Mary Brave Bird

Two medicine men . . . gave me a new name - Ohitika Win, meaning Brave Woman . . .

amid the disintegration of so many of our old ways.

-Mary Brave Bird

Mary Brave Bird is a Sicangu Lakota woman who dedicated much of her life to the struggle for Indian rights. She grew up on the Rosebud Reservation with her mother and sister, and lived with her grandparents for much of her childhood. They were Catholic, but they spoke Lakota. Though her grandparents were good to her, she had a difficult childhood. Her stepfather introduced her to drinking at the age of 10. Also, she was called Iyeksa (half-breed) because her father was white, and looked down upon by whites and full-bloods. She was ashamed of her white blood for much of her youth.

Like many Indian children, Brave Bird was forced to attend a boarding school by the government. At the St. Francis Boarding School, she faced racism and overt attempts at acculturation into white society. The girls were beaten regularly and she learned to hate and mistrust white people. Too fierce and independent to put up with mistreatment for long, she helped start an underground newspaper called the Red Panther. The newspaper described the abuses of boarding school and after a few publications it was discovered by school staff, who put an end to it. When she got older, Brave Bird fought back verbally and physically when she was punished by the nuns at the school. After an altercation with a priest she quit boarding school. Brave Bird did not get along well with her mother at the time so she went on the road with friends, drinking and stealing.

Brave Bird's life took a major turn in 1971 when she attended a powwow at Crow Dog's Paradise. She met Leonard Crow Dog who had just arrived from the occupation of Alcatraz and listened to him speak. Brave Bird was inspired by his words and became an activist in the American Indian Movement (AIM). She participated in the Trail of Broken Treaties and the occupation of the BIA building in Washington D.C. of 1974. Reflecting on that period of her life, she said, "We were not angels. Some things were done by AIM, or rather by people who called themselves AIM, that I am not proud of. But AIM gave us a lift badly needed at the time. It defined our goals and expressed our innermost yearnings." Her involvement with AIM helped her to overcome the stigma of being a half-blood and see herself as a real Indian.

Brave Bird continued participating in demonstrations throughout her first pregnancy. During her eighth month she joined the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee that was meant o call attention to Indian grievances. The occupation lasted 72 days and at times there was gunfire from both sides. Supplies were sometimes low because the FBI had blockaded all entrances to the site. However, Brave Bird was determined to have her baby the Indian way, with the help of her friends, and refused to go to a hospital. The day she gave birth to her son, Pedro, was a moment of hope for everyone at Wounded Knee, a symbol of renewal.

Not long after Wounded Knee she married Leonard Crow Dog, a leader of the occupation, and moved to Crow Dog's Paradise, where his family had lived for generations. Brave Bird was raised without many of the Lakota traditions and she had a difficult time adjusting to her new life with the Crow Dogs. The Crow Dog family is a deeply traditional family descended from renowned medicine men.

There are many responsibilities Brave Bird had to take on as Crow Dog's wife. As a medicine man, Crow Dog has a responsibility to receive the many visitors who come to his home seeking help. Brave Bird had to take on the responsibility of feeding and caring for all of these visitors while at the same time she needed to adjust to the responsibilities of being a new mother. It took a great deal of strength to get through the adjustment period and learn to carry out her traditional duties as a Lakota woman.

Indian Spirituality

Because Brave Bird's grandparents were Catholic and she attended boarding school, she did not have a lot of experience with Lakota religion. Her earliest experiences of spirituality came out of her involvement with the Native American Church. Her uncle had taken her to a peyote ceremony as a child. Because of her experience with AIM and its leaders, Brave Bird began to develop her spirituality as a Lakota and participated in her first Sun Dance in 1972. After her marriage, Brave Bird began learning Lakota traditions from her husband. Living with the Crow Dogs she learned about Lakota ceremonies that she never knew existed and began to get involved in all of them. Lakota spirituality became the bedrock of her life. She participated in four consecutive Sun Dances in the 1970s as a prayer for the Indians suffering in jail. In 1987 she hung from the tree and in 1988 she did a special horse piercing as a result of visions she had. These acts of sacrifice are among many that she made for "the cause."

The Fight for Crow Dog

Brave Bird's married life was quickly interrupted when Crow Dog was taken to trial for charges pending as a consequence of his leadership at Wounded Knee. He was sentenced to a 24-year prison term. Brave Bird and Pedro accompanied him to his trial for moral support and tried to stay as physically close to him as possible while he was in prison. This was not always easy, as he was shifted from one prison to another, sometimes without notice to his wife or lawyer. Brave Bird stayed with white friends in New York for a while so she could visit Crow Dog at a penitentiary in Pennsylvania. While staying with those friends she experienced a culture and way of life that was much different from the reservation. In her efforts to win Crow Dog's release from prison she enlisted the help of friends from different backgrounds and learned to overcome her mistrust of white people.

Brave Bird constantly campaigned on Crow Dog's behalf. She gave speeches, organized media, and raised funds. After two years, Crow Dog was released on parole and the couple returned to their home. Sadly, Crow Dog's Paradise had been burned to the ground. They had to start from scratch-materially and in many ways emotionally-as Crow Dog's prison time had taken a toll on both of them. The whole tribe welcomed them on their return with a dance and feast. Two medicine men honored Brave Bird by painting the partition of her hair red and fastening an eagle feather in her hair. They gave her the name Ohitika Win (Brave Woman). Together, she and Crow Dog continued their work for Indian rights and continued to assist the many visitors who sought Crow Dog's help. Brave Bird's second boy, Anwah, was born in 1979 during a month-long vigil for Leonard Peltier. Her third child, June Bug, was born at Crow Dog's Paradise during a Sun Dance in 1981. Her first daughter, Jennifer, was born in a hospital a few years later.

Brave Bird eventually left Crow Dog because of the enormous stress of being married to a medicine man. She married her second husband, Rudi in 1991 and the following year she gave birth to a girl they named Summer Rose. She is now a grandmother. Her life has slowed down, but she remains active in the struggle for Indian rights and says she will continue to do so until she dies.

References

Brave Bird, Mary and Richard Erdoes

    1993  Ohitika Woman. New York: Grove Press.

Crow Dog, Mary and Richard Erdoes

    1990  Lakota Woman. New York: Grove Weidenfeld.

Image:

"Mary Crow Dog." Photograph by Richard Erdoes. Courtesy of California State University, Long Beach, American Indian Studies Department: http://www.csulb.edu/~aisstudy/nae/1950-1990.html.

Written by: Melissa Lorentz 2008

Edited by: Emily Hildebrandt