My life with the Crow Indians

1. My life with the Crow Indians Mr. Barber’s 5th grade By: Ben Weeks

2. My tribe & region My name is (Bilagaan). I am part of the Crow Indian tribe. My family and I live in the Montana region. This is my story …

3. Journal Entry #1: (season) • A day in the life of my tribe … • Housing • Hi! I just finished rebuilding the house with my mom. My tribe moves around the Montana region every once in a while, our houses are not like the brick houses you live in. Like most Indians we live in tipis, tipis are cone-shaped houses, like a tent. I like how it is cozy inside during the evenings.

4. Journal Entry #1: (season) • A day in the life of my tribe … • Clothing, we do not wear the normal shirt pants and sneakers like you do, our cloths are mainly made from leather and animal skin, decorated with artwork and beadwork. My mom is one of the women, so she wears long dresses made of deerskin, men wear skirts too, they are made of breechcloth, it may sound very crazy of young boys wearing skirts and leather leggings. But that is simply our tradition, and I like to go along with things.

5. Journal Entry #1: (season) • A day in the life of my tribe … • Food, I like fishing with my father the most when it comes to collecting up food, I don’t go hunting much, I just like to go fishing more, but still I am usually excited to see what the other men who were hunting come back with. On kind of rare occasions they would come back with fresh meat from wild buffalo! We are mostly hunters and fishers, but the women, like my mom grow crops and are in charge of cooking the food.

6. Journal Entry #1:(season) • A day in the life of my tribe … • Tribe’s characteristics, our own tribe name, Crow Indians was a mistranslation of our own name. We are mostly Americans, so we follow most of the normal USA laws. So we speak English, but I like to speak my normal language, our native crow language. My own name, Bilagaan, means White person, because I am one.

7. Journal Entry #2: (season) • Geography of my tribal region • Earth’s surface (physical features) • The main reservation my tribe settles is what is now Billings, Montana, the location of our tribe is near pretty rocky mountains, they help shelter us from strong winds when bad weather comes. We also live near the Yellowstone river, in a place that is now Yellowstone state park. If you were to try to land a helicopter around here, we would not like it, we want a live without random strangers intruding on us, and with all rocky mountains finding a good landing would be pretty hard to do.

8. Journal Entry #3: ____ (season) • Weather • Weather description (in general) • Brrrr! One thing I have to say, in Montana, it gets pretty cold in the winter time, I get nervous when spring comes around, Why? Because here spring brings the most unpredictable weather. So when we least expected it, we would have a big rain or thunder storm. It is the mountains that shields us from those cold winds.

9. Journal Entry #1: ____ (season) • Weather • Weather’s impact on daily life • When very severe weather comes around, the tribe can get hungry, and yes sometimes my least favorite thing can happen, death, caused by starvation, bad injury and extreme thirst. Also the weather can scare animals away, making hunting and fishing very difficult. Also the crops are either destroyed by massive winds, or simply die altogether, shelters can get destroyed. Usually our best solution is to gather up our items and find a new home.

10. Journal Entry #1: ____ (season) • Severe weather example (tornado, earthquake, etc.) • Description • In the cold weather of Montana, our tribe can suffer the frigid weather of Blizzards, and sometimes freeze to death. My most feared are avalanches, especially this close to tall mountains. And avalanches are very fatal too. When avalanches come many people of our tribe will die from being buried in snow and rocks, or being shoved down the side of the mountain, plummeting to their inevitable coming death. Blizzards are not so fatal, but still with its frigid weather, can still kill people.

11. Journal Entry #3: ____ (season) • Severe weather example (tornado, earthquake, etc.) • Causes this specific severe weather Members of tribe die Vibration Avalache Lives put to risk Massive winds Parts of tribe destroyed Lots of snow

12. Sources • www.Bigorrin.org/crow_kids.htm

13. Native American Tribal Reflection Ben Weeks

14. Well good night, it is now night time and also time to put an end to this story. Just like colonial children we had more chores and less time to play and relax, but when we did have time to relax we played with toys like dolls, marbles and other old fashioned things to do in our down time. Just like you would, we would go to bed and be ready for the next day. And that would include games,hunting and fishing, along with all sorts of other things to do. Thank you for reading my story. Reflection

15. Within the next few years, we would be prepared for the severe weather waiting for us. Just like usual we would not stay in one reservation for the rest of our lives, we would move when conditions are too harsh for survival. When we move we should have a good enough food supply to keep us away from starvation and thirst. How many times have we moved, well I have lost count of how many times we cannot survive in the land anymore. Reflection

16. Reflection My mom told me in the past we did not have all the such vital medicines like we do now, and some children would not even make it to their teenage years. It sounded awful, because when something like the flu or measles come, we would have no cure or medicine and such minor sicknesses like a small fever were unbelievably fatal and life-threatening back then. I am glad I live in modern years.

17. Reflection (asyourself): The project went ok. I enjoyed barely anything. I did not like almost everything. I think I did fair. I would give my a B-.