Many Native Americans came to the war steeped in age-old warrior traditions. “I was ready to go overseas, and a cousin of mine had just come back from Europe, you know. He was a tail gunner,” remembered Joe Medicine Crow of the Crow Nation. “And before he left, a medicine man, a Sun Dance medicine man called Sacred Powers, gave my cousin an eagle feather, a fluffy feather painted yellow. ‘All right,’ he said, ‘Put that inside of your helmet, then she’ll protect you.’ So long as that, that sacred, protective feather was in my helmet, why, I was never afraid of anything.”

In the spring of 1945, with the Germans still desperately fighting in Europe, Medicine Crow performed the four traditional “war deeds” that are  that are required to become a tribal chief. While serving in the 103rd Infantry Division, he was able to lead a victorious war party, touch an enemy and then disarm him, and steal his enemy’s horses. He is the last Crow Indian to become a chief.

Joseph Medicine Crow (born October 27, 1913) is a Crow historian and author. His writings on Native American history and reservation culture are considered seminal works, but he is probably best known for his writings and lectures concerning the Battle of Little Big Horn. He is the recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Bronze Star, the Chevalier Légion d'honneur, and an enrolled member of the Crow Nation, or Crow Tribe of Native Americans (Indians).

August 12, 2009

A 95-year-old Crow Indian who went into battle wearing war paint under his World War II uniform has been awarded the nation's highest civilian honor.

Wearing a traditional headdress, Joe Medicine Crow on Wednesday received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House. The award was clasped around his neck by President Barack Obama.

"Dr. Medicine Crow's life reflects not only the warrior spirit of the Crow people, but America's highest ideals," Obama said as he introduced him and called him "a good man" in the Crow language.

Medicine Crow broke tradition and briefly spoke after Obama gave him the medal, telling the president he was "highly honored" to receive it.

Early life

Edward S. Curtis portrait of White Man Runs Him, c. 1908

Joe Medicine Crow was born near Lodge Grass on the Crow reservation in Montana. He is a cousin to Pauline Small, the first woman elected to the Crow Tribe of Indians. His step-grandfather, White Man Runs Him, was a scout for George Armstrong Custer and an eyewitness to the battle. He grew up hearing stories of the momentous event. The first member of his tribe to attend college, his graduate studies were interrupted by World War II.

World War II and becoming the last war chief of the Crow Tribe

Joe Medicine Crow joined the army, becoming a scout in the 103rd Infantry Division. Whenever he went into battle, he wore his war paint beneath his uniform and a sacred eagle feather beneath his helmet.  Without realizing it, Medicine Crow completed all four tasks required to become a war chief. He touched a living enemy soldier (1) and disarmed an enemy (2) when he turned a corner and found himself face to face with a young German soldier:

He also led a successful war party (3) and stole an enemy horse  making a midnight raid to steal the horses from a battalion of German officers (as he rode off, he sang a traditional Crow honor song.) He is the last member of the Crow tribe to become a war chief.  Of his story, noted documentarian Ken Burns said, "The story of Joseph Medicine Crow is something I've wanted to tell for 20 years." Mr. Crow was interviewed and appeared in the 2007 Ken Burns PBS series The War, describing his World War II service.

Tribal Spokesman

After serving in the army, he returned to the Crow Agency. In 1948, he was appointed tribal historian and anthropologist. Now well into his 90s, he remains active writing and lecturing. In 1999, he addressed the United Nations. He is a frequent guest speaker at Little Bighorn College and the Little Big Horn Battlefield Museum and has appeared in several documentaries about the battle. A noted author, his books have included 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 authored a children’s book entitled Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird.

Education

He received a bachelor degree from Linfield College in 1938. He attended the University of Southern California, earning a master’s degree in anthropology in 1939. He was the first member of the Crow tribe to obtain a master’s degree. His thesis, The Effects of European Culture Contact upon the Economic, Social, and Religious Life of the Crow Indians, has become one of the most widely cited documents concerning Crow culture. He received an honorary doctorate from Rocky Mountain College in 1999. He received an honorary doctorate at USC in 2003.

Honors

On June 25, 2008, he received two military decorations, the Bronze Star and the Légion d'honneur On July 17, 2008, Senators Max Baucus, Jon Tester, and Mike Enzi introduced a bill to award him the Congressional Gold Medal.

His book Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond, written about hislife, was chosen by the National Council for the Social Studies as a "Notable Tradebook for Young People" in 2007.

Joe Medicine Crow received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the nation's highest civilian honor) from President Barack Obama on August 12, 2009.
                                                                                                            

“

As a member of the Crow tribe, and as a professional researcher, I think I’m doing quite a nice job of telling the Crow Indian story in the proper ways.

”

Bibliography

• The Image Taker: The Selected Stories and Photographs of Edward S. Curtis [Foreword] (World Wisdom, 2009) ISBN 978-1933316703
• The Earth Made New: Plains Indian Stories of Creation [Foreword] (World Wisdom, 2009) ISBN 978-1933316673
• Native Spirit: The Sun Dance Way [Introduction] (World Wisdom, 2007) ISBN 978-1933316277
• 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 978-0792253914
• All Our Relatives: Traditional Native American Thoughts about Nature, [foreword] (World Wisdom, 2005) ISBN 978-0941532778
• From the Heart of the Crow Country: The Crow Indians' Own Stories (Bison Books, 2000) ISBN 978-0803282636
• Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird (Abbeville Press, 1998) ISBN 978-0789201607
• The Last Warrior (Sunset Productions, July 1995) ISBN 978-9995331047
• Keep the Last Bullet For Yourself (The True Story of Custer's Last Stand) [Introduction] (Reference Publications, 1980)
• Memoirs of a White Crow Indian [Introduction] (University of Nebraska Press, 1976) ISBN 978-0803258006
• The Crow Indians: 100 years of acculturation (Wyola Elementary School, 1976)