Grant Bulltail

John Grant Bulltail, culture-bearer, educator, orator, writer, strong family man and proud descendant of many chiefs including Chief Plenty Coups, Chief Pretty Eagle, and Chief Plays With His Face, went to the Other Side Camp on October 1, 2020. Grant was born to George Bulltail and Alice Stewart on May 20, 1940 in Crow Agency. He was named Bishéeawaachish (Sits Among The Buffalo) by his grandfather Comes Up Red. His father's parents were Simon and Stella (Goes Well-Bird All Over The Ground) Bulltail and mother's parents were Thomas and Sarah (High Nose) Stewart. He belonged to the Greasy Mouth clan and was a child of the Sore Lip clan. Grant was a devout and lifetime Catholic. Grant's early years were spent at the family home north of Crow Agency in the Black Lodge District. His family engaged in horse and cattle ranching. His family moved to Billings when he was school age since his father became employed with Holly Sugar. After a few years there, the family moved to Pryor, where Grant assisted his father with the horse ranch. He became a working cowboy and renowned bronc rider, attending many professional rodeos. In a desire to travel, Grant joined the US Marines in 1962. He saw combat in Vietnam and suffered the aftereffects of Agent Orange exposure. He appreciated his time in the military, often commenting, “The Marines were good to me.” He was honorably discharged in 1966. Upon his return to Pryor, he and Linda Door married in the winter of 1967. They had three daughters and one son. Grant enjoyed learning as much as he did teaching and instructing. He received a BA degree from Eastern Montana College in 1974. In 1975 he attended Utah State University and was a student of Dr. Austin Fife, the nationally known folklorist. His interest in academics and knowledge led Grant to publish articles in various academic journals. He recently finished a novel and a historical and cultural study of the Sacred Tobacco Society, both pending publication. In 1976 Grant became employed by Shell Oil Company in California. At that time he earned a teaching certificate and taught in local high schools. After a few years, he and the family returned to the Crow Reservation where he was employed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the State of Montana. Grant retired in 2001 from the BIA. Grant was always willing and patient with anyone who wished to learn about Crow culture, history and language. His work with scholars is extensive. Beginning in the 1980s he worked with Dr. Peter Nabokov in his research on the Sacred Tobacco Society. He assisted Dr. Timothy McCleary in various projects, and greatly enjoyed the work on Crow place names. In the 1990s he was a significant consultant for Dr. Lawrence Loendorf's research on the cultural and historical significance of Bighorn Canyon. The following year he was the major contributor to the work of Drs. Loendorf and Nabokov on the Crow historic connection to Yellowstone National Park. At this time, he also started teaching at Little Big Horn College, the Crow Tribal college, as a preeminent scholar. Tim Bernardis, Chief Librarian at LBHC, recorded many of his presentations and traveled with Grant to historic and cultural sites to record his stories in-situ. Grant has presented over twenty times at the Library's Cultural Enrichment classes. In the early 2000s he worked with Crow tribal member and historian Mardell Plainfeather on the Chief Plenty Coups State Park's Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) project. During this time, Grant also assisted Stuart Conner of Billings with his research on the battle at Crow Rock, Grant providing the traditional narratives about the battle. Starting In 2001, Grant worked with Dr. Sharon Kahin documenting Crow stories that took place in Yellowstone National Park and the Greater Yellowstone Region. Continuing throughout the next 19 years, this collaboration became a critical part of the Native Memory Project. Grant was one of the project's founders and served on its board of directors. Well versed in the Crow's traditional use of edible and medicinal plants, Grant worked with NMP's John Mionczynski, an ethnobotanist from Atlantic City, Wyoming, documenting comparisons between historical and contemporary plant use. In 2002, Grant was the major contributor to the work of Drs. Loendorf and Nabokov on the Crow's historic connection to Yellowstone National Park. At Cody, Grant was filmed providing cultural and historical information about Heart Mountain for the Native Memory Project. This led to his involvement with Dr. Mary Keller's Return to Heart Mountain conference, an annual multi-day event held at Heart Mountain. The event, and Grant's collaboration, is captured in "Return to Foretop's Father,” a PBS documentary. In 2003 he consulted again with Drs Loendorf and Kahin, interpreting Crow pictographs at the Nature Conservancy property in Ten Sleep, WY. From 2011 to 2013 he was a professor at Utah State University instructing in oral history and traditions. In 2019 Grant received the highest possible honor from the National Endowment of the Arts Division of Folk and Traditional Arts with a National Heritage Fellowship for storytelling. Also, in 2019 Grant became a consultant to the Crow Language Consortiums Apsáalooke dictionary project. In early 2020 he worked with Visiting Curator Nina Sanders at the Field Museum in Chicago as a consultant to her project, Apsáalooke Women and Warriors, a large exhibition of historic and contemporary Crow art. Grant's tireless efforts to educate non-Tribal members is extensive, but above all Grant Bulltail enjoyed most his participation in all aspects of Apsáalooke life. Since childhood he was a member of the Sacred Tobacco Society, eventually coming to carry the positions of Pipe Lighter and Lodge Erector, the highest positions of the Society. Because of his vast knowledge and active participation in Crow culture he was a vital resource to community members and served in the official position of a Crow Culture Committee member for over ten years. As patient as he was with Anglo scholars, he was ten times that with his own people. Grant is preceded in death by brothers Joseph and Gerard Bulltail, a sister Charlotte One Goes and a grandson Jon Allen McDonald. Grant is survived by his wife Linda, his children, Desiree (Zack) Fighter, Alisara, Stellar, Guy George. He also raised two granddaughters as his own, Tai and Siobhan. Grant also took in Tylis (Whitnni) BadBear. Grandchildren Talisa, Feather (Connor), Kathleen, Malick, Quierra, Ezra, Imani, Ezekiel, James, Timber, Winter Dietrah Marsette, Ashley Seery, Holly Holds The Enemy. Great-grandkids, Trahnea, Darnell, Cylis, Lakin, Shakisha, Jashya, Neaveh, Ahmie, Kymoni, Breylon, Arsinoe, Daenerys, Linda, Rennen. Brother Dennis Bulltail, Sisters Linda Covers Up, Sarah Old Bull, Delma Jean Yarlott, Mary Black Eagle and Regina Goes Ahead. Tobacco Society children Rhonda Jefferson, Mary and Cassy Hill. His families include Bulltails, Stewarts, Walks Over Ice, Fitzpatricks, Sees the Ground, Big Lake, Goes Ahead, Bear Cloud, Pretty Weasel, Black Eagles, Morning, House, Falls Down, Flat Mouth and Hugs family of Pryor. If we have missed anyone, please forgive us in this time of our sorrow.