Pine Leaf

The Absaroke (Sparrowhawk) Indians, better known by the name 'Crow' given to them by the white man, were in the 1800s a nomadic tribe of fearsome warriors residing in and around the Rocky Mountains. A proud and handsome people, they had a complicated tribal organization in which women played an important and decisive social role. Which was just as well since most of the men had their hands full with hunting and with waging almost continual warfare against the neighboring tribes. Reckless bravery in war was considered the highest honor amongst the Absaroke, but in order to become a Chief it was necessary to meet the following criteria -
1. To be the first to strike down the enemy.
2. To seize the enemy's weapon from him.
3. To either capture the enemy's horse in battle or to steal it from within the heavily guarded enemy camp.
4. To win the battle decisively.

In the democratic Absaroke society, there were several Chiefs and important decisions were made after much mutual discussion.

Around 1810, an Absaroke war party raided the camp of the Gros Ventre Indians and in the ensuing melee abducted a ten year old girl called Shining Sun. Probably she would have been put to death later along with the other prisoners, but the young girl was very sharp and resourceful. She told her captors that she was really an Absaroke herself, but had been kidnapped as an infant by the Gros Ventre and held by them ever since. Impressed by her boldness as well as the fact that she happened to speak their language so exceedingly well, the Absaroke warriors decided that perhaps there was some truth in her story and, far from harming her, they brought her back to their camp to be reared once more amongst 'her own people'. She was adopted by a man who had recently lost his sons in an encounter with the Blackfeet Indians, and given a new name, Pine Leaf.

Pine Leaf, being a hardy, pragmatic person, did not grieve too much about her lost family, but resolutely settled into her new life. From the very start she showed a remarkably independent spirit that yearned for the ways of the warrior rather than the domestic duties of the women. She was not interested in learning how to cook or set up the Tepees or make finely embroidered shirts and dresses from the skins of the Bighorn sheep, the Elk or the Buffalo. No, she would much rather be out hunting these animals and participating in daring raids with the braves. She spoke too of avenging her twin brother who had been killed by the Blackfeet and vowed that she would not marry until she had personally killed at least a 100 of their warriors. The Absaroke were amused by such tough language from this pretty girl and indulged her. Her foster father and his friends began training her in aspects of warfare and soon she was accompanying them on every war party. Young as she was, she was absolutely fearless, always ready to plunge into the thick of the fight, and this soon earned her the respect of even the veterans. By the time she had grown up, she was a superb horsewoman, proficient in both Native weapons and the new-fangled guns that had been obtained from the white man.

One day, when Pine Leaf together with some members of her Tribe happened to be trading at a Fort of the white people, it was attacked by a raiding party of the Blackfeet. The Fort, which contained mostly newly-settled families, was not only ill-equipped to defend itself against such a ferocious enemy, but hardly anyone there had any battle experience. Except Pine Leaf, that is. Actually she had never led a raid yet, but this was her chance and she took it. Organizing as many people as were ready to fight, she counter-attacked the Blackfeet and, amazingly enough, put them to flight. It was a completely astounding victory and made her a name to be reckoned with throughout the West. If not for her all the people in the Fort surely would have died.

As a result of her bravery, the young Absaroke warriors now flocked under her leadership and she led them in many successful raids against the Blackfeet. Pine-Leaf managed to seize so many horses from the enemy in the course of these raids that she soon became the owner of a sizable herd. This was a matter of great prestige within the Tribe and soon the Elders decided that it qualified to make her a Chief. She was given a new name 'Woman Chief' and she became a very powerful member of the Council of Chiefs.

Since the arrival of the White Men in the West in the 1700s, the Absaroke had maintained cordial if haughty relations with them. They considered the Whites inferior and tolerated them only for the trading profits that could be extracted from them. The main trade was in fur and it had brought many legendary figures like Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, John Fremont, Bill Williams and Jim Beckwourth to the West. Most of these hardy mountain men were very curious about Pine Leaf – they had heard such tales of her bravery – and when they met her they didn't know what to make of her. They had never come across such a beautiful, audacious, and proud young lady, and they became quite confused and speechless in her presence. Jim Beckwourth, who came on behalf of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1828 and remained with the Absaroke for the next ten years, fell in love with Pine Leaf and asked her to marry him. It seemed like a perfect match as, like her, he too had been adopted into the Tribe and had earned their respect by his exploits, but for the longest time Pine Leaf was not interested. According to Beckwourth's autobiography, it was only after his safe return from a raid, in which he had gone missing and had been presumed dead, that Pine Leaf changed her mind. The marriage, again according to Beckwourth, lasted only five weeks as after that period he left the Tribe. Another trader, Edwin Denig, who also knew Pine Leaf, however makes no mention of any such marriage in his account. It is possible that it may have been just wishful thinking on part of Beckwourth, a charming but unreliable raconteur.

By the 1850s, the Westward expansion of the United States had become a tangible threat and the Absaroke went on a war path against the Settlers encroaching on their lands. However this was to be one war that Pine Leaf had no chance of winning and eventually, in 1851, she and the other Chiefs were forced to sign a Treaty with U.S. Officials at Fort Laramie, Wyoming. They gave up their lands and agreed to live hereafter in only a certain specified territory. Pine Leaf, her warrior days over, became a peace-maker. In this capacity, in 1858, she decided to bring about a reconciliation with her former Tribe, the Gros Ventre. Nobody thought it was a good idea, certainly neither the Absaroke nor the Gros Ventre. Too much in their violent history as yet remained unavenged and so bygones just couldn't be bygones. Pine Leaf's friends warned her against making the trip, but she paid them no heed. Since when had she been afraid of anything? She laughed at their apprehensions and packed her things and set off. She reached the Gros Ventre Camp and there, as had been feared, she was ambushed and killed.

References -

http://www.beckwourth.org – Accessed on 30 March 2004

http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/naind/html/na_009300_crow.htm – Accessed on 30 March 2004

http://www.meyna.com/pine.html – Accessed on 30 March 2004

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/tribes/crow/crowhist.htm – Accessed on 30 March 2004