Crow Nation

Crow Nation

The Crow, also called the Apsáalooke in their own Siouan language, or Absaroka, are indigenous peoples of the Great Plains, who in historical times lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota, where it joins the Missouri River. Today, they are enrolled in the federally recognized Crow Tribe of Montana.

Pressured by the better armed Ojibwas and Crees, they had migrated there from the Ohio Eastern Woodland area via a southwest move to settle south of Lake Winnipeg, Canada. In turn, they were pushed to the west by the Cheyennes. Both the Crow and the Cheyennes were then pushed further west by the Lakota (Sioux), who took over the territory from the Black Hills of South Dakota to the Big Horn Mountains of Montana.

Since the 19th century, Crow people have been concentrated on a reservation established south of Billings, Montana. They also live in several major, mainly western, cities. Tribal headquarters are located at Crow Agency, Montana.