep-sea diver in World War I and a ship fitter in World War II and then he built radio towers outside of Philadelphia. Indian men always wanted to prove themselves, but when war ends, they take jobs considered too dangerous by many.

Before that, my grandfather attended the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania -- founded by Capt. Richard H. Pratt in 1879. There my granddad played football with his cousin Jim Thorpe. So, even though Pratt's effort to take the Indian out of the Indian had, in large part worked, my cousins, disbursed by marriage and opportunity from our tribal lands in Shawnee, Okla., still held on to both sides of our heritage.

And then, in 2002, I had the opportunity to be executive producer for the National Museum of the American Indian on the mall, near the U.S. Capitol. While my mom -- First Ray of Dawn, and granddad had both been given Indian names at birth, the museum experience gave me the opportunity to reconnect with my ancestors many years later.

Dancers during the inaugural powwow for the opening of the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall in September 2004. (Photo courtesy of the museum)

During my time at the museum, through my sponsors Grace Thorpe -- Jim's daughter, Bud McClellan, and other elders of the tribe, I was given the name Ni-Ka-Noo-Ko-Huk -- Leader when Lightning Strikes. I became a member of the We mi ko (Thunder) Clan, and also was invited to dance with the Gourd Clan because of my military experience.

I hired a TV crew and we traveled through Canada from Montreal to Winnepeg and from the Virginia tribes to Oklahoma, New Mexico and up to Washington state and got the chance to dance with a group of Indians in Chicago. I was hesitant to join the other dancers because I had once told a cousin that I didn't know how to dance. His answer to me was, "That's alright, no one knows how to dance ... only God knows."

My film crew and I interviewed members of the Kahnawake Mohawk territory, many of whom built the Empire State Building and the World Trade Center. This powerful tribe stood up against the Canadian police when they refused to make French their first language.

This was the first time I had heard of Indians re-learning or holding onto their language -- or that which makes them Indian. The tribe had an elementary, middle and high school where children were immersed in the language.

We made friends with the Tohono O'odham reservation near Tucson, Ariz., which began a non-profit organization called Native Seeds, and we were invited into a home to eat the results of their labors as they promoted the use of ancient crops.

From the opening procession of the National Museum of the American Indian in 2004 (Photo courtesy of the museum)

We journeyed to Yakama Nation and visited Mount Adams -- their source of water and irrigation for their crops and lumber mill, and saw salmon fishing along the Columbia River in Washington. We also visited the relatively small Hoopa Valley Tribe where they showed us how they cut the river grass to make baskets, and took a boat ride up the majestic Trinity River in northern California where we saw eagles soar.

We saw tribes and nations with many resources and some striving to hold on to what they have. Some shared their art and music while others shared the fruits of their labors. But all had pride in their heritage.

Not unlike the Pow-Wow, where the people get together to join in dancing, visiting, renewing old friendships and making new ones, and to preserve their heritage, the Native Americans we met across North America knew the importance of sharing their past, present and future with others at the National Museum of the American Indian, which officially opened in 2004 with a national Pow-Wow.

A woman walks in the opening procession of the National Museum of the American Indian, September 2004. (Photo courtesy of the museum)

Once many of the tribes raided and fought against each other. Now they gather together to keep a people alive ... to prove we are still here and we still have a voice. Where once there was mutual honor and respect for the enemy in battle, this now has evolved into mutual honor and respect for each tribe, nation or native community. We work with each other to keep alive the language, the song, the dance and the beat of the drum.

 

Re-printed with permission from the U.S. Army News Service as part of the museum's partnership with StoryCorps for Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month and the StoryCorps National Day of Listening.

 

 

American Indian Heritage & StoryCorps 2011: Winter Storytelling in Hopi Lands

In honor of Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month, we're asking our friends in Indian Country to share their stories on our blog all month long.

Our first submission comes from Sharon Batala of Hotevilla-Bacavi, Arizona, who sent us this beautiful photo of the Hopi lands, where she grew up learning about her tribe's traditions during walks in the desert with her family. Batala, a former Air Force Staff Sargeant, works as a counselor at the Hopi Veterans Center Outreach Station.

Sharon writes:

Winter is the time for storytelling. Through storytelling in the Hopi language, values are passed on from generation to generation. History, clan migrations, destruction of ancient cities, when the deities came to humans, when animals used to talk with humans and other information is passed on. It is a time for families to strengthen bonds, to learn important values of being Hopi and to have your imagination spurred beyond the limits!

In my family, storytelling was a favorite of my childhood living on the reservation. My grandparents, who were the storytellers. My father, the intellectual, took us on hikes as small children to the places that seemed mystical in the story, but upon close examination brought to reality the "real" story of a village and people who were no longer there. Along with teaching lessons of locations, place names, plant names, and important historical locations, my dad told us once, when we were complaining about being tired, "One day you might be in charge of this land; how are you to make good decisions about the land if you don't know it?" And so we walked on listening to him as he told us many things about our desert landscape.

One such location we visited was Pivanhonkapi, an ancient village that was destroyed. In the story, the Hopi deities come to assist the players in the story. Medicine is used to help. Powers are revealed in the magical happenings of the story as it moves to a climatic end. As a child, I couldn't sleep just thinking of the story and what happened to the people, how they must have felt and looked as they escaped, fleeing across the desert. Then when he took us to the actual place, total wonderment that the story was not just a story.

Stories enabled me to use the values they taught as I grew up, even though I did not know much of the outside world.  But the values I learned helped me throughout my life and continue to strengthen me.  I hope others will return to their own tribal stories and learn what their ancestors have provided, it is truly . . . living history.

Celebrate Native American Heritage Month With Us!

Museum staffer Terry Snowball, center, with members of Chile's Aymara communities during a repatriation trip in 2007 (Photo courtesy of Terry Snowball)

In honor of Native American and Alaska Native Heritage Month this November, we're partnering with StoryCorps, a nonprofit oral-history organization, to celebrate American Indian Heritage Day and the 2011 National Day of Listening, a new holiday started by StoryCorps that encourages Americans to record the stories of their families, friends and local communities. Both holidays fall on the same day this year—Friday, Nov. 25.

Last year, we participated by recording the tribal histories, family stories, and museum experiences of our Native American staffers, including museum director Kevin Gover (Pawnee) and repatriation coordinator Terry Snowball (Prairie Band Potawatomi/Wisconsin Ho-Chunk), above. You can listen to the interviews here: http://blog.nmai.si.edu/main/storycorps-national-day-of-listening-2010/

This year, we’re reaching out to you, our visitors and our fans, in the hopes that you might make your own recordings and post summaries on the StoryCorps Wall of Listening at www.nationaldayoflistening.org.

Each interview’s location will be highlighted on an interactive map on the StoryCorps website, illustrating not only the scope of the museum’s friends but also the diversity of Indian Country.  

We’d also like to invite you to share some of these stories (and photos!) on the museum’s blog by writing us at NMAISocialMedia@si.edu.  

If you'd like to participate or have any questions about the project, please email Molly Stephey at StepheyMJ@si.edu.

Thank you!

StoryCorps Interview with NMAI's Kevin Gover (Pawnee)

This week the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian has shared the stories of five Native staffers as part of American Indian Heritage Day and the StoryCorps’ 2010 National Day of Listening. Today—Friday, Nov. 26—we celebrate both of these holidays and encourage you and your loved ones to join us by, quite simply, sharing stories with one another.

Our final interview features the museum’s director, Kevin Gover (Pawnee). Before joining NMAI in 2007, Gover was a professor of law at Arizona State University. From 1997 to 2000, he served as assistant secretary for Indian Affairs in the U.S. Department of the Interior, overseeing programs in Indian education, law enforcement, social services and treaty rights.

He grew up near Lawton, Okla., where his parents worked as civil-rights activists in the 1960s and '70s.

“This museum is really attempting to redefine a number of things. In particular and most importantly, it’s trying to redefine how Indians are represented in the museum world, and establishing a requirement that in order to represent these communities properly the community has to be deeply involved in the development of any sort of content," Gover said during his conversation with Rachael Cassidy (Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma), NMAI Cultural Interpreter.

"And we can look out the window right here at the Capitol of the United States, and you realize its symbolic importance. This great stone edifice really, to me, stands for the proposition that Indians are still here, and we’re here to stay.”

On growing up in Comanche County, Oklahoma:

 Gover-Childhood (Click to Play)

EXCERPT: “I suppose my best memory was actually being at my grandmother and grandfather’s farm in Faxon, Oklahoma. It seemed like a carefree place to a child, and there were a million things to get in trouble over when you’re out on that much land with that many animals and that much farm equipment and, so, we did.”

On the biggest in influences in his life:

Gover-Biggest Influence (Click to Play)

EXCERPT: “From my parents, the real lasting lesson was to accept people for who they are and to just never, ever judge somebody else because of the color of their skin or their economic background or their gender or religion or any of the other dozens and hundreds of ways we try to separate ourselves from other people. And they were insistent about that. For all their failings, that was something they drove home. That, and I suppose the idea of achieving to the limits of your potential. You know, the achievement part can be a bad thing if you become obsessed with achievement for your own sake. On the other hand, to strive for a cause is a good thing. And they taught me that.”

On choosing a career in law:

Gover- Law and Civil Rights (Click to Play)

EXCERPT: “I think it had something to do with the people that my parents exposed me to during the civil rights movement. There was a loose organization . . . that just called itself “the Group.” But they had taken on as their charter to try to end segregation in Lawton, Oklahoma, in both public and private facilities. And among the members of the group were some lawyers that I remember. I remember one named Maynard Ungerman, another named Bill Sexton. And I just saw how the Group had such a respect for them. When they spoke, everybody was listening. And I think that may be where I decided that I wanted to be a lawyer.”

On his struggles with alcoholism:

Gover-Alcoholism (Click to Play)

EXCERPT: “In my career as a drinker, I still have memories that I shudder over, things that I did, and just wish I could take them back. I know I can’t. . . . Almost everything I’ve done in my life that I’m genuinely ashamed of—not failing, but just ashamed of—happened when I was drinking. So that’s reason enough for me never to drink again.”

The National Day of Listening is an effort to encourage all Americans to honor a friend, loved one, or member of their community by interviewing them about their lives. StoryCorps has created a free do-it-yourself interview guide with equipment recommendations and interview instructions available online at www.nationaldayoflistening.org.