Joe Medicine Crow

{{Short description|Native American writer and war chief (1913–2016)}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Joe Medicine Crow

| image = Joe Medicine Crow and Barack Obama, crop.jpg

| alt = Joe Medicine Crow in full feathered headdress plays a drum for U.S. President Barack Obama

| caption = Medicine Crow (right) with President Barack Obama in 2009

| birth_name = Joseph Medicine Crow

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1913|10|27}}

| birth_place = Near Lodge Grass, Montana, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|4|3|1913|10|27}}

| death_place = Billings, Montana, U.S.

| nationality = Crow, American

| education =

| alma_mater = Linfield College
{{nowrap|University of Southern California}}

| occupation = Historian, war chief, anthropologist, author

| years_active =

| known_for =

| notable_works =

| spouse =

| children =

| parents =

| relatives = Pauline Small (cousin)
{{nowrap|White Man Runs Him (step-grandfather)}}

| awards = File:Presidential Medal of Freedom (ribbon).svg Presidential Medal of Freedom

| module = {{Infobox military person|embed=yes

| allegiance = {{flag|United States|name=United States of America|1912}}

| branch = {{army|United States}}

| serviceyears = 1943–1946

| rank = 20px Technician 5th grade

| unit = 103rd Infantry Division

| commands =

| battles = World War II

| awards = File:Bronze Star ribbon.svg Bronze Star
File:Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg Légion d'honneur

}}

| signature =

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| website =

}}

Joseph Medicine Crow (October 27, 1913 – April 3, 2016) was a Native American writer, historian and war chief of the Crow Tribe. His writings on Native American history and reservation culture are considered seminal works, but he is best known for his writings and lectures concerning the Battle of the Little Bighorn of 1876.

Medicine Crow was a World War II veteran, serving as a scout in the 103rd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army. He received the Bronze Star Medal and the Légion d'honneur for his service during World War II. In 2009, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama.

Medicine Crow was a founding member of the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders and Youth.{{cite news|title = PIM 'founder,' war hero Medicine Crow turns 100|newspaper = Cody Enterprise|publisher = Sage Publishing|date = October 30, 2013|url = http://www.codyenterprise.com/news/people/article_8ef043b8-41a4-11e3-888e-001a4bcf887a.html|access-date = November 3, 2013}} He was the last war chief of the Crow Tribe and the last Plains Indian war chief.

Early life

Joseph Medicine Crow (his Crow name meant High Bird) was born in 1913 on the Crow Indian Reservation near Lodge Grass, Montana, to Amy Yellowtail and Leo Medicine Crow.{{Cite web | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/us/joseph-medicine-crow-tribal-war-chief-and-historian-dies-at-102.html |first =Mike |last =McPhate |title =Joseph Medicine Crow, Tribal War Chief and Historian, Dies at 102 |work =The New York Times |date =April 4, 2016 |access-date =April 4, 2016}} As the Crow kinship system was matrilineal, he was considered born for his mother's people, and gained his social status from that line. Property and hereditary positions were passed through the maternal line. Chief Medicine Crow, Leo's father, was a highly distinguished and honored chief in his own right, who at the age of 22 became a war chief. He set a standard for aspiring warriors and was his son's inspiration.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}

File:Whitemanrunshim.jpg, step-grandfather of Joe Medicine Crow]]

His maternal step-grandfather, White Man Runs Him, was a scout for U.S. General George Armstrong Custer and an eyewitness to the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876.{{Cite web| url = https://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5177.htm| publisher = PBS| title = Joe Medicine Crow| access-date = April 4, 2016| archive-date = April 7, 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160407224516/http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5177.htm| url-status = dead}} Joe Medicine Crow's cousin was Pauline Small, the first woman elected to office in the Crow Tribe of Indians.

Education

When he was young, Medicine Crow heard direct oral testimony about the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 from his step-grandfather, White Man Runs Him, who had been a scout for General George Armstrong Custer.

Beginning in 1929, when he was in eighth grade, Medicine Crow attended Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, which also had preparatory classes for students of high school age. He studied until he completed an Associate of Arts degree in 1936. He went on to study sociology and psychology for his bachelor's degree from Linfield College in 1938. He earned a master's degree in anthropology from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles in 1939; he was the first member of the Crow tribe to obtain a master's degree.{{Cite web | url = http://www.custermuseum.org/medicinecrowarticles.htm| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080730030527/http://www.custermuseum.org/medicinecrowarticles.htm | archive-date = July 30, 2008 | access-date = April 4, 2016 | title = Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow| publisher = Custer Museum}} His thesis, The Effects of European Culture Contact upon the Economic, Social, and Religious Life of the Crow Indians, has become a well-respected work about Crow culture.{{cite web|url=http://www.worldwisdom.com/public/authors/Joe-Medicine-Crow.aspx|title=Joe Medicine Crow: Life and Work|website=www.worldwisdom.com}} He began work toward a doctorate, and by 1941 had completed the required coursework. He did not complete his Ph.D., due to the United States' entry into World War II.

Medicine Crow taught at Chemawa Indian School for a year in 1941, then took a defense industry job in the shipyards of Bremerton, Washington in 1942.

World War II

After spending the latter half of 1942 working in the naval ship yards in Bremerton, Washington, Medicine Crow joined the U.S. Army in 1943.{{Cite web | url = http://lib.lbhc.edu/index.php?q=node/53 |publisher = Little Big Horn College Library| title = Joseph Medicine Crow Collection Inventory| access-date = April 4, 2016}} He became a scout in the 103rd Infantry Division, and fought in World War II. Whenever he went into battle, he wore his war paint (two red stripes on his arms) beneath his uniform and a sacred yellow painted eagle feather, provided by a "sundance" medicine man, beneath his helmet.

Medicine Crow completed all four tasks required to become a war chief: touching an enemy without killing him (counting coup), taking an enemy's weapon, leading a successful war party, and stealing an enemy's horse. He touched a living enemy soldier and disarmed him after turning a corner and finding himself face to face with a young German soldier.

He also led a successful war party and stole fifty horses owned by the Waffen SS from a German camp, singing a traditional Crow honor song as he rode off.{{Cite web | url = https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-names-medal-freedom-recipients| title = President Obama Names Medal of Freedom Recipients | date = July 30, 2009 | via = National Archives| work = whitehouse.gov| access-date = March 29, 2017 }}{{cite news |title=War songs of the Plains |url=https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21696906-all-his-life-he-was-bridge-between-two-worlds-lecturing-need-combine-best |newspaper=The Economist |volume=419 |issue=8985 |page=78 |date=April 16, 2016}}

Medicine Crow is the last member of the Crow tribe to become a war chief. He was interviewed and appeared in the 2007 Ken Burns PBS series The War, describing his World War II service. Filmmaker Ken Burns said, "The story of Joseph Medicine Crow is something I've wanted to tell for 20 years."{{Cite web | url = http://opinionjournal.com/la/?id=110010622 |first =Brendan |last=Miniter| title= Ken Burns Returns to War| work=Wall Street Journal Opinion| date= September 19, 2007| access-date = September 19, 2007}}

Tribal spokesman

File:Custer Battlefield Historical and Museum Assoc dedication plaque.jpg

After serving in the Army, Medicine Crow returned to the Crow Agency. In 1948, he was appointed tribal historian and anthropologist.{{Cite web | url = https://www.nps.gov/bica/learn/historyculture/joseph-medicine-crow.htm | title = Joseph Medicine Crow | publisher = National Park Service| access-date = April 4, 2016}} He worked for the BIA beginning in 1951.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bauer |first=Patricia |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Joseph-Medicine-Crow |title=Joseph Medicine Crow {{!}} Native American Historian |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica Online |date=2016 |access-date=January 23, 2019}} In 1953, the "Custer Battlefield" (Little Bighorn Battlefield) Museum was established and dedicated to its founding members, Medicine Crow among them. He served as a board member or officer on the Crow Central Education Commission almost continuously since its inception in 1972. In 1999, he addressed the United Nations.

Medicine Crow was a frequent guest speaker at Little Big Horn College and the Little Big Horn Battlefield Museum. He also was featured in several documentaries about the battle, because of his family's associated oral history. He wrote a script "that has been used at the reenactment of the Battle of Little Big Horn held every summer in Hardin since 1965."{{Cite web | title = Joseph Medicine Crow | work = Montanakids | access-date = March 28, 2013 | year = 2007 | url = http://montanakids.com/cool_stories/Famous_Montanans/Crow.htm }}

Medicine Crow was a founding member of Little Bighorn College and of the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, Wyoming beginning in 1976.{{cite web |last=Ladue |first=Robin A. |url=http://tribalbusinessjournal.com/news/last-war-chief/ |title=The Last War Chief |work=Tribal Business Journal |access-date=January 23, 2019}}

As historian, Medicine Crow was the "keeper of memories" of his tribe. He preserved the stories and photographs of his people in an archive in his house and garage. His books include Crow Migration Story, Medicine Crow, the Handbook of the Crow Indians Law and Treaties, Crow Indian Buffalo Jump Techniques, and From the Heart of Crow Country. He also wrote a book for children entitled Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird.

Death

Medicine Crow continued to write and lecture at universities and public institutions until his death, at the age of 102, on April 3, 2016. He was in hospice care in Billings, Montana.{{Cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/joe-medicine-crow-american-indian-who-was-his-tribes-last-war-chief-dies-at-102/2016/04/04/fe609c5e-fa6e-11e5-9140-e61d062438bb_story.html | newspaper=The Washington Post | date = April 3, 2016 | title = Crow Tribe elder, historian Joe Medicine Crow dead at 102| first = Matthew | last = Brown | access-date = April 3, 2016}}{{Cite news| url = http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/joe-medicine-crow-dies-in-billings-sunday-morning/article_4463195c-d8c2-5a36-ae68-bf86f99b5d52.html | work=Billings Gazette | date= April 3, 2016 | access-date = April 4, 2016 | title = Joe Medicine Crow dies in Billings on Sunday morning | first1 = Mike |last1 = Ferguson | first2=Jordan | last2=Niedermeier}} He is survived by his only son Ron Medicine Crow, daughters Vernelle Medicine Crow and Diane Reynolds, and stepdaughter Garnet Watan.

Honors

{{external media | width = 210px | float = right |

headerimage=210px

| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAu_yv8Hnjw President Obama Honors Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipients], see 24:25–25:50, White House{{cite web | title =The Presidential Medal of Freedom | url =https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/campaign/medal-of-freedom | via =National Archives | work =whitehouse.gov | access-date =April 4, 2016 }}

| audio1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20181022001756/https://blog.nmai.si.edu/main/2011/11/american-indian-heritage-storycorps-2011-joe-medicine-crow-remembers-fighting-the-nazis.html A Crow Warrior vs. The Nazis], Joseph Medicine Crow on StoryCorps }}

Medicine Crow received honorary doctorates from Rocky Mountain College in 1999,{{Cite web | url = http://www.startribune.com/crow-tribe-elder-joe-medicine-crow-dead-at-age-102/374424361/| access-date = April 4, 2016 | title = Crow Tribe elder, historian Joe Medicine Crow dead at 102 | date = April 4, 2016 | first =Matthew |last=Brown| work = Star Tribune}} his alma mater the University of Southern California in 2003, and Bacone College in 2010. He was an ambassador and commencement speaker at the latter, a college established for Native Americans, for more than 50 years.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVeSgit-Io0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/mVeSgit-Io0| archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|title=Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow|last=Bacone College|date=June 28, 2010|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}
His memoir, Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond, was chosen in 2007 by the National Council for the Social Studies as a "Notable Tradebook for Young People."{{Cite web | url = http://www.coedu.usf.edu/main/departments/seced/SocialS/Documents/SSE4313notable2007.pdf | title = The official journal of National Council for the Social Studies | publisher = University of South Florida | access-date = April 4, 2016 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
On June 25, 2008, Medicine Crow received two military decorations: the Bronze Star for his service in the U.S. Army, and the French Legion of Honor Chevalier medal, both for service during World War II.{{Cite web| url = http://www.custermuseum.org/Battlefield%20News/JMC%20to%20receive%20the%20French%20Legion%20of%20Honor%20and%20Bronze%20Star.htm |first=Christopher |last=Kortlander |title = Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow to receive the French Legion of Honor Award and the Bronze Star| publisher =Custer Battlefield Museum | date = May 21, 2008| access-date = April 4, 2016}} His other military awards include the Combat Infantryman Badge, Army Good Conduct Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal, and World War II Victory Medal.
On July 17, 2008, Senators Max Baucus, Jon Tester, and Mike Enzi introduced a bill to award him the Congressional Gold Medal; however, the bill did not garner the required sponsorship of two-thirds of the senate to move forward.{{Cite web | url = http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-3283|title = Dr. Joseph Medicine Crow Congressional Gold Medal Act| publisher = govtrack.us | access-date = August 28, 2008}}
Medicine Crow received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest civilian honor awarded in the United States) from President Barack Obama on August 12, 2009. During the White House ceremony, Obama referred to Medicine Crow as bacheitche, or a "good man," in the Crow language.[https://apnews.com/21a055ae5ae84af5bcd330413332f0c2 Associated Press, "Crow Tribe Elder Joe Medicine Crow Dead at Age 102"]

Legacy

In 2016, Billings Public Schools opened Medicine Crow Middle School, named in honor of Joe Medicine Crow.{{Cite web |last=Hoffman |first=Matt |date=2016-08-25 |title=Medicine Crow opens for its 1st day |url=https://billingsgazette.com/news/local/education/medicine-crow-opens-for-its-1st-day/article_ea82eb97-825e-56b8-ad87-861ebffff1d9.html |access-date=2024-06-08 |website=Billings Gazette |language=en}}

In 2018, the U.S. Congress passed a law to rename a Veteran Administration Clinic in Billings to honor Joe Medicine Crow.{{cite web |url=https://www.congress.gov/115/plaws/publ181/PLAW-115publ181.htm |title=115th Congress Public Law 181 |work=US Congress}}{{cite news |url=https://news.va.gov/74224/va-clinic-renamed-honor-two-world-war-ii-veterans/ |title=VA Clinic renamed in honor of two World War II Veterans |date=April 27, 2020 |work=U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs}}

In 2022, the University of Southern California named the International Center for Public Affairs after Medicine Crow.{{cite news |url=https://dailytrojan.com/2022/04/12/joseph-medicine-crow-dedicated/ |title=Joseph Medicine Crow Center dedicated |first=Kacie |last=Yamamoto |date=April 12, 2022 |newspaper=Daily Trojan}} At the same time, USC established a scholarship program for Native American students name in his honor.{{r|daily trojan}} The building had previously been named after former USC President Rufus Von KleinSmid, but his name was stripped in 2020 due to controversy over his racist and eugenic views.{{cite news |title=A USC building stripped of eugenicist's name will instead honor a Native American alumnus |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-11-18/usc-native-american-alumnus-building-renamed |access-date=November 16, 2022|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times |date=November 18, 2021 |first=Melissa |last=Gomez}}

Decorations

style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"

|colspan="3"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Combat Infantry Badge.svg|width=256|alt=}}

colspan="3"|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=oak|ribbon=Bronze Star ribbon.svg|width=106|alt=}}

{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Army Good Conduct Medal ribbon.svg|width=106|alt=}}

|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=Presidential Medal of Freedom (ribbon).svg|width=106|alt=}}

|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106|alt=}}

{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=service-star|ribbon=European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign ribbon.svg|width=106|alt=}}

|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg|width=106|alt=}}

|{{Ribbon devices|number=0|type=award-star|ribbon=Legion of Honour - Knight (France).png|width=106|alt=}}

class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"
colspan="28"\|Combat Infantryman Badge
1st Row \|colspan="28"\|Bronze Star Medal
2nd Row \|colspan="5"\|Army Good Conduct Medal \|colspan="5"\|Presidential Medal of Freedom \|colspan="5"\|American Campaign Medal
3rd Row \|colspan="5"\|European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal \|colspan="5"\|World War II Victory Medal \|colspan="5"\|Knight Legion of Honour (France)

class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto; text-align:center;"

colspan="28"|Combat Infantryman Badge

1st Row

|colspan="28"|Bronze Star Medal

2nd Row

|colspan="5"|Army Good Conduct Medal

|colspan="5"|Presidential Medal of Freedom

|colspan="5"|American Campaign Medal

3rd Row

|colspan="5"|European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal

|colspan="5"|World War II Victory Medal

|colspan="5"|Knight
Legion of Honour
(France)

Bibliography

Native Spirit and The Sun Dance Way DVD (World Wisdom, 2007)
Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond (National Geographic Children's Books, 2006) {{ISBN|978-0-7922-5391-4}}
From the Heart of the Crow Country: The Crow Indians' Own Stories (Bison Books, 2000) {{ISBN|978-0-8032-8263-6}}
Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird (Abbeville Press, 1998) {{ISBN|978-0-7892-0160-7}}
The Last Warrior (Sunset Productions, July 1995) {{ISBN|978-99953-31-04-7}}
The Crow Indians: 100 years of acculturation (Wyola Elementary School, 1976)

References

External links

[http://worldwisdom.com/public/authors/joe-medicine-crow.aspx Joe Medicine Crow: Life and Work] (film clips, articles, and slideshows)
[https://web.archive.org/web/20070311194536/http://www.montanachamber.net/ws/aboutus3.php?page_id=7377 Tribal historian honored as 2005 'Montana Tourism Person of the Year']
[http://nativespiritinfo.com/jmc.html Cast Member in Documentary about Crow and Shoshone Sun Dance and Tribal Culture']
{{C-SPAN|9264828}}
{{Find a Grave|160484341}}

Category:1913 births

Category:2016 deaths

Category:American anthropologists

Category:20th-century American historians

Category:United States Army personnel of World War II

Category:Knights of the Legion of Honour

Category:Crow Tribe people

Category:Historians of Native Americans

Category:Linfield University alumni

Category:Military personnel from Montana

Category:Native American leaders

Category:Native American United States military personnel