The Crow, or Apsaaloke Nation, is perhaps the most horse-oriented tribe of the Plains. These people have always prided themselves on their beautiful and hardy horses which thrive on the rich grasslands of their reservation. Called “The Teepee Capital of the World,” Crow Fair draws thousands of Indians from across North America each August, who pitch their tents and about 1,500 teepees to socialize, parade, dance, and compete.
A Unique Opportunity to See Authentic Indian Costumes and Dances
The celebration gets started on a Thursday evening, with a Grand Entry of Indians in beautiful costumes and feathered headdresses, followed by dance competitions accompanied by live Indian music. Every other evening also features a Grand Entry, music, dance, and other special events. On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, the Crow Parade passes through the camp, with horseback riders wearing their most elaborate authentic costumes while riding beautiful horses adorned by hand-tooled leather and intricately beaded tack. The women wear brightly colored blouses decorated by rows of ivory colored elk teeth as they parade by on traditional Indian saddles. In a nod to the modern world, decorated cars and pickup trucks also join in the parade.
If you stroll through the camp during the day, you’ll see Indian children riding bareback on visits to friends and relatives, often on mares with skittish foals at their sides. Families gather together at picnic tables in their camps to chat and eat and get caught up on the events of the past year.
The Exciting Indian Rodeo also Features Horse Races with Para-mutual Betting
Afternoon is the time to wander over to the stadium, where a INFR (Indian National Finals Rodeo) sanctioned all-Indian rodeo features calf roping, bronc riding, and that most dangerous and exciting rodeo sport, bull riding. Scattered among the rodeo events are races with para-mutual betting. A particularly exciting feature of Crow Fair is the Indian Relay. Each relay team has a rider, three helpers, and three horses. The riders race one lap pell-mell around the track bareback, then leap off the first horse and jump onboard a second mount, tear around the track again, and take one more lap on the third horse. The Indian Relay is an intense free-for-all, with excited competetitors trying to calm rearing horses so the riders can get onboard, often losing precious seconds during the changeover.
Learn About Important American History at the Nearby Little Bighorn Battlefield
Crow Fair climaxes on Monday morning with the “Dance-Through-Camp” which provides a fitting end to the celebration, but you can stay however long you wish. After you leave, you might want to visit the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument only a few minutes away, where General George Custer and his men lost their lives after attacking an encampment of Northern Cheyenne and Lakota Sioux Indians in 1876. Whites and Indians alike died on that day, a sobering contrast to the peaceful mixed gathering of peoples at Crow Fair today.
Dorothy Patent - Dorothy H Patent has been writing nonfiction books for children for many years, as well as coauthoring adult nonfiction and writing for a ...
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