Michael Ross - Weasel Tail: Stories Told by Joe Crowshoe Sr. (Aapohsoyyiis), a Peigan-Blackfoot Elder

Back in the museum yesterday. In the basement. The Old Man sat cross legged on the floor and had [them] sit next to him as if they were in a tipi. He painted their faces. They were being recognized and brought back into the fold. He dabbed his palm with five dots of paint from his paint bag. Red ochre spots on an old brown hand (hes 81). He held his hand open to the Old Lady sitting next to him in her wheelchair, then he showed us. One for the sun, for the moon, for the evening star and for the morning star. He put the middle one on last. The middle is for the world, where we are now. Then he rubbed his hands to make his paint palette. His hands became the colour of his cowboy boots.

Mike Ross personal journal entry for 13 January 1990

Weasel Tail

Stories told by Joe Crowshoe Sr. (pohsoyyiis), a Peigan-Blackfoot elder

Michael Ross interviewing Joe Crowshoe Sr.

COPYRIGHT MICHAEL ROSS 2008

All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior consent of the publisher is an infringement of the copyright law. In the case of photocopying or other reprographic copying of the material, a licence must be obtained from Access Copyright before proceeding.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Crowshoe, Joe, 19111999
Weasel tail: stories told by Joe Crowshoe Sr. (pohsoyyiis), a Peigan
Blackfoot elder / Michael Ross.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-897126-28-8

1. Crowshoe, Joe, 19111999--Interviews. 2. Crowshoe, Josephine.
3. Piegan Indians--Alberta--History. 4. Elders (Native peoples)--Alberta-
Interviews. 5. Piegan Indians--Alberta--Interviews. 6. Oral history.
7. Oral biography. I. Ross, Michael, 1950- II. Title.

E 99. P 58 C 76 2008 971.23400497352 C 2007-906745- X

Editors for the Board: Warren Cariou and Sylvia Vance
Text Editor: Carol Berger
Cover and interior design: Natalie Olsen
Author photo: Sylvia Vance
Maps: The Moustache Press, Courtesy Royal Alberta Museum

NeWest Press acknowledges the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Edmonton Arts Council for our publishing program. We also acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program ( BPIDP ).

No bison were harmed in the making of this book.

We are committed to protecting the environment and to the responsible use of natural resources. This book is printed on 100% recycled, ancient forest-friendly paper.

1 2 3 4 5 11 10 09 08
printed and bound in Canada

Five

Many have helped realize the Old Mans book. Certain people and institutions have been particularly helpful, and their energy, expertise, and endurance must be thankfully acknowledged. The Alberta Historical Resources Foundation believed in the importance of this project and provided generous financial grants from first interviews to final editing. They afforded us time to do the work, and Monika McNabb ably administered those grants. Glenbow Museum in Calgary provided in-kind resources, and staff there promptly answered my research questions whenever approached. Lindsay Moir, Gerry Conaty, and Doug Cass helped this researcher even when he could no longer physically access the collections. Jack Brink from Edmontons Royal Alberta Museum breathed new life and personal commitment into the project at a key time. He shared resources and helped secure final pieces necessary to bring the book to fruition. Sylvia Vance respectfully and skillfully edited the material. Sybille Manneschmidt encouraged me in this long undertaking and, along with Reg Crowshoe, reviewed and commented on early drafts and supplied additional information. Brian Noble began the project and he, Reg, and the Old Man entrusted me with it. Regs translation and cultural knowledge was invaluable. Lastly, thank you to Josephine and Joe Crowshoe, who graciously tolerated my questions, and for their trust, hospitality, and example.

It would be hard to overestimate the contribution Joe Crowshoe made to the Head-Smashed-In project. In a very real sense, I am not sure this project would have been possible without his support. He greased so many wheels, spoke to so many people, interviewed so many other elders, logged so many miles on the road, and spoke so forcefully in favour of the project. Early in my archaeological career in southern Alberta, I met with Joe and his incredible wife Josephine. I liked them both immensely. They were at the same time intrinsically good people and also folks who wanted to improve the lot of fellow Blackfoot. We discussed the idea of developing the buffalo jump and how the Blackfoot people might be involved. Joe was immediately supportive and wanted to get to work. I couldnt spend the necessary time in southern Alberta away from my office, so I contracted an anthropologist from the University of Alberta, Rodger McDonnell, to work with Joe in the early days. Together they hit the road, talking to band councils and interviewing elders, all in an effort to do it right.

By the mid-1980s, Joe was already a man of considerable influence and respect. Once he dropped in on a Blackfoot band council meeting wanting to discuss our project. Typically, Joe had made no provision to be on the agenda that day. But quickly and silently people in the room began making sign language regarding Joes desire to speak (sign language is still widely used) and in short order, without a word said, the chair recognized Joe. He rose to speak in favour of the Head-Smashed-In project. Few other individuals, Blackfoot or not, could have commanded this attention.

Joes reputation was a formidable boost to the project. I soon learned that the degree of respect other Aboriginal people gave to an elder was closely related to how much that person knew about the traditional culture of the Blackfoot. It was common knowledge on the various reserves who were the great keepers of historical information. When any of these people were present in a situation where traditional culture was discussed, all the others would inevitably defer to him or her: Let so-and-so tell it, they would say. He [she] knows the real stories. Joes reputation was such that others frequently deferred to him. But the other advantage of having Joe on the project was that he knew practically all the other Blackfoot who were widely regarded as the keepers of the most authentic information. Many were personal friends; those who werent knew and respected Joes reputation. Joe could call up just about anyone and say he wanted to come over and talk about the old days and off he would go.

Although Joes involvement served as a great promotion for the project, this was an ancillary benefit. Promotion wasnt his main intent or interest. Foremost in Joes mind was the need to use this opportunity to gather information about the old days, especially buffalo hunting, from precisely those people who still remembered the most about it. He didnt care who the person was, to which group of Blackfoot they belonged, or where they lived. He wanted the best people who spoke with the greatest authority. The project was an ideal opportunity for Joe: someone else provided the car, paid the gas, bought meals, worked the tape recorder, and provided a small honorarium to each of the speakers. All Joe had to do was talk and ask questions of his esteemed colleagues about subjects that interested him deeply. Many of the people Joe interviewed in the mid-1980s are now dead, as is Joe Crowshoe. But their stories have been preserved as a precious record of traditional Blackfoot culture. Some of them are told inside the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump Interpretive Centre. Also inside the centre is a room used for education, especially visiting school groups. It is named The Joe Crowshoe Lodge, and it could not be named more appropriately. I was honoured to write the text for a small plaque that hangs in the room, recalling the enormous contribution this man made.