CROW AGENCY — The 107th annual Crow Fair brings thousands of people to Crow Agency for a weeklong celebration of Apsáalooke culture, tradition, and family.
Watch more from the 107th Crow Fair in the story below:
Known as the “Teepee Capital of the World,” the Crow Fair campground becomes a temporary community where generations come together each summer.
For Arycella Little Owl and Sunni Mae Calf Robe, the celebration is something they look forward to each year.
“It’s chaos,” Little Owl said. “You’re all rushing around, but it’ll pay off. It’s really fun to go out there. I feel like when you’re watching it, it’s really cool, but it’s even more cool to be out there and dance.”
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Before the drums begin and dancers enter the arbor, the grounds of Crow Fair are already moving.
Each morning on Friday through Sunday, the Crow Fair parade winds through the campgrounds, with hundreds of participants riding horseback in traditional clothing and regalia.
Participants are judged in the parade, but the event carries a meaning beyond competition. Instead of cheering, many participants say "Good morning" to each other.
“It comes out of respect,” Little Owl said. “Just to greet everybody.”
That respect also recognizes the work that goes into preparing for the parade, said Tommy B. Robinson, whose family has attended and camped at Crow Fair for generations.
“It’s a lot of work to get up and get your outfit on, get your horse ready,” Robinson said. “So I think there is a lot of respect to seeing them when they go out there to participate in the parade.”
Among the riders this year was 6-year-old Kiralei Croft, the Arlee Tiny Tot Powwow Princess. Croft is a traditional dancer from the Flathead Reservation. During the parade, she rode a horse for the first time, proudly pointing out the spotted horse that joined her in the procession.
“The spotted one got to go in the parade with us,” Croft said.
Her outfit was another source of pride.
“My dress. My scarf. My sash. My crown,” she said, listing the pieces of her regalia. “My moccasins. My belt.”
The horses, regalia, and floats all become part of a moving display of family and cultural pride. For Robinson, who grew up in Lame Deer and has Crow family ties through his mother, the parade is one of the moments that makes Crow Fair feel like Crow Fair.
“I feel like there’s a lot of pride,” he said. “Because especially for a lot of us, it’s something we’ve been doing every year of our lives.”
Robinson’s family has maintained its camp since the 1970s, when his grandfather, Larry Pretty Weasel, who passed away in 2023, helped establish it.
Family members return to the same spot each year, bringing equipment they use almost exclusively for Crow Fair. They set up shade, bring out benches, and prepare the camp for relatives who will spend much of the week together.
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Robinson said some family members arrive Tuesday or Wednesday before the fair to begin setting up.
“It’s a fun place to just spend time with family and reconnect,” Robinson said.
That connection is especially important as younger generations grow up. Robinson said he remembers Crow Fair as the highlight of his childhood summers. Now, he watches children in his family experience the same traditions.
“Our camp always has horses here,” he said. “So the kids are always riding around on their ponies and all their horses, taking them to water, riding them to the rodeo.”
For Robinson, the campground itself is part of what makes Crow Fair unique.
Teepees and family camps fill the grounds as horses move between camps, the rodeo and the powwow. For a few days, he said, it offers a different way of life centered around family and tradition.
“It’s a unique, different way to kind of live for a little bit,” Robinson said.
For families who return year after year, Crow Fair represents generations of culture, family, and tradition carried forward.
"I think just there's just something about being with your loved ones, you know, that just kind of fills your heart," said Robinson. "I think that's just the best part."
Crow Fair continues Sunday with a parade at 10 a.m. and grand entry beginning at 1 p.m. The fair runs through Tuesday.
