Topic: the Crow Man Traditional Skills Protector/Provider

Name: Patrick Hill

Tribal Affiliation: Crow

Interview No.: CR004PH030204

Topic: The Crow Man – Traditional Skills – Protector/Provider

Language: English

Time Code In: 00:03:38:13

Time Code Out: 00:06:11:17

Tape 1 of 1 - Original

Q: “Pat, our question number one is what dangers did a Crow man face as a protector of his family and his village?”

A: “The dangers that he would face would be that the attack of his enemies onto his village and the protection of his family, not just that the protection of his people. Those day to day efforts, being aware of your surroundings, of your territory, of your terrain and an understanding of the best places to camp, understanding of the best places to fortify yourself against the attack of an enemy. Just a continual awareness of his surroundings.”

Q: “Did the Crow have preventive measures for protection, such as scouts or sentinels? Please elaborate.”

A: “There would be those individuals that would be on a wider perimeter than the village. There would be those continually reconnaissance or bivouac, individuals going outside of camp to a distance of about three to five miles just to be aware of game or be aware of different signs of enemies coming within the territory. These were either war parties or horse capturing parties. There was also, as the camp would be moving, there was also to prepare the camp for movement along with the women and with those young men or those groups designated to move the camp to a different site. They would also be on a perimeters on the edges of the camp as it would move from one site to another. They would scout an area previous to the arrival and would also have those would remain behind for an insignificant amount of time just to be aware as to the possibility of an enemy coming.”

Q: “What was it like at night time?”

A: “At night time they also had sentries out on the outskirts. They would give signals as to either bird calls or animals calls to signify that an enemy was within the vicinity and to become alarmed or to prepare themselves for whatever would happen.”