Federal policy remained deeply committed to assimilation.

Native religious practices faced restriction.

Reservation economies were under intense outside control.

By the end of his life, tribal colleges had expanded, Native scholarship had transformed universities, federal policy officially recognized a measure of tribal self-determination, and Indigenous activists had forced museums, governments, and the public to confront issues of repatriation, treaty rights, sovereignty, and cultural representation.

Medicine Crow did not merely observe those changes.

He participated in them.

He helped build educational institutions.

He taught Crow studies.

He advised historical organizations.

He worked with young people.