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Ann Big Man Collection Inventory

Accession Number
07240301
Processor
John Ille
Access Restrictions on Use
None.
Preferred Citation of Materials
The Ann Big Man Collection, Little Big Horn College Archives, Crow Agency, MT 59022.

Physical Description

Linear Feet
7
Comprehensive Dates
1942-2000
Content
Correspondence, Tribal Council Material (Announcements, Agendas, Minutes, and Resolutions), published material related to Crow tribe, Crow history, culture, and genealogy.

Biographical Note

Ann Big Man was born in Crow Agency, Montana in 1922 to Max and Cordelia Big Man. Big Man attended local schools and later took courses at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. She held a variety of positions on the Crow reservation including as a teacher’s aide and a librarian at the Crow Agency elementary school. Big Man also held long tenure as a bookkeeper for the Crow tribe, where much of the material for the collection originated. After her retirement from Crow tribal government, Big Man worked for many years in a senior program at the Little Big Horn College library. Big Man resided in Crow Agency before she passed away in 2005.

Provenance

As a result of her professional tenure with the Crow tribe, Ann Big Man acquired a large body of material that dealt with the day to day operation of tribal government. Beyond the accrual of governmental documents, Big Man’s family played a prominent role in Crow culture and politics. Her father Max wrote extensively on Crow’s history and culture much of which Ann acquired after his death. Therefore, the Ann Big Man Collection reflects both the function of tribal government over half a century, while also integrating cultural and historical representations from the middle decades of the twentieth century.

Inventory

Series One: Tribal Administration and Governance

Series one documents the functioning of tribal government at various levels from the 1940s to the beginning of the twenty first century. Divided into five subseries, series one documents the creation of policy and its implementation.

  • Subseries One: Tribal Council Agendas, Minutes, and Resolutions. Subseries one includes agendas and minutes for tribal council meetings, along with a large number of resolutions from the 1940s to 2000. The resolutions are divided into two sections based on their creation. The first is a chronological grouping of resolutions’ both approved and unapproved, while the second is a subject listing of resolutions on index cards. While the subseries includes a large number of resolutions, it is not comprehensive.
    • Box 1
      • File 1: Selected Agendas, Crow Tribal Council, 1963-1999
      • File 2: Minutes, Tribal Council, 1942, 1948
      • File 3: Selected Minutes, Crow Tribal Council, Various Dates
      • File 4: Minutes, Crow Tribal Council, 1961-1968
      • File 5: Minutes, Crow Tribal Council, 1969-1972
      • File 6: Minutes, Crow Tribal Council, 1973-1978
      • File 7: List of Approved and Unapproved Resolutions, 1948-1983
      • File 8: List of Approved Resolutions, 1953-1976
      • File 9: Selected Resolutions, 1950-1960
      • File 10: Selected Resolutions, 1961-1964
      • File 11: Selected Resolutions, 1965-1970
      • File 12: Selected Resolutions, 1971-1974
      • File 13: Selected Resolutions, 1975-1976
      • File 14: Tabled Resolutions, Council Meeting, July 10, 1976
      • File 15: Selected Resolutions, 1977, 1
      • File 16: Selected Resolutions, 1977, 2
      • File 17: Resolution, Adopting and Enacting Executive Committee Plan of Operation, 1978
      • File 18: Selected Resolutions, 1978
      • File 19: Resolutions, 79-07 to 79-23
      • File 20: Selected Resolutions, 1980-1989
      • File 21: Selected Resolutions, 1981-1982
      • File 22: Selected Resolutions, 1984
      • File 23: Selected Resolutions, 1998-1999
      • File 24: Petitions, Crow Tribal Government, 1984
    • Box 2: File twenty five thru one hundred and three includes Crow tribal council resolutions organized according to subject heading from the 1940s to the 1970s. Each resolution is listed on an index card and housed in a file folder. The index cards list the resolution number, the subject, and date approved.
      • File 25: Resolutions Related to Politics
      • File 26: Resolutions Related to Economic Development
      • File 27: Resolutions Related to Attorneys
      • File 28: Resolutions Related to Committees Established by the Crow Tribal Council
      • File 29: Resolutions Related to Burial Funds
      • File 30: Resolutions Related to Banking
      • File 31: Resolutions Related to the Buffalo Pasture
      • File 32: Resolutions Related to Crow Tribal Budget
      • File 33: Resolutions Related to the Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area
      • File 34: Resolutions Related to Civil Actions
      • File 35: Resolutions Related to Commodities on the Crow Reservation
      • File 36: Resolutions Related to the Constitution of the Crow Tribe
      • File 37: Resolutions Related to the Crow Fair and Rodeo
      • File 38: Resolutions Related to Constitutional Rights on the Crow Reservation
      • File 39: Resolutions Related to Contracts with Attorneys
      • File 40: Resolutions Related to Tribal Council Procedures
      • File 41: Resolutions Related to Credit Programs on Crow Reservation
      • File 42: Resolutions Related to Tribal Courts
      • File 43: Resolutions Related to Competent Leases
      • File 44: Resolutions Related to Community Action Programs
      • File 45: Resolutions Related to Civil Action Against the Department of the Interior
      • File 46: Resolutions Related to Section Two of the Crow Act, 1920
      • File 47: Resolutions Related to Opposition to Acts of Congress
      • File 48: Resolutions Related to Crow Delegations to Washington, D. C.
      • File 49: Resolutions Related to Reservation Districts
      • File 50: Resolutions Related to Enrollment in Crow Tribe
      • File 51: Resolutions Related to Education on the Crow Reservation
      • File 52: Resolutions Related to Employment on the Crow Reservation
      • File 53: Resolutions Related to Economic Development on Crow Reservation
      • File 54: Resolutions Related to Tribal Funds
      • File 55: Resolutions Related to Field Solicitors
      • File 56: Resolutions Related to Game Wardens
      • File 57: Resolutions Related to Grazing on the Crow Reservation
      • File 58: Resolution Related to Huntley Project
      • File 59: Resolutions Related to Reservation Health
      • File 60: Resolutions Related to Hunting and Fishing on the Crow Reservation
      • File 61: Resolutions Related to Reservation Housing Projects
      • File 62: Resolution Related to Crow Culture
      • File 63: Resolutions Related to Insurance
      • File 64: Resolutions Related to Industry on the Crow Reservation
      • File 65: Resolutions Related to Judgment of Funds
      • File 66: Resolutions Related to Reservation Lands, 1
      • File 67: Resolutions Related to Reservation Lands, 2
      • File 68: Resolutions Related to Land and Livestock Association
      • File 69: Resolutions Related to Reservation Law and Order
      • File 70: Resolutions Related to Reservation Leases
      • File 71: Resolutions Related to Little Big Horn Recreation Complex
      • File 72: Resolutions Related to Livestock on Crow Reservation
      • File 73: Resolutions Related to Tribal Loans
      • File 74: Resolution Related to Land Enterprise Program
      • File 75: Resolutions Related to Minerals on the Crow Reservation
      • File 76: Resolution Related to the 107th Meridian Dispute
      • File 77: Resolution to Establish Tribal Newspaper
      • File 78: Resolutions Related to Tribal Officials
      • File 79: Resolutions Related to Tribal Ordinances
      • File 80: Resolutions Related to O-Ka-Beh Marina Project
      • File 81: Resolutions Related to Philips Petroleum Company
      • File 82: Resolutions Related to Per Capita Payments
      • File 83: Resolutions Related to Per Diem Payments
      • File 84: Resolutions Related to Projects and Programs on the Crow Reservation
      • File 85: Resolutions Related to Religion on the Crow Reservation
      • File 86: Resolutions Related to Revenue Sharing on the Crow Reservation
      • File 87: Resolutions Related to Rights of Way on the Crow Reservation
      • File 88: Resolutions Related to Robert’s Rules of Order at Crow Tribal Council Meetings
      • File 89: Resolutions Related to Roads on the Crow Reservation
      • File 90: Resolutions Related to Student Scholarships
      • File 91: Resolutions Related to Services and Facilities on the Crow Reservation
      • File 92: Resolutions Related to Short Term Loans
      • File 93: Resolution Related to Social and Economic Development
      • File 94: Resolutions Related to Sports on the Crow Reservation
      • File 95: Resolutions Related to the Sun Lodge Motel
      • File 96: Resolutions Related to Reservation Taxation
      • File 97: Resolutions Related to Resolution Process
      • File 98: Resolutions Related to Tribal Property
      • File 99: Resolutions Related to Utilities on the Crow Reservation
      • File 100: Resolutions Related to Water on the Crow Reservation
      • File 101: Resolutions Related to Reservation Welfare
      • File 102: Resolutions Related to Yellowtail Dam
      • File 103: Resolutions Related to Zoning on Reservation Lands
  • Subseries Two: Correspondence. Subseries two includes selected correspondence to and from the Crow tribal government. The correspondence is primarily between tribal departments, officials and with outside agencies. Chronologically the subseries includes correspondence from the 1940s to 2000.
    • Box 3
      • File 1: Correspondence, Crow Tribal Government, 1946-1985
      • File 2: Correspondence, Crow Tribal Government, 1985-2000
  • Subseries Three: Law, Order, and Elections. Subseries three details legal issues related to the Crow tribe including lawsuits both filed and had filed against the Crow tribal government. The subseries includes the Crow tribal law and order code and tribal elections that includes results, tenures of position, and petitions of candidacy.
    • Box 4
      • File 1: Advisory Committee, Crow Tribal Council, 1970
      • File 2: Revision to Law and Order Code, Opposition, 1999
      • File 3: Crow Tribal Recreation Commission, By Laws
      • File 4: Real Bird v. Nomee, (1989)
      • File 5: United States of America v Real Bird, et. al
      • File 6: Crow Tribe of Indians, Tax Commission vs  James Thompson
      • File 7: James Thompson vs Crow Tribe of Indians, Tax Commission
      • File 8: Goes Ahead, et. al vs Nomee, (2000)
      • File 9: Tribal Ordinance 17, Crow Tribal Public Housing
      • File 10: Constitution and By Laws, Crow Tribal Welfare Rights Committee
      • File 11: Amendment to the Crow Constitution and By Laws, Reconciliation Caucus, 1983
      • File 12: Codes of the Crow Tribe, Crow Indian Reservation
      • File 13: Law and Order, Code and Resolutions
      • File 14: Crow Tribe, Fish and Game Code
      • File 15: Real Bird vs Nomee
      • File 16: United States of America vs Richard W. Real Bird, (1989)
      • File 17: Stewart vs Real Bird and Jefferson
      • File 18: Crow Tribe, Gaming Ordinance, Amended 1984
      • File 19: Universal Commercial Code, Crow Tribe, 1994
      • File 20: Attorney’s Report to Crow Tribe, May 30, 1990
      • File 21: United States of America v. Nomee, (1999)
      • File 22: Candidates and Voter List, 1997 Election, Crow Reservation
      • File 23-Transition, Nomee to Birdinground Administrations
      • File 24: Election Results, Crow Reservation, Various Dates
      • File 25: Candidates, Crow Land and Credit Committee, 1982
      • File 26: Board Elections, Crow Tribal Council, 1985
      • File 27: List of Elected Officials, Crow Tribe, 1927-2000
      • File 28: Nominating Petition, Donald Stewart, Chairman, 1998
      • File 29: Crow Tribal Personnel Practices and Policies Manual
      • File 30: Committees, Crow Reservation, 1976-1977
  • Subseries Four: Tribal Administration. Subseries four details the administration of the Crow tribal government. The subseries includes annual budgets, employee manuals, employee lists and work logs, and daily operation plans.
    • Box 5
      • File 1: Budget, Crow Tribe, 1977, 1985, 1986
      • File 2: Crow Budget, 1982
      • File 3: Crow Tribe, Revised Budget, 1990
      • File 4: Policies and Plan of Operation, Tribal Credit Program, Crow Tribe
      • File 5: Employee Work Logs, Crow Tribe, 1997-1998
      • File 6: Personnel Policies, Crow Tribe
      • File 7: List of Game Wardens, Crow Reservation
      • File 8: Organization and Operation Chart, Clara Nomee Tribal Administration, (1990-1992)
      • File 9: Documents Related to the Plan of Operation, Crow Housing Authority
      • File 10: “Ka-Hay” Welcome to the Crow Tribe of Indians Operations
      • File 11: Plan of Operation, Enrollment Committee
  • Subseries Five: Natural Resources. Subseries five of the Ann Big Man Collection details natural resource policies and mineral development on the Crow reservation during the 1970s and 1990s. The subseries focuses on agreements the Crow tribal government made with natural resource development companies; Abandoned Mine Lands grants and program implementation; and material related to the 1999 Crow/Montana Water Rights Compact.
    • Box 6
      • File 1: Transcript, National Indian Policy Conference, June, 1974
      • File 2: The Role of the Interior Department in the Leasing of Indian Lands, 1972
      • File 3: Agreement Eaglehorn and Associates and Crow Tribe
      • File 4: Public Meeting, Abandoned Mine Lands, 1982
      • File 5: Abandoned Mine Lands, Public Meeting, 1982
      • File 6: Chart, Summary of Oil and Gas Leasing, Crow Indian Reservation
      • File 7: Reports, Abandoned Mine Lands, 1981
      • File 8: Correspondence, Abandoned Mine Lands, Crow Reservation, 1981
      • File 9: Report, “Water for Energy on the Northern Great Plains with an Emphasis on the Yellowstone River Basin” (1975)
      • File 10: Documents Related to the Abandoned Mine Lands Program, 1978-1981
      • File 11: Blueprints, Crow Site Development
      • File 12: Coal Development, Crow Reservation, 1980s-1990s
      • File 13 Partnership Agreement, Crow Tribe and Raven Oil Company
      • File 14: Abandoned Mine Lands Materials, 1970s-1980s
      • File 15: Minutes, Meeting Related to 1999 Water Compact
      • File 16: Draft, Water Rights Compact, Crow Tribe, Montana, and United States
      • File 17: Memorandum, Agreement Between the Department of Interior and Crow Tribe on reservation resource development, 1982
      • File 18: Water Resource Department, Plan of Operation, 1976
      • File 19: Mineral Resources and their Potential on Indian Lands, Crow Reservation, 1966
      • File 20: Memorandum of Understanding BIA-OS-OSM, Management of Coal Mining on Indian Lands
      • File 21: Coal Royalty Per Capita Account Assets by Resolution 76-02
      • File 22: Coal Sample Tests, Rosebud and McKay Seams, 1975
      • File 23: Restoring Surface Mined Lands, United States Department of Agriculture, 1973

Series Two: Historical, Political, and Cultural Resources.

Series two of the Ann Big Man Collection includes material not related to Crow tribal administration contained within the donation to the Little Big Horn College Archives. The series includes family histories and genealogies, histories related to the Crow Reservation, and articles related to Native American sovereignty. The series also includes books owned by Ann Big Man that deal with religion, history, and politics.

  • Box 7
    • File 1: Notes, Big Man Family Genealogy
    • File 2: Notes, Genealogy, Hawk Family
    • File 3: Correspondence, Minnie Williams to and from Montana Federation of Women’s Clubs
    • File 4: Indian Affairs, (No. 4), The Crow Indian Reservation, 1969
    • File 5: American Indian Civil Rights Handbook, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
    • File 6: American Indian Law Newsletter, 1974
    • File 7: Letter, “Law, Order, and Tyranny,” No Author
    • File 8: Article, Rupert Costo, “Federal Plan Promotes Termination”
    • File 9: Hearings, Special Committee on Indian Affairs, Sale of Crow Lands, (1957), 1
    • File 10: Hearings, Special Committee on Indian Affairs, Sale of Crow Lands, (1957), 2
    • File 11: Pamphlet, “Welcome to Crow Country”
    • File 12: Correspondence, Richard Little Light to Robert Yellowtail, Jan. 27, 1948
    • File 13: Selected Writings, Robert Yellowtail, Various Dates
    • File 14: Richard Shoenenberg, SJ, The Jesuits in Montana, 1960
    • File 15: Prayers in the Crow Language, Missionary Society of Jesus
    • File 16: Handwritten Notes, Selected Resolutions, 1948-1964
    • File 17: Public Notice, Paramount Rights of the Crow Tribe of Indians to the Waters of the Little Bighorn, Sheridan Today, May 2, 1973
    • File 18: Newsletter, Teepee Talk, November 25, 1992
    • File 19: Eloise Pease, Overview of Crow Politics and Those Who Helped the Transition to the Twentieth Century
    • File 20: Native Plants and Herbal Remedies, Ann Big Man, 1991
    • File 21: Selection for Allotment, Pearl Big Man, 1926
    • File 22: Newsletter, Fort Smith Head Start Center, 1991
    • File 23: Melissa Schlichting, “Bring Back Traditional Justice: The Increasing Use of Traditional Tribal Justice Methods in Modern Tribal Courts”
    • File 24: Clarence Belue, “White Oppression and Enduring Red Tears”
    • File 25: Clarence Belue, “For the Good of the Tribe”
    • File 26: Pamphlet, Crow Chiefs, Crow History
    • File 27: Selected Newspaper Articles, 1957-2001 (Miscellaneous)
    • File 28: Ann Big Man, Ceded Strip Allotment
    • File 29: Newsletters, Crow Reservation, Various Dates, 1980s and 1990s
    • File 30: Crow Constitution: White Constitution, 1948 (Proposed)
    • File 31: William Wall to Montana State Fish and Game Commission, 1959
    • File 32: Correspondence, Plenty Yellow, 1948
  • Box Eight
    • File 32: Family Bible
    • File 33: The Congdon Music Reader, vol. 4
    • File 34: Pray the Hymns
    • File 35: “Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Banking and Currency,” United States Senate, 1957, 1
    • File 36: “Hearings Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Banking and Currency,” United States Senate, 1957, 2
    • File 37: “New Horizons” Indian Leaders Conference, 1966
    • File 38: Charles Bradley, From Independence to Bureaucracy, The Struggle for Independence: 1907-1920s

Series Three: Cultural, Historical, and Political Writings of the Big Man Family.

Series three includes writings and correspondence (handwritten) by various members of the Big Man family. The series especially emphasizes the writings of Max Big Man, a prominent member of the Crow tribe during the early to mid: twentieth century. While Max Big Man wrote a large number of the pieces in the series and most untitled pieces provenance probably belong to him, other members of the Big Man family, particularly Minnie Williams, contributed materials included as well. When a piece has an definitive author, it will be listed at the file level.

Max Big Man Biography

Max Big Man was born in 1890 in Crow Agency, Montana. He attended school at boarding schools both on and off the Crow reservation. The period of Big Man’s childhood proved transitory for the Crows due to the imposition of the reservation system. Big Man helped maintain cultural continuity with the past as wrote extensively on pre-reservation cultural stories. He also enjoyed sharing Crow culture with broader audiences as evidenced by his correspondence with non-Crows and his frequent performances for tourists arriving at the train station in Hardin, Montana. Big Man also actively participated in Crow politics during the first half of the twentieth century and became a critic of many policies Robert Yellowtail undertook both during and after Yellowtail’s term as superintendent of the Crow agency. He steadfastly opposed the Indian Reorganization Act, which the Crows voted down in 1935. Later, Big Man supported the creation of Yellowtail dam and participated in the River Crow faction during the ensuing dispute in the 1950s.

  • Box 9: Files with Titles
    • File 1: The Legend of the Crow Indian
    • File 2: Legend of Our Ancestors
    • File 3: Black Wolf
    • File 4: Tribal Life of the Absarokas
    • File 5: Absarokas, The Tribe
    • File 6: The Mean Son in Law and Lodge Pole Boy
    • File 7: Crows/Gros Ventre (Hidatsa)
    • File 8: The Greatest of Races
    • File 9: The Life Story of a Captured Crow Woman
    • File 10: Crow Women Captured by Sioux
    • File 11: The Story of White Horse and Wife
    • File 12: First Whites
    • File 13: Lone Elk and Bear Woman
    • File 14: Pretty Elk
    • File 15: Sacajawea and the Gros Ventre (Hidatsa)
    • File 16: The Story of the Twin Brothers
    • File 17: The Story of Two Leggins
    • File 18: The Creator
    • File 19: Crow Creation Story
    • File 20: Story of the First Maker
    • File 21: The Love Story of the Absaroka Cleopatra
    • File 22: The Poor, Sick Absaroka Woman
    • File 23: Buffalo Kill
    • File 24: Moving the Agency
    • File 25: Without Parents
    • File 25: White Dog and Deer Nose
    • File 26: Story Told by Bird Woman
    • File 27: The Naming of Fort Casper
    • File 28: Buffalo Hides
    • File 29: The Beginnings of the Beaver Dance Ceremony
    • File 30: The Absaroka Warrior
    • File 31: Lone Elk and Bear Woman
    • File 32: How They First Arranged the Feathers of the Eagle
    • File 33: Wealth of a Crow Indian Man
    • File 34: The Call of the Crow Indian Mother
    • File 35: The Customs of the Crow Tribe
    • File 36: Primitive Customs of the Care of a Child or Teaching
    • File 37: The First Tepee
    • File 38: The Absaroka Men of the Long Ago Days
    • File 39: The Healing Powers of Medicine Pipe
    • File 40: The Teachings of a Crow Indian Mother to Her Daughter
    • File 41: The Story of Pretty Elk
    • File 42: The Customs of the Indians
    • File 43: The Absarokees Indians Revolt
    • File 44: Chief White Horse
    • File 45: Story Told to Max Big Man in His Youth
    • File 46: Stone Age Days
    • File 47: Speech by Max Big Man
    • File 48: Why the Return to Blanket After Education
    • File 49: Health Problems on the Crow Reservation
    • File 50: Works Progress Administration, Time Report, 1942
    • File 51: Correspondence, Montana Writers Project
    • File 52: Crow Indian Material, Serviceman’s Almanac, 1942
    • File 53: Beginnings of the Catholic Mission on the Crow Reservation
    • File 54: Max Big Man, Life Story, Partial, 1950
    • File 55: Max Big Man, Life Story, Partial, Undated
    • File 56: Letter, History of the Crow Indians, Max Big Man
    • File 57: Letter, Crow Indian History, Max Big Man
    • File 58: The Life of the Western Plains Indian, Max Big Man
    • File 59: On the Crow Indians, Max Big Man
    • File 60: Play, Pretty Elk, Max Big Man
    • File 61: A Little of the West, Max Big Man
    • File 62: The Indian in Buffalo Times
    • File 63: Notebooks, Max Big Man, Cultural Writings, 1932, 1935
    • File 64: Notebook, Tana Big Man
    • File 65: Handwritten Correspondence, Big Man Family
    • File 66: Title Unclear, Crow Cultural and Historical Writings
    • File 67: Incomplete Writings, Big Man Family
    • File 68: Crow Indians and the American Political System
    • File 69: Government Indians
    • File 70: History of Public Education: Crow Indian Children, Minnie Williams
    • File 71: The Whiteman’s Education: The Indian Problem
    • File 72: Education for Indians: Past, Present, and Future
    • File 73: Higher Education for Indians
    • File 74: Minutes of the Crow Indian Women’s Club by Minnie Williams
    • File 75: A Conception of the Indian and the White Man
    • File 76: Speech, The Community Ownership of the Country, Max Big Man
    • File 77: Leases, The Permit System
    • File 78: Editorial, Billings Gazette, Max Big Man
    • File 79: Crow Indian Views on the Reservation, 1931, Max Big Man
    • File 80: Letter, Regarding 1932 Tribal Council, Max Big Man
    • File 81: Partial, Max Big Man on Wheeler-Howard Act, (IRA)
    • File 82: Max Big Man on Robert Yellowtail Superintendency, 1935
    • File 83: Partial, Max Big Man on Robert Yellowtail Superintendency
    • File 84: Petition, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, 1950, Max Big Man
    • File 85: Information on Yellowtail Dam Site, Max Big Man
    • File 86: A Crow Indian Woman’s Point of View on the Yellowtail Unit, Minnie Williams
    • File 87: Who is Behind the Yellowtail Dam Site
    • File 88: Letter, Protesting Crow Executive Delegates, 1958