Creating and Perpetuating Crow Oral History in the Classroom and Beyond

FAIN: AD-253433-17

Little Big Horn College (Crow Agency, MT 59022-7000)
Jon Ille (Project Director: June 2016 to present)
Tim Bernardis (Co Project Director: March 2021 to present)

A three-year project to collect oral histories of the post-World War II generation of  Crow tribe members, to develop humanities course modules based on the interviews, and to train students in oral history methods.

Little Big Horn College (LBHC) proposes a three year Humanities Initiative to enhance the oral histories held in the LBHC Archives which will strengthen Crow perspectives in humanities courses at the college. The LBHC Archives currently holds a large number of pre and early reservation oral histories. The period after World War II lacks the same breadth. As a result, a great deal of material that could assist in a comprehensive Crow centered humanities curriculum is not readily available. Humanities faculty will conduct oral history interviews, integrate the content into the classroom via course modules, and present the oral histories to the Crow community through the Cultural Enrichment Speaker Series. The oral history audio and video files and transcripts will reside at the LBHC Library/Archives for faculty, students and community members to utilize after the completion of the Humanities Initiative as well as being available on the Internet.

Associated Products

The Yellowtail Dam Struggle and the Following Court Case Over Control of the Big Horn River (Web Resource)
Title: The Yellowtail Dam Struggle and the Following Court Case Over Control of the Big Horn River
Author: Russell, Angela
Author: Real Bird, Kennard
Abstract: The Yellowtail Dam Struggle and the Following Court Case Over Control of the Big Horn River -- Yellowtail Dam- Raphaelle interviewed four people regarding the development of Yellowtail Dam in the 1950s. All four felt that the deal reached with government was unacceptable and stole money and control of the reservation’s water from the Crow people. There is no River Crow perspective given in the interviews. That said, many discussed the factionalism of the period and that it had ramifications politically to this day on the reservation by normalizing this behavior. Big Horn River Case- These interviews were with individuals who worked in some capacity in the federal case that took control of the Big Horn River away from the Crows at its conclusion in the US Supreme Court. Some participated in protests, while others worked on legal briefings during the case. All interviewees discussed the effects of the case on the Crow people at the conclusion of each interview, which they obviously thought was not very positive.
Year: 2019
Primary URL: http:// Coming
Primary URL Description: Coming

Indian Relocation a Federal Termination Policy 1950-1975 & Crow Indian Relocation Experiences (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Indian Relocation a Federal Termination Policy 1950-1975 & Crow Indian Relocation Experiences
Abstract: After the era of the Indian New Deal with the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Indian country and the nation moved into the Termination and Relocation era after World War II, a time when federal policy attempted to remove Indians from their homelands and forcibly assimilate them by moving them to cities. Many Crows were moved to urban centers from Cleveland to California. There were some good and more bad experiences, but most Crows demonstrated their cultural independence and their own group values of family and tribe by returning home to Crow Country.
Author: Dr. Janine Pease
Date: 10/19/2017
Location: Little Big Horn College, Crow Agency, Montana
Primary URL: http://http://lbhc-mukurtu.reclaim.hosting/digital-heritage/indian-relocation-federal-termination-policy-1950-1975-crow-indian-relocation
Primary URL Description: A Little Big Horn College presentation on Relocation given to the Cultural Enrichment class and the public in October 2017 directly based on the interviews of Dr. Pease with Crows who had been part of the relocation experience which followed World War II.

War on Poverty Module -- Includes Humanities 101 Sylllabus (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: War on Poverty Module -- Includes Humanities 101 Sylllabus
Author: Janine Pease
Abstract: [Note: Product Itself can be found under Supplementary Materials] Crow Experience of the War on Poverty, 1960’s Module: 1. Overview of Oral History – A Definition. 2. A PowerPoint on Crow People Experience and the War on Poverty, 1960’s beginning with a review of oral history. Followed by a description of the issues leading up to the War on Poverty, elements of legislation that addressed economic development, education, community action, Head Start, and utilizing quotes from the oral history interviews. 3. A handout of major themes discussed in the oral history interviews. Class discussion from a list of issues or themes (Indian control of education, community directed programs, Office of Economic Opportunity versus the Bureau of Indians Affairs) presented in the interviews. 4. Annotated Bibliography on the Crow Experience of The War On Poverty. 5. Excerpts from the oral history interview for discussion on Crow Experience of the War on Poverty, 1960’s (Dan Old Elk, Henry “Sarge” Old Horn). 6. Key terms and quiz on major themes from the oral history interviews - Crow Experience of the War on Poverty, 1960’s.
Year: 2021
Audience: Undergraduate

War on Poverty PowerPoint (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: War on Poverty PowerPoint
Author: Dr. Janine Pease
Abstract: [PowerPoint itself can be found in Supplementary Materials section] Takes student/viewer through the War on Poverty period in the 1960s and 70s on the Crow reservation including programs such as Head Start, job training and economic development.
Year: 2021
Audience: Undergraduate

1960s War on Poverty in Crow Country - Cultural Enrichment Course Presentation (Course or Curricular Material)
Title: 1960s War on Poverty in Crow Country - Cultural Enrichment Course Presentation
Author: Dr. Janine Pease
Abstract: Recording of Dr. Janine Pease presenting on one of her Crow Oral History Post WWII Interview Topics for the Cultural Enrichment Course, a Crow Studies course whose lectures are also open to the public. Describes the War on Poverty era on the Crow reservation in the 1960s and 70s with its attendant government programs in such areas as education and economic development and the impact on the Crow people.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://lbhc-mukurtu.org/node/5432
Audience: Undergraduate

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