Language Information

Crow is a Siouan language, once spoken over a large area of Montana and Wyoming, between the Yellowstone and Platte rivers. Today almost all the Crow Indians, numbering about 4,000, live on the Crow Indian Reservation, near the town of Hardin, Montana.

Family: North American Indian
Subgroup: Siouan

Writing Sample

Translation

On the first day of the sun dance as the sun breaks over the horizon, the sponsor enters the lodge and begins his fast which is in appreciation of past favors by the Great Spirit. Inside the lodge are a buffalo head and eagle feathers which are symbols of all the animals and birds that live on the great plains and in the Rocky Mountains. The sponsor is barefooted and is uncovered above the waist. His face is painted with white, red, or yellow clay. The color of the paint, the application, and the symbols are handed down from generation to generation by each clan.