Two Leggings: The Making of a Crow Warrior [Paperback]

Peter Nabokov (Author), John C. Ewers (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1982

'Two Leggings ...was one of the last Crow Warriors. From 1919 to 1923 he told his story of Crow life and wars to William Wildschut, an ethnologist with the Museum of the American Indian ...This is the poignant story of the end of traditional Crow life and attitudes, which Two Leggings saw ending with the last warfare rather than the death of the buffalo' - "Pacific Historian". 'This is the story of Two Leggings' desire for fame, his rise as a warrior, and his efforts to achieve a spiritual vision. He takes us along on buffalo hunts, war parties against the Piegans, and horse stealing raids against the Piegans and Sioux. His obsession to become a chief and famous warrior drove him to repeated forays against enemy tribes for scalps and horses. He relates the religious relationship between vision fasts, medicine bundles, and a war raid's outcome, sun dances in which performers pierced their breast muscles with wooden skewers, and wife stealing between rival warrior societies...It is a remarkable story' - "Chicago Tribune". 'This is a rare piece of Americana - a first-person account of the psychological, religious, and social life of a nineteenth century Indian. The dramatic recital is a real contribution to our native biography, history, and ethnology, and an important treatise in a fascinating but curiously neglected field' - "Baltimore Sun". 'A valuable addition to our knowledge of the life of the Plains Indian' - "New York Times". '"Two Leggings" lifts the curtain on a kind of life it is almost impossible to imagine anywhere in the United States during the second half of the last century. Mr. Nabokov has preserved a priceless document not only for ethnologists bur for plain readers as well...His narrative lays open, as by a surgeon's knife, the inner world of Indian religion and morality' - Mark Van Doren. Peter Nabokov is on the faculty of the Department of Anthropology and the American Indian Studies Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the author of "Native American Architecture" (1988) and editor of "Native American Testimony: A Chronicle of Indian and White Relations from Prophecy to the Present, 1492-1992" (1991).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Two Leggings . . . was one of the last Crow Warriors. From 1919 to 1923 he told his story of Crow life and wars to William Wildschut, an ethnologist with the Museum of the American Indian . . . . This is the poignant story of the end of traditional Crow life and attitudes, which Two Leggings saw ending with the last warfare rather than the death of the buffalo."—Pacific Historian

(Pacific Historian )

"This is the story of Two Leggings’ desire for fame, his rise as a warrior, and his efforts to achieve a spiritual vision. He takes us along on buffalo hunts, war parties against the Piegans, and horse stealing raids against the Piegans and Sioux. His obsession to become a chief and famous warrior drove him to repeated forays against enemy tribes for scalps and horses. He relates the religious relationship between vision fasts, medicine bundles, and a war raid’s outcome, sun dances in which performers pierced their breast muscles with wooden skewers, and wife stealing between rival warrior societies. . . . It is a remarkable story."—Chicago Tribune

(Chicago Tribune )

"This is a rare piece of Americana—a first-person account of the psychological, religious, and social life of a nineteenth century Indian. The dramatic recital is a real contribution to our native biography, history, and ethnology, and an important treatise in a fascinating but curiously neglected field."—Baltimore Sun

(Baltimore Sun )

About the Author

Peter Nabokov is on the faculty of the Department of Anthropology and the American Indian Studies Program, University of Wisconsin, Madison, and the author of Native American Architecture (1988) and editor of Native American Testimony: A Chronicle of Indian and White Relations from Prophecy to the Present, 1492–1992 (1991).

Product Details

• Paperback: 242 pages
• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (October 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803283512
• ISBN-13: 978-0803283510
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #663,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A review of Two Leggings, January 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Two Leggings: The Making of a Crow Warrior (Paperback)

This book was prepared by Nabokov from notes from interviews between the ethnographer and collector Wildschut and the aged Crow warrior Two Leggings. Those looking for a general account of plains Indian life in the mid to late 19th century may be disappointed. This book deals almost solely with Two Leggings spirtual pursuit of 'power' or 'medicine' to give him success in horse raids. And by extension status within his tribal society. The book highlights the significance of dreams to the Plains Indian and the impact they had on the real world. The book documents Two Leggings various attempts to acquire 'power' through fasting or vision quests and also gives accounts of numerous horse raids he made against his tribal enemies. The end of the days of freedom on the plains and the reservation period are largely ignored for, as far as Two Leggings was concerned, nothing of interest happened after the buffalo disappeared and horse raiding ended.

All in all an excellent book which reveals how the spritual world and warfare were so interwoven in the mind of the Plains Indian.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Indian world, Indian ways, September 15, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Two Leggings: The Making of a Crow Warrior (Paperback)

In 1919, anthropologist William Wildschut, living in Billings, Montana, at the time, befriended Crow Indian chief Two Leggings, who was living along the Bighorn River. Wildschut was interested in gathering Two Leggings's reminiscences. Bringing translators with him, Wildshut met with Two Leggings at his homestead over a lengthy period of time and wrote his memoirs down. The final 480-page manuscript was deposited in the archives of the Museum of the American Indian, where Peter Nabokov discovered it. Nabokov reworked Wildschut's manuscript somewhat, usually tightening up his expansive style, and this is the result.

The most striking thing about these reminiscences is how Two Leggings is not nearly as interested in Indian-white relations as he is with his raiding adventures against other tribes, especially against the Piegans. It seems his whole existence is centered on this activity. Almost equally important are his vision and dream quests; all important decisions are based on what are conjured in dreams and visions. Raiding enemy tribes, gathering coup, stealing horses - all these activities were primary to anyone wishing to be a great warrior chief. Possessing strong medicine that produced powerful visions was also important. Two Leggings relates his story up to about 1888 when the Crows were restricted to their reservation; he concludes, "Nothing happened after that. We just lived. There is nothing more to tell." His memoir is a fascinating one, and one that makes little acknowledgement of or concession to the white man's world.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual Power and Medicine, July 8, 2006

By 

Nicholas Noble Wolf (Durango, Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Two Leggings: The Making of a Crow Warrior (Paperback)

If you are interested in learning about spiritual power--sometimes referred to as medicine--amongst the plains Indians, then this book is for you. It discusses Two Leggings search for power through traditional vision quest and his inability to receive anything substantial. Ultimately, he receives something of value extended to him by his father-in-law. Also covered is what happens when a person makes a committment to spirit then dishonors that committment--the colapse and end of Sun Dance for the Crow people until it is returned years later through the Shoshone people.