Leonard Crow Dog
Encyclopedia
Leonard Crow Dog is a Sicangu Lakota medicine man and spiritual leader who became well-known during the takeover of the town of Wounded Knee
on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
in South Dakota
in 1973 known as the Wounded Knee Incident
. Through his writings and teachings he has sought to unify Indian people of all nations. As a practitioner of traditional herbal medicine and a leader of Sun Dance ceremonies, he is also dedicated to keeping Lakota traditions alive.
showed up at Crow Dog's Paradise seeking a spiritual leader for the movement. Crow Dog had already been trying to unite people on the reservation to work together on issues that affect Indians. The American Indian Movement
organized the Trail of Broken Treaties
to Washington, D.C.
to demand presidential attention to Indian issues. They campaigned on behalf of Indian veterans who were not getting the services they needed. Crow Dog led protests in Rapid City
and the town of Custer to demand justice for hate crimes.
Meanwhile the atmosphere on the Pine Ridge reservation, which borders Rosebud, became increasingly tense. Tribal chairman Dick Wilson, who had been fraudulently elected, was terrorizing anyone who opposed him with a squad of thugs called the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs). Residents of Pine Ridge were tired of corruption in tribal government and mistreatment by whites that went unnoticed by the larger society. In 1973 the Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge made a dramatic stand at the village of Wounded Knee to demand justice.
The takeover of Wounded Knee had special meaning for Crow Dog because his great-grandfather, Jerome Crow Dog, had been a ghost dancer. Jerome saved several dancers from the massacre at Wounded Knee after receiving a vision. Arriving at the site in 1973, Leonard Crow Dog said, "Standing on the hill where so many people were buried in a common grave, standing there in that cold darkness under the stars, I felt tears running down my face. I can't describe what I felt. I heard the voices of the long-dead ghost dancers crying out to us"
teams showed up at Crow Dog's Paradise looking for Leonard Peltier
. Crow Dog was first taken to the maximum security unit at Leavenworth, he was placed in solitary confinement for two weeks. However, he was moved from one prison to another many times.
The National Council of Churches
took up Crow Dog's case and raised $150,000 for his appeal. Vine Deloria, Jr. was one of the attorney's involved on his behalf. However, his appeal was denied. When his defense team went before a judge to apply for a sentence reduction, there was a long table stacked with letters and petitions from all over the world in support of Crow Dog. Floored by the outpouring of support, the judge ordered that Crow Dog be immediately released. He had already served nearly two years of his sentence.
; Leonard's father, Henry, introduced peyote to the Lakota Sioux. Crow Dog also details Lakota tribal ceremonies and their meanings, the 1972 march on Washington and the siege of Wounded Knee in 1973.
Wounded Knee, South Dakota
Wounded Knee is a census-designated place in Shannon County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 382 at the 2010 census....
on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is an Oglala Sioux Native American reservation located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. Originally included within the territory of the Great Sioux Reservation, Pine Ridge was established in 1889 in the southwest corner of South Dakota on the Nebraska border...
in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
in 1973 known as the Wounded Knee Incident
Wounded Knee Incident
The Wounded Knee incident began February 27, 1973 when about 200 Oglala Lakota and followers of the American Indian Movement seized and occupied the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation...
. Through his writings and teachings he has sought to unify Indian people of all nations. As a practitioner of traditional herbal medicine and a leader of Sun Dance ceremonies, he is also dedicated to keeping Lakota traditions alive.
Background
Leonard Crow Dog was born in 1945. Crow Dog is a descendant of a staunchly traditional family of medicine men and leaders. The name Crow Dog is a poor translation of Kangi Shunka Manitou (Crow Coyote). His great-grandfather, the first to have the family name, had coyote medicine and wolf power.Education
From the time Leonard Crow Dog was in the womb, his parents knew he would be a medicine man. His father chased off truant officers with a shotgun to keep him out of school, because acculturation into white society would have spoiled his training as a medicine man. He grew up working alongside his father: cutting timber for a living and putting on ceremonies over the weekend. Good Lance, another Crow Dog, began teaching him the ways of a medicine man from an early age. At the age seven Crow Dog was initiated by four medicine men. He did his first hanbleceya (vision quest) at the age of 13.American Indian Movement
In 1970 Dennis BanksDennis Banks
Dennis Banks , a Native American leader, teacher, lecturer, activist and author, is an Anishinaabe born on Leech Lake Indian Reservation in northern Minnesota. Banks is also known as Nowa Cumig...
showed up at Crow Dog's Paradise seeking a spiritual leader for the movement. Crow Dog had already been trying to unite people on the reservation to work together on issues that affect Indians. The American Indian Movement
American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement is a Native American activist organization in the United States, founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota by urban Native Americans. The national AIM agenda focuses on spirituality, leadership, and sovereignty...
organized the Trail of Broken Treaties
Trail of Broken Treaties
The Trail of Broken Treaties was a cross-country protest in the United States by American Indian and First Nations organizations that took place in the autumn of 1972...
to Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
to demand presidential attention to Indian issues. They campaigned on behalf of Indian veterans who were not getting the services they needed. Crow Dog led protests in Rapid City
Rapid City
- United States :* Rapid City, South Dakota* Rapids City, Illinois* Rapid City, Michigan, an unincorporated community of Clearwater Township, Michigan...
and the town of Custer to demand justice for hate crimes.
Meanwhile the atmosphere on the Pine Ridge reservation, which borders Rosebud, became increasingly tense. Tribal chairman Dick Wilson, who had been fraudulently elected, was terrorizing anyone who opposed him with a squad of thugs called the Guardians of the Oglala Nation (GOONs). Residents of Pine Ridge were tired of corruption in tribal government and mistreatment by whites that went unnoticed by the larger society. In 1973 the Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge made a dramatic stand at the village of Wounded Knee to demand justice.
The takeover of Wounded Knee had special meaning for Crow Dog because his great-grandfather, Jerome Crow Dog, had been a ghost dancer. Jerome saved several dancers from the massacre at Wounded Knee after receiving a vision. Arriving at the site in 1973, Leonard Crow Dog said, "Standing on the hill where so many people were buried in a common grave, standing there in that cold darkness under the stars, I felt tears running down my face. I can't describe what I felt. I heard the voices of the long-dead ghost dancers crying out to us"
Incarceration
Shortly after Wounded Knee, the federal government began prosecuting AIM leaders for various charges.One early September morning of 1975, 185 FBI officers, federal marshals, and SWATSWAT
A SWAT team is an elite tactical unit in various national law enforcement departments. They are trained to perform high-risk operations that fall outside of the abilities of regular officers...
teams showed up at Crow Dog's Paradise looking for Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier
Leonard Peltier is a Native American activist and member of the American Indian Movement . In 1977 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder in the shooting of two Federal Bureau of Investigation agents during a 1975 conflict on the Pine...
. Crow Dog was first taken to the maximum security unit at Leavenworth, he was placed in solitary confinement for two weeks. However, he was moved from one prison to another many times.
The National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
took up Crow Dog's case and raised $150,000 for his appeal. Vine Deloria, Jr. was one of the attorney's involved on his behalf. However, his appeal was denied. When his defense team went before a judge to apply for a sentence reduction, there was a long table stacked with letters and petitions from all over the world in support of Crow Dog. Floored by the outpouring of support, the judge ordered that Crow Dog be immediately released. He had already served nearly two years of his sentence.
Personal life
Crow Dog married his first wife, Francine, in the Native American Church and took the name Defends His Medicine in reference to the sacred peyote plant. Shortly after Wounded Knee, Crow Dog began his second marriage. He was married to Mary Ellen Moore, later known as Brave Bird, with a pipe ceremony. They lived at Crow Dog's Paradise with Crow Dog's parents, three children from his previous marriage, and Mary's son, Pedro. Leonard Alden Crow Dog is His son, Artist, Spiritual Leader and Sundance Chief. however Alden is also known as Yellow Coyote.Books
Leonard Crow Dog is the author of Crow Dog: Four Generations of Sioux Medicine Men. The book recounts family history through four generations of the Crow Dog family. The book details ghost dancers, a group who brought a "new way of praying, of relating to the spirits." ; Jerome Crow Dog, Leonard Crow Dog's great-grandfather, who was the first Native American to win a case in the Supreme Court in ex parte Crow DogEx parte Crow Dog
Ex parte Crow Dog, 109 U.S. 556 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that a federal court did not have jurisdiction to try Crow Dog, a Native American who killed another Indian on the reservation when the offense had been tried by the tribal council...
; Leonard's father, Henry, introduced peyote to the Lakota Sioux. Crow Dog also details Lakota tribal ceremonies and their meanings, the 1972 march on Washington and the siege of Wounded Knee in 1973.
Published works
- Crow Dog, Leonard and Richard Erdoes Crow Dog: Four Generations of Sioux Medicine Men. New York: HarperCollins. 1995