Last living Plains Indian war chief Joe Medicine Crow dies at 102

Joseph Medicine Crow, the last surviving war chief of Montana's Crow tribe and a historian who kept alive the oral history he heard as a child, died Sunday. He was 102.

"Joe was a Crow war chief, veteran, elder, historian, author, and educator," Montana Gov. Steve Bullock (D) said. "His legacy will forever serve as an inspiration for all Native Americans — and all Montanans." Medicine Crow grew up on the Crow Reservation in a log house near Lodge Grass, Montana, and would listen to stories from those who were at the Battle of Little Bighorn, including his great uncle, White Man Runs Him, a scout for Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. He was raised by his grandfather, Yellowtail, to be a warrior, and at the age of 6 or 7 would run barefoot through the snow to toughen up his feet, The Associated Press reports.

In 1939, he became the first member of the tribe to receive a master's degree, in anthropology. During World War II, he became a war chief after he stole horses from an enemy encampment and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a German soldier; in his 2006 book, Counting Coup, Medicine Crow wrote that "warfare was our highest art, but Plains Indian warfare was not about killing. It was about intelligence, leadership, and honor." As the designated tribal historian, he narrated American Indian exhibits at museums across the U.S., and well into his 90s was still lecturing about major events in Crow history. In 2009, Medicine Crow received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.

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