Joseph Medicine Crow
Joseph Medicine Crow ( October 27, 1913 near Lodge Grass , Montana , † April 3, 2016 in Billings , Montana) was an American author , historian , anthropologist, and war chief of the Absarokee tribe (children of the long-billed bird) . He was best known for his books on the Battle of Little Bighorn .
Life
Family, childhood and youth
His step-grandfather White Man Runs Him took part in the Battle of Little Bighorn on the side of the US Army in the summer of 1876 as a scout of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer's troops against the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne . It was one of the few Indian victories against the US Army.
Joseph Medicine Crow was born in 1913 on the Crows Indian Reservation at Lodge Grass, his traditional Indian name was High Bird. His paternal grandfather, Warchief Medicine Crow, taught him the arts of war. Crow was the first member of his tribe to graduate from college. He attended Linfield College in McMinnville , graduating in 1938. A year later he earned a master's degree in anthropology from the University of Southern California with a focus on the influence of European culture on Native Americans . Title: "The Effects of European Culture Contact upon the Economic, Social, and Religious Life of the Crow Indians".
Medicine Crow suspended his doctoral studies to fight for the United States in World War II and joined the US Army's 103rd Infantry Division as a scout . Whenever he went into battle, he wore under his uniform, the traditional war paint, red stripes on the arms and under his helmet a sacred yellow eagle feather to him by a Sun Dance - medicine man has been made available to him from harm protect. Without really meaning to, during his deployment in Europe he carried out all four tasks that are necessary to become an Absarokee war chief like his grandfather: he fought behind enemy lines, stole horses from an enemy camp, disarmed an enemy and touched an enemy without killing him. After the defeat of Nazi Germany , he became war chief, probably the last member of the Absarokee. 2006 Medicine Crow reported in historical documentation The War (too dt . The war ) by Ken Burns about his war experiences.
Medicine Crow died in Billings at the age of 102.
Honors
- Medicine Crow was awarded the Bronze Star for his service in World War II and was made a Knight of the Legion of Honor by France .
- In 2003 Rocky Mountain College awarded him an honorary doctorate.
- On August 13, 2009, US President Barack Obama awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom , the highest civilian honor in the United States. Obama called Crow a good man in his native language .
Fonts
- Joseph Medicine Crow: My people, the Crow Indians. The tribal history of the Absarokee . Diederichs Verlag, Munich 1994, ISBN 3-424-01197-5 .
Web links
- Joe Medicine Crow: Life and Work (English)
- Tribal historian honored as 2005 'Montana Tourism Person of the Year' (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.blick.ch/people-tv/joe-medicine-crow-wurde-102-jahre-alt-l last-grosser-indianer-kriegshaeuptling-gestorben- id4878232.html
- ↑ http://www.pbs.org/thewar/detail_5177.htm
- ^ Cast Member in Documentary about Crow and Shoshone Sun Dance and Tribal Culture , accessed April 4, 2016
- ↑ RENDAN MINITER: Ken Burns Returns to War. In: OpinionJournal.com. September 19, 2007, archived from the original on October 11, 2007 ; accessed on December 3, 2010 (English).
- ↑ Joe Medicine Crow dies in Billings Sunday morning
- ^ Joseph Medicine Crow, Tribal War Chief and Historian, Dies at 102 , The New York Times , April 4, 2016; Retrieved April 4, 2016
- ↑ Rheinische Post, No. 187, August 14, 2009
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Medicine Crow, Joseph |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American author, historian, doctor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 27, 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | at Lodge Grass , Montana |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd April 2016 |
| Place of death | Billings , Montana |