The Crow, also called the Absaroka or Apsáalooke, are a tribe of Native Americans who historically lived in the Yellowstone River valley.
The name of the tribe, Apsáalooke, had been mistranslated by early interpreters as “people of [the] crows.” It actually meant “people [or children] of the large-beaked bird,” a name given to them by their sister tribe, the Hidatsa. The bird, perhaps now extinct, was defined as a fork-tailed bird resembling the blue jay or magpie. They first encountered Europeans in 1743, two Frenchmen (the La Verendryes brothers from Canada), near the present-day town of Hardin, Montana. These explorers called the Apsáalooke, beaux hommes, i.e., “handsome men.” The Crow termed Europeans as baashchíile, “person with yellow eyes.”
The Crow Tribe now live on a reservation south of Billings, Montana. The tribal headquarters are located at Crow Agency, Montana.