Lillian Bullshows Hogan has stories to tell
For Friday's women's history newsletter, I want to quote from this University of Nebraska interview with Barbara Loeb, who co-wrote The Woman Who Loved Mankind: The Life of a Twentieth-Century Crow Elder about Lillian Bullshows Hogan. This book appeared when I searched "woman who loved books the most" as part of an attempt to find something for Book Lovers Day. This is cooler. You can find more info on the book here and if you can't afford a $60 university press book, see if your library has it or request it from them!
Lillian Bullshows Hogan was the oldest Crow living at the beginning of the 21st century (she was born in 1905 and died at 98 years old). She grew up in Montana and Barbara Loeb and Mardell Hogan Plainfeather spent years interviewing her. I've bolded some text for skimming purposes:
When Mardell Plainfeather and I recorded the life story of Mardell’s elderly Crow Indian mother, Lillian Bullshows Hogan, I wanted to write Lillian’s stories the way she talked. No easy task, but my quest led me to the idea that oral storytelling is performance, so it was important to follow the rhythms of Lillian’s voice, changing to a new line each time she paused.
Lately I have been pondering a small cluster of three particularly timely stories that address trans-gender issues. Crow people solved some of these dilemmas long ago. Women might follow a more masculine lifestyle if they choose, and men might become berdaches (men who dressed and lived as women). Early church ministers, Indian agents, and other white authorities were uncomfortable with the idea of berdaches, and they harassed and humiliated them out of existence. The tradition disappeared, but Lillian’s family knew the last of the old-time Crow berdaches quite well. He lived until 1929. In the Apsáalooke language his name was Ohchikapdaapesh, or Ochiich, for short. In English his name meant Finds Them and Kills Them. Ochiich was a respected warrior who wore men’s clothing in battle but lived much of his life as a woman. He was a good cook and a skilled beader, and he almost always wore a dress and other women’s garments.
I wouldn't have found this book if I hadn't been doing research for this newsletter, and it's SO COOL and to find out more, visit the University of Nebraska's site here.