Editing Crow people (section)

==Culture==

===Subsistence===
[[File:Buffalo jump.jpg|thumb|Illustration of a buffalo jump]]
[[File:Crow Indians offering food -Edward S. Curtis.jpg|thumb|upright|''The Oath Apsaroke'' by [[Edward S. Curtis]] depicting Crow men giving a symbolic oath with a bison meat offering on an arrow]]

The main food source for the Crow was the [[American bison]] which was hunted in a variety of ways. Before the use of horses the bison were hunted on foot and required hunters to stalk close to the bison, often with a wolf-pelt disguise, then pursue the animals quickly on foot before killing them with arrows or lances. The horse allowed the Crow to hunt bison more easily as well as hunt more at one time. Riders would panic the herd into a stampede and shoot the targeted animals with arrows or bullets from horseback or lance them through the heart. In addition to bison the Crow also hunted [[bighorn sheep]], [[mountain goats]], deer, [[elk]], bear, and other game. Buffalo meat was often roasted or boiled in a stew with [[prairie turnip]]s. The rump, tongue, liver, heart, and kidneys all were considered delicacies. Dried bison meat was ground with fat and berries to make ''[[pemmican]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/129364322/Crow-Indian-Recipes-and-Herbal-Medicine|title=Crow Indian Recipes and Herbal Medicine|work=Scribd|access-date=13 January 2016}}</ref> In addition to meat, wild edibles were gathered and eaten such as [[Sambucus|elderberries]], wild turnip, and [[Amelanchier alnifolia|Saskatoon berries]].

The Crow often hunted bison by utilizing [[buffalo jump]]s. "Where Buffaloes are Driven Over Cliffs at Long Ridge" was a favorite spot for meat procurement by the Crow Indians for over a century, from 1700 to around 1870 when modern weapons were introduced.<ref name="Plains Anthropologist">{{cite journal|last=Keyser|first=James|title=The Plains Anthropologist|journal=Plains Anthropologist|volume=30|issue=108|pages=85–102|publisher=Anthropology News|jstor=25668522|year=1985|doi=10.1080/2052546.1985.11909269}}</ref> The Crow used this place annually in the autumn, a place of multiple cliffs along a ridge that eventually sloped to the creek. Early in the morning the day of the jump a medicine man would stand on the edge of the upper cliff, facing up the ridge. He would take a pair of bison hindquarters and pointing the feet along the lines of stones he would sing his sacred songs and call upon the Great Spirit to make the operation a success.<ref name="Plains Anthropologist" /> After this invocation the medicine man would give the two head drivers a pouch of incense.<ref name="Plains Anthropologist" /> As the two head drivers and their helpers headed up the ridge and the long line of stones they would stop and burn incense on the ground repeating this process four times.<ref name="Plains Anthropologist" /> The ritual was intended to make the animals come to the line where the incense was burned, then bolt back to the ridge area.<ref name="Plains Anthropologist" />

===Habitation and transportation===
[[File:Crow Tipi or Lodge- George Catlin.jpg|thumb|''Crow Lodge of Twenty-five Buffalo Skins'', 1832–33 by [[George Catlin]]]]
[[File:Crow men trading on horseback- Edward S. Curtis.jpg|thumb|Crow men trading on horseback]]
[[File:Three Crow horsemen- Edward S. Curtis.jpg|thumb|Three Crow men on their horses, [[Edward S. Curtis]], 1908]]
[[File:The Scout in Winter, Crow, 1908, Edward S. Curtis (restored II).jpg|thumb|upright|A scout on a horse, 1908 by Edward S. Curtis]]

The traditional Crow shelter is the [[tipi|tipi or skin lodge]] made with [[American Bison|bison]] hides stretched over wooden poles. The Crow are historically known to construct some of the largest tipis. Tipi poles were harvested from the [[lodgepole pine]] which acquired its name from its use as support for tipis.<ref>[[David J. Wishart|Wishart, David J.]] ''Encyclopedia of the Great Plains Indians''. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. 89.</ref> Inside the tipi, mattresses and buffalo-hide seats were arranged around the edge, with a fireplace in the center. The smoke from the fire escaped through a hole or smoke-flap in the top of the tipi. At least one entrance hole with collapsible flap allowed entry into the tipi. Often hide paintings adorned the outside and inside of tipis with specific meanings attached to the images. Often specific tipi designs were unique to the individual owner, family, or society that resided in the tipi. Tipis are easily raised and collapsed and are lightweight, which is ideal for nomadic people like the Crow who move frequently and quickly. Once collapsed, the tipi poles are used to create a [[travois]]. Travois are a horse-pulled frame structure used by plains Indians to carry and pull belongings as well as small children. Many Crow families still own and use the tipi, especially when traveling. The annual Crow Fair has been described as the largest gathering of tipis in the world.

The most widely used form of transportation used by the Crow was the [[horse]]. Horses were acquired through raiding and trading with other Plains nations. People of the northern plains like the Crow mostly got their horses from people from the southern plains such as the Comanche and Kiowa who originally got their horses from the Spanish and southwestern Indians such as the various Pueblo people. The Crow had large horse herds which were among the largest owned by [[Plains Indian]]s; in 1914 they had approximately thirty to forty thousand head. By 1921 the number of mounts had dwindled to just one thousand. Like other plains people the horse was central to the Crow economy and were a highly valuable trade item and were frequently stolen from other tribes to gain wealth and prestige as a warrior. The horse allowed the Crow to become powerful and skilled mounted warriors, being able to perform daring maneuvers during battle including hanging underneath a galloping horse and shooting arrows by holding onto its mane. They also had many dogs; one source counted five to six hundred. Dogs were used as guards and pack animals to carry belongings and pull travois. The introduction of horses into Crow society allowed them to pull heavier loads faster, greatly reducing the number of dogs used as pack animals.

=== Attire ===
The Crow wore clothing distinguished by gender. Women wore dresses made of [[deer]] and [[Bison|buffalo]] hide, decorated with [[elk]] teeth or shells. They covered their legs with leggings during winter and their feet with [[moccasin]]s. Crow women wore their hair in two braids. Male clothing usually consisted of a shirt, trimmed leggings with a belt, a long [[breechcloth]], and moccasins. Robes made from the furred hide of a bison were often worn in winter. Leggings were either made of animal hide which the Crow made for themselves or made of wool which were highly valued trade items made specifically for Indians in Europe. Their hair was worn long, in some cases reaching the ground.<ref>[http://www.xmission.com/~drudy/mtman/html/catlin/letter8.html Letter No. 8] [[George Catlin]] "...most of them were over six feet high and very many of these have cultivated their natural hair to such an almost incredible length, that it sweeps the ground as they walk; there are frequent instances of this kind among them, and in some cases, a foot or more it will drag on the grass as they walk, giving exceeding grace and beauty their movements. They usually oil their Hair with a profusion of [[Bear's grease|bear grease]] every morning"</ref> The Crow are famous for often wearing their hair in a [[pompadour (hairstyle)|pompadour]] which was often colored with white paint. Crow men were notable for wearing two hair pipes made from beads on both sides of their hair. Men often wore their hair in two braids wrapped in the fur of beavers or otters. Bear grease was used to give shine to hair. Stuffed birds were often worn in the hair of warriors and medicine men. Like other plains Indians the Crow wore feathers from eagles, crows, owls, and other birds in their hair for symbolic reasons. The Crow wore a variety of headdresses including the famous [[war bonnet|eagle feather headdress]], bison scalp headdress with horns and beaded rim, and split horn headdress. The split horn headdress is made from a single bison horn split in half and polished into two nearly identical horns which were attached to a leather cap and decorated with feathers and beadwork. Traditional clothing worn by the Crow is still worn today with varying degrees of regularity.

The Crow are well known for their intercut beadwork. They adorned basically every aspect of their lives with these beads, giving special attention to ceremonial and ornamental items. Their clothing, horses, cradles, ornamental and ceremonial gear, in addition to leather cases of all shapes, sizes and uses were decorated in beadwork.<ref name="To Honor the Crow People">{{cite book|last=Powell|first=P|title=To Honor the Crow People|year=1988|publisher=Foundation for the Preservation of American Indian Art and Culture, Inc.|location=Chicago}}</ref> They gave reverence to the animals they ate by using as much of it as they could. The leather for their clothing, robes and pouches were created from the skin of buffalo, deer and elk. The work was done by the tribeswomen, with some being considered experts and were often sought by the younger, less experienced women for design and symbolic advice.<ref name="Crow Indian Art">{{cite book|last=Lowie|first=R|title=Crow Indian Art|year=1922|publisher=Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History|location=New York}}</ref> The Crow are an innovative people and are credited with developing their own style of stitch-work for adhering beads. This stitch, which is now called the overlay, is still also known as the "Crow Stitch".<ref name="To Honor the Crow People" /> In their beadwork, geometric shapes were primarily used with triangles, diamonds and hour-glass structures being the most prevalent. A wide range of colors were utilized by the Crow, but blues and various shades of pink were the most dominantly used. To intensify or to draw out a certain color or shape, they would surround that figure or color in a white outline.<ref name="To Honor the Crow People" />

The colors chosen were not just merely used to be aesthetically pleasing, but rather had a deeper symbolic meaning. Pinks represented the various shades of the rising sun with yellow being the East the origin of the sun's arrival.<ref name="To Honor the Crow People" /> Blues are symbolic of the sky; red represented the setting sun or the West; green symbolizing mother earth, black the slaying of an enemy<ref name="Crow Indian Art" /> and white representing clouds, rain or sleet.<ref name="To Honor the Crow People" /> Although most colors had a common symbolism, each piece's symbolic significance was fairly subjective to its creator, especially when in reference to the individual shapes. One person's triangle might symbolize a teepee, a spear head to a different individual or a range of mountains to yet another. Regardless of the individual significance of each piece, the Crow People give reverence to the land and sky with the symbolic references found in the various colors and shapes found on their ornamental gear and even clothing.<ref name="To Honor the Crow People" />

Some of the clothing that the Crow decorated with beads included robes, vests, pants, shirts, moccasins and various forms of celebratory and ceremonial gear. In addition to creating a connection with the land, from which they are a part, the various shapes and colors reflected one's standing and achievements. For example, if a warrior were to slay, wound or disarm an enemy, he would return with a blackened face.<ref name="Crow Indian Art" /> The black color would then be incorporated in the clothing of that man, most likely in his war attire. A beaded robe, which was often given to a bride to be, could take over a year to produce and was usually created by the bride's mother-in-law or another female relative-in-law. These robes were often characterized by a series of parallel horizontal lines, usually consisting of light blue. The lines represented the young women's new role as a wife and mother; also the new bride was encouraged to wear the robe at the next ceremonial gathering to symbolize her addition and welcoming to a new family.<ref name="To Honor the Crow People" /> In modern times, the Crow still often decorate their clothing with intricate bead designs for powwow and everyday clothing.

<gallery widths="150px" heights="200px">
File:Holds The Enemy- Crow Indian-E.A Burbank.jpg|Painting of Holds The Enemy, a Crow warrior with split horn headdress and beaded wool leggings by [[Elbridge Ayer Burbank|E. A. Burbank]]
File:Hó-ra-tó-a, a Brave.jpg|Hó-ra-tó-a, a Crow warrior with headdress, bison robe, and hair reaching the ground. Painted by [[George Catlin]], [[Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site|Fort Union]] 1832.
File:Crow moccasins white with beadwork of red flowers.JPG|Crow [[moccasins]]
File:Crow beaded moccasins from around 1940.JPG|Crow [[moccasins]], {{circa|1940}}
</gallery>

===Gender and kinship system===
The Crow had a [[matrilineal]] system. After marriage, the couple was [[matrilocal]] (the husband moved to the wife's mother's house upon marriage). Women hold a significant role within the tribe.

[[Crow kinship]] is a system used to describe and define family members. Identified by [[Lewis Henry Morgan]] in his 1871 work ''Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family'', the Crow system is one of the six major types which he described: [[Eskimo kinship|Eskimo]], [[Hawaiian kinship|Hawaiian]], [[Iroquois kinship|Iroquois]], Crow, [[Omaha kinship|Omaha]], and [[Sudanese kinship|Sudanese]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rácz |first=Péter |last2=Passmore |first2=Sam |last3=Jordan |first3=Fiona M. |date=April 2020 |title=Social Practice and Shared History, Not Social Scale, Structure Cross-Cultural Complexity in Kinship Systems |url=https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7318210/ |journal=Topics in Cognitive Science |volume=12 |issue=2 |pages=744–765 |doi=10.1111/tops.12430 |issn=1756-8765 |pmc=7318210 |pmid=31165555}}</ref>

The Crow historically had a status for male-bodied [[two-spirit]]s, termed ''baté''/''badé'',<ref>[[Robert Lowie|Robert Harry Lowie]], ''Social Life of the Crow Indians'' (1912), page 226</ref> such as [[Osh-Tisch]].<ref name=Roscoe>{{cite book|title=Changing Ones: Third and Fourth Genders in Native North America|author=Will Roscoe|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|year=2000|isbn=978-0-312-22479-0}}</ref><ref>Scott Lauria Morgensen, ''Spaces Between Us: Queer Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Decolonization'' ({{ISBN|1452932727}}, 2011), pages 39-40, quotes Crow historian [[Joe Medicine Crow]] speaking about the treatment of badés and Osh-Tisch by a US government agent.</ref>