Crow Indian Bands, Gens and Clans

Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry.  Often very little information is known or they no longer exist.  We have included them here to provide more information about the Crow Tribe.

Lewis 1 said the Crow were divided into four bands, called by themselves:

1. Ahaharopirnop
2. Ehartsar
3. Noota
4. Pareescar

Culbertson 2 divides the tribe into:

1. Crow People
2. Minesetperi, or Sapsuckers.

These two divisions he subdivides into 12 bands, giving as the names only the English equivalents.

Morgan 3 gives the following bands:

1. Achepabecha
2. Ahachik
3. Ashinadea
4. Ashbochiah
5. Ashkanena
6. Booadasha
7. Esachkabuk
8. Esekepkabuk
9. Hokarutcha
10. Ohotdusha
11. Oosabotsee
12. Petchaleruhpaka
13. Shiptetza

The following is an alphabetical listing of divisions, bands, gens, gentes, clans and sub-tribes found within the Handbook of North American Indians.

1. Achepabecha ( prairie dog ). A Crow band.
2. Ashbochia. A band or division of the Crows.
3. Ashinadea (lost lodges). A band or division of the Crows.
4. Ashkanena (Blackfoot lodges). A band of the Crows.
5. Biktasatetuse (very bad lodges: a Crow name) . A subtribe or band of the Crows or of some neighboring tribe; apparently the same as Ashiapkawi.
6. Booadasha (fish-catchers). A band of the Crows.
7. Crow People. A division of the Crows, distinguished from the Minesetperi. 4
8. Ehartsar. A band of the Crows, one of the four into which Lewis divided the tribe.
9. Esekepkabuk. A band of the Crow tribe adopted from the Sihasapa.
10. Hokarutcha (‘skunk’). A band or society of the Crows.
11. Iewatse (I-e-wat-se′, mouth men). The Crow name for some unidentified tribe. 5 ]

Citations:

1. Stat. View, 1807.[↩]
2. Smithson. Rep. 1850, 144, 1801.[↩]
3. Anc. Soc., 159, 1877.[↩]
4. Culbertson in Smithson. Rep. 1850, 144, 1851.[↩]
5. Hayden, Ethnog. and Philol. Mo. Val., 402, 1862.[↩]