CROW INDIAN CLOWNS 



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By Robert H. Lowie 



DURING the week of their July festivities the Crow Indians still 

 indulge in an old clown performance formerly conducted in the 

 spring. One man takes the initiative and bids his companions 



meet him in the brush, bringing with them leaves, gunnysack and mud. 



They plaster their bodies with mud instead of the usual body paint, pre- 

 pare crude masks, as well as 

 intentionally ugly shirts and 

 leggings. Some manufacture 

 mock-shields. One performer 

 always masquerades as a 

 woman. Clad in their newly 

 made garments, they re- 

 turn to camp, where of course 

 they cannot be recognized . If 

 possible, the}^ capture and 

 ride the worst-looking horses 

 to be found, and the person 

 singing for the performance 

 secures a miserable drum 

 with cracked drumhead. 

 The spectators hem in the 

 clowns, a horseman pushes 

 back the crowd and the dance 

 begins. Each clown acts in 

 his most ludicrous manner; 

 wags in the audience make 

 comical remarks. The clowns 

 announce by means of ges- 

 tures that they ha\-e come 

 from \'ery far away, from the 

 sky for example, and have had 

 to travel hundreds of days in 

 order to get to the Crow. The 

 spectators try to identify 

 them and very likely pelt 

 them with nuid. Finally the 

 dance is over, when the 

 clowns run back to the brush, 

 put on their usual garments, 

 and conu' slinking back into 

 camp. 



