They have an important job to do.
"We'd wake up in those
teepees, and we were pretty happy to slip the bridles off the horses and
ride bareback to the river," remembers Jim Real Bird, today a man of
58.
"We'd take the horses to the river to drink water -- that was our first job as young boys."
Each August, the rolling
hills surrounding Little Big Horn River in Montana are transformed into
the "teepee capital of the world," with over a thousand tents and
hundreds of horses converging for the Crow Fair and Rodeo.
Started over a century
ago in 1904, the four-day festival is one of the largest gatherings of
Native Americans in the country, with spectacular traditional costumes
casting a luminous kaleidoscope of color beneath a brilliant blue sky.
It's also an important training ground for the next generation of rodeo stars.
"It's one of the largest
Indian rodeos within the United States of America," explained Real Bird,
who today teaches youngsters how to hold on for dear life in the arena.
"We've had quite a few young Indian men that have ridden here, gone into professional rodeo, and become world champions."
For four days each August, the hills of Montana are transformed into the spectacular |
Indeed, if you thought the world of rodeo was simply that of the white cowboy, think again.
There is another master of the saddle, one who has honed their horsemanship over hundreds of years.
"American Indians have a
special relationship with horses because it was a way of life," said
Jim's uncle, 78-year-old Robert Old Horn, also of the Crow Nation tribe.
"My family were known
for their ability to ride bucking horses. There was a mastery to how
they could ride a horse -- it involved timing, balance," said Old Horn,
each word tumbling out slow and deep.
Outside the rodeo ring however, there's another sport taking place at Crow Fair -- and it's as fast and furious as they come.
Indian Relay
In the world of Indian
Relay fearless jockeys race bareback around an oval track three times,
leaping from horse to horse while still in motion.
At the end of each lap
the rider jumps from their first horse, hits the ground running, then
climbs onto the back of their next horse for the following lap.
"It's more or less
carried on from the warrior days of old, when they would go and invade
enemy camps and make off with their horses," said Old Horn, who took
part in his first relay when he was just 16.
"Today, white people
might call it stealing. But back at the time it was a mark of bravery
and courage to enter the camps, knowing you could meet your end."
The adrenalin-fuelled relay takes place without helmets, saddles, or goggles, and Old Horn is philosophical about the risks.
"There's a lot of danger
in anything you do," he says evenly. "But there's the courage of the
participants and the determination to master whatever it is they do."
Colorful Crow
Riders don't just pack their horse saddles for the annual fair -- they include their dancing outfits and drums too.
Each morning, the children are the first to rise from their tee-pees, taking the horses down to Little Big Horn River to drink. |
"During the day they'd
do the races and rodeos, and then in the evenings they took part in a
pow wow," said Real Bird, about a tradition stretching back 100 years.
"They'd talk their own language, and they knew the Native American songs."
And once the boisterous
nightly celebrations have given way to sleep, the children will be the
first to stir in their teepees come the dawn
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