CHIEF PLENTY COUPS

Bronze, 23″H x 9 3/8″L x 9″D, Limited Ed. of 35 – Created 2013

Chief Plenty Coups was the last traditional Chief of the Crow Nation. He was known as a visionary, and with remorse and heartache, he led his people from the era of the Buffalo peacefully into the 20th century. Chief Plenty Coups told author Frank Linderman, “…when the buffalo went away, the hearts of my people fell to the ground, and they could not lift them up again. After this, nothing happened. There was little singing anywhere.”

On a vision quest as a boy, it was revealed to him that he had to make peace with the white man and the white man’s ways. It was also revealed to him a place to which he would eventually lead his people, the Pryor Valley south of Billings, MT. He dedicated his life to keeping his people equal to whites in religion, agriculture, service in the American military, and education.

The United States government grew to respect Chief Plenty Coups as a great chief and honored and awarded him his own flag, which he used for many years at the various ceremonies he attended. In 1921, he offered his war bonnet and coups sticks at the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Chief Plenty Coups’ flag, along with his pipe, war bonnet, and his coups stick, was donated and can be seen at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C.

Chief Plenty Coups was known widely as a great visionary, leader of his people, negotiator of treaties and land disputes as well as an accomplished statesman and ambassador. He became a symbol of all Native Americans and was widely respected by his people and well-known by several U.S. Presidents and foreign leaders. He was the Last Chief of the mighty Crow Nation.