August provides an opportunity, for those visiting the river, to celebrate and honor the Crow Tribal
culture which surrounds the Bighorn River.
Each third weekend of August, for the past 103 years, tribal residents near and far travel to and within the reservation boundaries where hundreds of tipis are constructed along the Little Bighorn River, and Crow culture is displayed, and honored. Parades, Powwows, rodeos, and relays fill the streets of Crow Agency while elders speak the native Crow language – a language that has been kept alive over the past century through tradition and will.
"Iisaxpuatahcheeaashisee" is the Crow phrase for Bighorn River
While the Bighorn River is a state-owned public river, part of what makes it special is it location within Crow reservation boundaries. Minimal development coupled with unobstructed views are in part because of reservation tribal trust land agreements that prevent cultivation by developers. In a way, fishing the Bighorn feels like you are transported back in time- where you don’t notice how common fence lines and traffic noise is until you are actually free of it.
We encourage all members, if visiting the Bighorn River in the third weekend of August, to visit the Crow Fair to celebrate the culture, tour the Little Bighorn Battlefield to think about what happened there, and, when on the river -relish in the silence disrupted only by a rising wild trout.
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