Crow love poem
I only have the audio of this translation
Maybe someone can transcribe it for me
In four lines, corresponding to the original
→ French poem ←
The Apsáalooke and the Crows
The Crow language (Apsáalooke, Apsaroke, Absaroke, Absarokee), is a Sioux language spoken by the Crows (the French called them les Corbeaux).
This Native American language is still quite alive and spoken by nearly 3,000 people on the various Crows reserves.
The Crows, (Apsáalooke, Absaroka), before being moved to reservations in Montana, between the Big Horn, Wolf and Pryor mountains, once lived, the along the Yellowstone River.
Their autonym (Apsáalooke) means "children of the great beaked bird".
Previously, in the 16th century they split into two groups; some moved West to the Black Hills, and others remained to the East of Missouri. Those will take the name of Hidatsas.
Long enemies of the Lakota, they often served as scouts in the American cavalry, this was the case with Custer at Little Big Horn.
At that time, like other tribes, they hunted bison, while trading with them (horses and clothing).
The Crow Indians of Southeastern Montana have long succeeded, unlike other natives, in preserving their language and culture. However, like many others, since the arrival of Europeans, they have gone through very difficult times.
But wars, diseases, famine, deportations or migrations, the amputation of their land, not to mention all the transmission, of European culture and beliefs, unrelated to theirs, mean that today what constitutes them is threatened.
As for the language, it was not until the very end of the 20th century that the Crow Tribal Council declared that the Crow language was the official language of the Montana reserve.
Today, Apsáalooke is taught in schools on this reserve and in the same way, we find within the reserve, a teaching of the social or religious Crow culture, and of its practices.
Every year a "Crow Fair" is an opportunity for everyone to practice the ancestral traditions.
The Apsaalooke society is clan-based; the clan to which you belong is always the clan of your mother, but the clan of the father remains very important too, at least in the spiritual and social areas.