Post by Diane Merkel on Nov 5, 2006 10:35:30 GMT -6
"Counting Coup: Becoming a Crow Chief on the Reservation and Beyond" by Joseph Medicine Crow (National Geographic, 128 pp., $15.95, ages 9-up) is the fascinating memoir of a Crow elder, once known as Winter Man and later hailed as High Bird. Writing in a warm, conversational style, Medicine Crow shares his memories of growing up as both a Baptist and a believer in the traditional Crow religion.
As a young boy, Medicine Crow felt very much at home in his Crow culture (he actually heard firsthand accounts of the Battle of Little Big Horn). Eventually, his family sent him to school, only to be disappointed by his lack of progress under an overly strict teacher. In a second school — one that catered to white children — he dealt with racist peers.
In time, he willingly left the reservation to finish his education in an Indian boarding school in Oklahoma. Some years later, he received a degree from Linfield College. He also served in World War II, inadvertently managing to perform the four war deeds necessary to become a Crow chief. It would be an understatement to say the tribe had plenty to celebrate when he finally returned home.
Other NA books for young readers: seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/artsentertainment/2003343433_youngreaders04.html