Buffalo Days

Children's Literature - Judy Katsh

History mixes comfortably with the present-day in this picturesque and informative photo-essay about Crow Indian life. One Crow family guides readers through a comprehensive look at their present lifestyle, the lives of their ancestors, and the time of tribal heyday known as the Buffalo Days. Pages that feel as open as the native prairie lands invite browsers to spend some time with these people. A glossary and index are appended for serious students of Crow life and culture.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-5--This dynamic photo-essay introduces a boy named Indian, his home in Montana's Bighorn Mountains, and the efforts of the Crow people to bring wild buffalo herds back to the reservation. Dec.

Kirkus Reviews

Hoyt-Goldsmith and Migdale (the team behind Celebrating Kwanzaa, 1993, etc.) offer a portrait of a young Crow Indian boy—Clarence Three Irons, Jr., a.k.a. Indian—living in Lodge Grass, Montana. Indian's father raises cattle and horses, and manages the Crow buffalo herd. The buffalo has always been a critical element in Crow culture and the herd's return from near- extinction is an important link for the Crow with their past. The ways in which the Crow have preserved and extended their cultural heritage is Hoyt-Goldsmith's focus, including the annual round-up reflecting the grand buffalo days—the fair and rodeo offering a chance to build and camp in tipis, don ceremonial garb, and attend to sacred dances. Clarence's is a fascinating life, and the only drawback to this book—which is studded with sharp full- color photographs—are the occasional lapses into wooden prose. On the whole, though, this is an evocative depiction.