Members of America's Crow Indian tribe speak about how property is perceived in their culture
By Ellen Wulfhorst
CROW AGENCY, Montana, June 9 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Members of America's Crow Indian tribe recently joined University of Denver law students in a project to promote the writing of wills among tribal members, to whom death is typically a taboo topic.
Here are some things they had to say about dying, wills, property and reservation life.
- "Among the Crow, we have become materialistic just as much as the white man. We judge each other by how much possession we are able to obtain within our lifetime.
"Let me use an example - Donald Trump. Wow, Donald Trump is a success, he's a billionaire, wow. But in reality, he has nothing because when he dies, he can't take any of that stuff with him.
"In my almost 70 years of life... I have yet to see a hearse go down the road with a U-Haul behind it," said Burton Pretty On Top Sr., 69.
- "Death crosses my mind every day. Am I going to make it through the day, especially at my age?
"If I make it for lunch, I'm okay. I don't want to go to heaven with an empty stomach," said Lennis Bulltail, 58.
- "We've seen too many families get into a hassle because there's no will, and people want this and are fighting over things. We want our things to go to our children in a respectful way," said Dora Hugs, 65.
- "I'd like to have about a dozen Cobra helicopters spread my ashes, simulate some kind of missile attack just like Vietnam again. That would be awesome," said Sealmer Red Star, 67, a Vietnam veteran whose chosen Indian name is Shoots at his Enemy.
- "We have a unique existence here. A lot of people like to over-dramatize what a reservation is and make it seem like it's a ghetto or a barrio or something but in our minds, it's not. It's our home," said Melissa Holds the Enemy, managing attorney for the Crow Nation.
(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst, Editing by Katie Nguyen; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights and climate change. Visit http://news.trust.org)
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