Little Big Horn College to hold symposium highlighting Battle of the Little Bighorn

Little Big Horn College, the tribally chartered two-year college on the Crow (Apsáalooke) reservation, is holding a free symposium titled "The Crows and the Little Bighorn: 150 Years Later."

The event is going from April 9 – 11 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the first two days and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the last day. It will be held in the Health and Wellness Center in Crow Agency across the street from the main college campus on the first two days. On the last day, it'll include visits to sites associated with the Crow scouts prior to and during the battle.

The first two days of the symposium will consist of presentations that look at Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne expansion into Crow Country, why Crows scouted and fought for the United States Army, the Battle of the Rosebud the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the aftermath of that battle.

There will also be a discussion of the long-term consequences of the battle on Crows, particularly the notion that they were “race traitors” due to their work as scouts for the US Army. Beyond these scholarly presentations, descendants of the six Crows scouts and translator Mitch Bouyer will share their knowledge in a panel on their scout ancestors participation in those fateful days along with information about their later lives. This blend of scholarly interpretations and community centered remembrances will provide a nuanced portrait of the events on the Northern Plains in 1876.

The third day of the symposium will consist of visiting sites associated with the battle, particularly the locations of actions of the Crow scouts, to provide greater context to the events prior to and during the conflict. The day will begin near the Crow’s Nest in the Wolf Mountains, where several scouts first spotted the Sioux and Cheyenne village, then will continue to visit various locations related to the battle and the later lives of the Crow scouts.

The tour will conclude where the most famous of the scouts, Curley, later called “the sole survivor”, saw the last of the fighting. Because of space limitations, this bus tour will be limited to 36 participants with Crow tribal members given preference. Registration for this tour will be onsite on the first day of the symposium and the bus tour itself will begin at 8 a.m. and conclude at 5 p.m. on the third day.

The symposium has been funded with support from the Foundation for Community Vitality, the Montana Historical Society and its Montana 250 program, the Friends of the Little Big Horn Battlefield, the Little Bighorn National Monument/National Park Service, the American Indian College Fund and the Foundation for Montana History.

For further information and to register, go to the symposium website https://crowlittlebighorn150.com. Registration is preferred but not required. There is no charge to attend the symposium and food will be provided. You can also watch the symposium online on Facebook at facebook.com/LBHCLibraryArchives/ and on Zoom.

For more information or to get the Zoom link, contact the library and symposium director Tim Bernardis at tim@lbhc.edu or call 406-638-3113.