Tag Archives: Crow Nation

Crow Elders Watching

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This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

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During the dance competition at the Crow Fair many types of dances were performed. There were categories for all ages. Men and women’s dances, young people, elders. There were dances performed by visiting tribes, everywhere you looked there were people dancing.

The categories included different types of dances such as Northern Traditional, Southern traditional, Chicken dance, Grass dance, and Fancy dances for the men. Northern and Southern Traditional, Jingle and Fancy Shawl dances for the women, There was something for everyone.

When the dances were being performed it was serious business, it wasn’t just spectacle although there was plenty of that, this was their history and heritage being performed, a way in which their culture was being passed on from the elders to the younger people down through the ages. Who they were as a people was imbedded in the dance and its traditions and this was their heart and soul. This is what made them who they are.

The youngest learning by watching and performing, learned the steps, and as they did the meaning held within the dance itself was absorbed, and as they grew the culture of the Crow people became ingrained within them. They were absorbing and gathering everything they needed to know to become the future of the tribe.

Through it all the elders would watch. It was a competition but it was more than that. It was proof that the Crow traditions and heritage would move forward  and as long as dances were held and people sang and came together the tribe would always be who they were. The Crow Nation, proud and fiercely independent.

Crow Lodge Morning

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This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

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Last August I had the pleasure of attending the largest gathering of tipi’s in North America, a yearly event sponsored by the Crow Nation, with over a thousand lodges set up along the Little Bighorn River just a long rifle shot from the Little Bighorn Battleground. I woke early one morning wanting to see the Crow camp in the early morning light. Slightly after dawn I set out to roam quietly through the camp, the sun was just beginning to rise sending its streaming light into every corner of the encampment.

It was still quiet, the people just beginning to stir. Horses tied to posts near the tipis whickered softly to those in nearby makeshift corrals. The ravens, those earliest of risers called back and forth, asking each other raven questions in their own raspy tongue. Far off in the distance people were splashing in the river, their shouts of delight echoing among the trees. Morning is a special time. A time for quiet observing, a time for listening to all the sounds that get buried in the days activities but are so prominent in the early hours. It’s normally chilly but not cold, a jacket wasn’t needed but still cold enough to send a shiver through you as you entered a shaded spot. The sun was rapidly rising and it soon took the chill off.

There was a smell of wood smoke here and there as the people slowly went about their morning routines. A good smell, one that made your mouth water even though the cooking hadn’t started in earnest yet. I was fortunate and met some people who, although members of the tribe, lived in a suburb of Denver. We talked, exchanging thoughts on things like what it was to be a Native American and yet live in an urban environment and how much it meant to them to be able to reconnect with their heritage. I must have looked hungry as they invited me to breakfast, introducing me to their extended family. At first I didn’t even notice how at home I felt with them, it was just “pass the sausage please” and “damn that tastes good” and the realization came later as I began to process the experience.

After breakfast and yet more talk I left to continue my wanderings along the winding convoluted roads that sprang up as the different lodges were set up. At first it looked like a totally haphazard system until you looked closer and saw that the placement of the lodges was designed around family groups being together and not for the ease of driving a vehicle through them. I saw that you had to get your head in a different place to make sense of the surroundings but once you did it made sense, just not the kind we may be used to.

When I look at the image above it brings back that morning with a vivid clarity that deeply satisfies me and it makes me want to be there again. So next August that’s where I’ll be if they’ll have me. I want to hear and see and listen to that incredible experience again. And maybe even take some more pictures.

Note: If you’re interested in seeing more about this event check out the original series of posts about it beginning with http://www.bigshotsnow.com/2014/08/21/  and ending with  http://www.bigshotsnow.com/2014/08/27/.

Crow Camp Montana Territory

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A gathering of the Crow nation was held this past summer where over a thousand lodges were set up along the Little Bighorn river. There was one camp set up somewhat away from the main camp, out a ways from the river, nearly a half mile or so on the tall grass prairie, that reached out and stopped me in my tracks. I photographed it from every angle and viewpoint I could think of and the more I worked with it the more I felt drawn into the history of this event and its surroundings and the easier it was to see this as a representation of how things must have looked in 1876.

The sound of the cars and trucks going past on the highway below receded and the trappings of modern society seemed to fall away and all that was left was this image in my viewfinder, the passage of time and my connection with it all. It felt like I could have taken the next step and been back there crouched in that tall grass for whatever experience would have happened next. It was an extraordinary feeling that even though the day was in the mid 90’s raised goose bumps on my arms.

Because this view looked like it was straight out of that time period I felt that the shot I took right out of the camera wouldn’t do it justice if it was presented as a straight digital recording of the details as they looked at that moment. The day was hot and there was an occasional breeze that rippled across the tops of the long grass and washing over me brought a strong earthy smell of dry dusty grass, along with the clean scent of the open prairie. I could hear the distant shouts of people coming from the main encampment down on the river, and closer, the high-pitched whinny of a horse tied to the frame in front of a lodge. This was as close as I could get to that past moment in time when this was their reality.

Processing this image was a mixture of frustrating, exasperating hours as I added this and subtracted that to get the feeling that I had when I was there kneeling in the grass, watching, shooting, trying to take it all in. There are numerous layering’s of filters and tints and fading’s and general manipulations to obtain the feeling that is closely akin to what I experienced while taking this image. All the primary details are there, none of the main elements were added or subtracted, it has just been enhanced in the hope that by adding texture and the other effects I could recreate a feeling rather than show crisp modern detail. It isn’t exact but it does take me back to that afternoon at the Crow Camp, Montana Territory.

The image should actually have an additional line added to the title which would read ‘Circa 2014’. But as I have some doubts as to what the year actually was at the time I did this project I left it off. For me it could have easily been 1876 as 2014.

A Night in Cape Disappointment

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As usual every Friday we try and present you with some weekend options. Sometimes it’s a fun suggestion like “OK, let’s go to Mars and stay in a Wickiup.” Other times it may be a more cautionary suggestion as in ” Listen, Really, Don’t eat that worm in the bottom of that bottle.” Or simply something along the lines of “Hey Bozo, Get off that couch and go do something. Whataya doing hanging around the house..” but we always try and help you get through the weekend..

Today we’d like to offer you the option of taking a nice quiet couple of days to yourself or with any one you may choose to share it with, so fire up the Gulfstream G600 and head for the Washington Coast. When you get there head for Cape Disappointment State park ( note: Call ahead to see if their jet pads are available. They fill up fast on the weekends.) and get ready for one of the most relaxing times you can have. Only a small dune separates you from one of the largest oceans on earth but don’t worry, you’ll have plenty of space to call your own while you’re there.

If your concierge is worth his salt he’ll have your Lamborghini Urus SUV waiting at your campsite for a little moonlight off-roading. Imagine the relaxation you and that special person will feel as you move down the shore line at a stately 170 mph., racing along the edge of the sea with your moon roof open, chasing the glint of the last rays of the sunset as it sparkles and highlights the outlines of the incoming waves. You could be scattering the seabirds with the wild abandon you haven’t felt since you last schussed down the east side of Everest.

While you were out chasing the stars your porters, another service provided by your campsite hosts, have been erecting your luxury, Ralph Loren outfitted Teepee, imported directly from the Crow Nation in Montana. Rest those weary bones after a scrumptious meal of the finest fresh caught sea food money can buy. Then recline on your double-king size bed complete with freshly tanned Elk skin throws while you watch the game on your 105″ thin-screen TV.

But before you turn in, make sure you head for the beach to gaze upon a very, very special treat. Your campsite hosts have fired up their art deco completely retro-fitted lighthouse with the magic spinning glass beacon, which casts its beams of boat-saving light out across your very own ocean, just as in the days of yore. All of this just for your viewing pleasure. What could be more romantic than that?

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Well there you have it. It’s all there, waiting for you right now, all you have to do is throw a few things in the bag and hit the steps. Don’t be a couch lizard this weekend when you can go out, have some fun, spend that IRA that has just sitting there waiting for some attention, and have a nice little weekend. What are you waiting for?

Announcement !

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This post has been moved to OpenChutes.com. All future postings of Powwows, Indian Relay Races, Rodeos and Rendezvous will be posted there from now on exclusively. So if you’re looking for new images and posts for all those events attended this year, plus all the old posts posted on BigShotsNow.com check out OpenChutes.com. See you there!

We’ve had Dozens upon dozens of people writing in asking, well one anyway, but she wrote in big block letters so it seemed like more, where the blog was. What the hell were  we doing? Why haven’t we written, why haven’t we called. It seems that there are some of you out there that actually read the blog and notice when we’re not there. That is daunting and a little scary. Sometimes when I’m sitting up here in the Directors chair, high in the tower overlooking the Institute grounds, not aloof and distant but pampered a little, writing and sending it out into the ozone I forget that there may be actual people out there that read this stuff. Don’t you guys have to go to work? Anyway, Thank You for spending your valuable time with me.

Last Friday as I was working on future posts a small announcement made its way across my computer screen notifying us that The Crow Nation was having the largest gathering of teepees or lodges in the world. The announcement stated that there were to be somewhere between 1000 and 1500 hundred teepees ( that is not a typo) set up along the Little Bighorn river for an Indian Fair and Rodeo at Crow Agency, Montana. The Indians I spoke to thought there were over 1000 but not the 1500 lodges they anticipated being there. Still when was the last time you’ve seen 1000 teepees set up together in one place?

So using the same strategy we always use here at The Institute in planning our expeditions, where we spend an incredible amount of time in researching our destination, gathering the necessary information about logistics, conditions, possibilities, supplies, equipment, staff needed, risks, potentialities, and expected results, I grabbed a few skivvies and my camera gear and threw them in the Bokeh Maru. Twenty minutes after seeing the notice the 2014 Expedition to the Crow Nation was underway.

No extra staff, just me, the Bokeh Maru and the Crow Nation. Eight hours later I was up there, standing on a ridge above the camp staring at the thousand plus teepees stretching out along the Little Bighorn river. I must admit I had a momentary inkling of the feeling that the members of the 7th must have had June 25, 1876. That is a lot of Indians in one place. Fortunately you should not have any apprehension at all. You cannot understand what wonderful, gracious, friendly people the Crow tribe are until you go there and meet them. It was an incredibly interesting and rewarding weekend. I will relate more to you over the next few days and show some of the images from this amazing event.

It is becoming a pattern that up in that part of the country the services that we take for granted down here, and I’m talking internet access mostly, are not as well established as we have in the more crowded part of the country. Consequently finding access is more difficult and I’m always quick to say the hell with it and take in the experience instead, and posting later. Look as you may it’s hard to find an electrical outlet on a horse, and believe me I’ve tried. Then I realized that my new Crow friends were just having a little joke at my expense telling me they had their horses outfitted with AC receptacles, the better to stay connected. The Crow seem to love to laugh. Fortunately I was able to provide them with endless amusement.

So that’s where we’ve been and I intend on going back there next year and maybe setting up a remote site of The Institute, fully staffed, with satellite feed and regular coverage by our trained reporters, having our chef cook regular food, not that corn dogs and frybread aren’t good but they leave a little bit to be desired as a regular diet, and also dancing classes so we might participate more fully. It should be a blast. In fact I might even ask for volunteers to go along and assist us. Anyone thinking about this might look at the postings of The Maiden Voyage of the Bokeh Maru we published not long ago, to get a feel for what the trip might actually be like. Give it some thought anyway.