Those identities did not need to compete.

President Obama later described him as a good man whose courage earned military honors but whose greatest distinction may have been the war-chief title bestowed by his own people.

That observation captured the hierarchy of meaning in Medicine Crow’s life better than any medal count.

The United States could honor him.

It could not create the identity that made his story extraordinary.

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Source: https://www.163atkw.ang.af.mil/News/Photos/igphoto/2001687520/
Image search keyword: Joseph Medicine Crow Presidential Medal of Freedom White House 2009

A Life Measured In More Than Years

Medicine Crow lived to be 102.

Longevity alone made him a bridge across eras that most people experienced only through history books.

When he was born, many Native people who had lived through the Plains wars were still alive.