Crow Reservation

The Crow Reservation covers about 3,600 square miles of rolling grassland, river breaks and mountains in south-central Montana, the largest of the state's seven reservations. It is the homeland of the Apsáalooke, 'children of the large-beaked bird,' a name settlers misread as 'Crow.' The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 set aside about 8 million acres, later reduced by cessions in 1882, 1892 and 1906. The tribal headquarters is at Crow Agency, and the Crow language is still widely spoken.

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument lies within the reservation, where Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho warriors defeated Custer's 7th Cavalry in June 1876, a battle in which Crow scouts served with the Army against their longtime rivals. Under a 2001 constitution the tribe has three branches of government. It owns large coal reserves, long a key source of revenue. Each August, Crow Fair turns the Little Bighorn valley into what organizers call the Teepee Capital of the World, one of the largest Native gatherings in North America.

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