Crow people

Crow Tribe of Montana

Apsáalooke
Pauline Small on horseback. She carries the flag of the Crow Tribe of Montana. As a tribal official, she is entitled to carry the flag during the Crow Fair parade.
Total population
12,000 enrolled members
Regions with significant populations
United States (Montana)
Languages
Crow, English, Plains Sign Talk
Religion
Christianity, Crow Way, Tobacco Society
Related ethnic groups
Hidatsa

The Crow, whose autonym is Apsáalooke ([ə̀ˈpsáːɾòːɡè]), also spelled Absaroka, are Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a federally recognized tribe, the Crow Tribe of Montana,^[1] with an Indian reservation, the Crow Indian Reservation, located in the south-central part of the state.^[1]

Crow Indians are a Plains tribe, who speak the Crow language, part of the Missouri River Valley branch of Siouan languages. Of the 14,000 enrolled tribal members, an estimated 3,000 spoke the Crow language in 2007.^[2]

During the expansion into the West, the Crow people were allied with the United States against its neighbors and rivals, the Sioux and Cheyenne. In historical times, the Crow lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota, where it joins the Missouri River.

Since the 19th century, Crow people have been concentrated on their reservation established south of Billings, Montana. Today, they also live in several major, mainly western, cities. Tribal headquarters are located at Crow Agency, Montana.^[3] The tribe operates the Little Big Horn College.^[2]