Pine Leaf (Woman Chief) - Gros Ventre

Pine Leaf was born into the Gros Ventre tribe in 1806. About the age of 10,
she was captured by the Crow and adopted by a man who had lost his sons to
conflicts with the Blackfoot. Much like Lozen of the Apache, Pine Leaf had
no interest in learning or pursuing the duties and obligations of the women
of her tribe. While she was very feminine in her dress and appearance, Pine
Leaf chose the path of the warrior and the activities of the males in her
tribe. She was encouraged in these pursuits by her foster father who, along
with other men in the village, began teaching her male responsibilities
while she was still quite young.

Her determination to follow the path of the warrior was set while she was
still with her own people, the Gros Ventre. Accounts have it that she had a
twin brother who had been killed by the Blackfoot. She vowed to take no
husband until she had killed 100 enemy warriors with her own hands. She
became equally skilled in the use of Native war weapons as well as the white
man's gun, and soon became a mighty force in the Crow camp. Pine Leaf
achieved the status of warrior when she single-handedly turned a Blackfoot
ambush in order to protect a fort that was sheltering both Crow and white
families. With her new standing and respect in her village, Pine Leaf
gathered ambitious young men around her and led them to successful raids
against the Blackfoot. Her victories were many, and were counted by her
growing herd of horses and the scalp locks she collected.

Her accomplishments were not ignored by the tribe, and Pine Leaf was soon
made a part of the Council of Chiefs. There, she became known as Woman
Chief, the name which is best known among white historians. So powerful was
she that she was ranked third in a band of 160 lodges. She acquired four
women who took care of her home, her holdings, and performed the womanly>br> duties she had no taste for.

White men who crossed Pine Leaf's path along the fur trade route were
totally confounded by her. They had never seen, or even heard of, such a woman who
could strike such terror in the hearts of men. They were confused,
fascinated, and intimidated by her very presence. Since there was nothing
in their own cultures they could compare to Pine Leaf, she became known as the
Absaroka Amazon among the white traders. She became almost a mythical
figure to them.

Following the Treaty of Laramie in 1851, Pine Leaf gave up her warrior ways
to became active in peacemaking with the tribes of the upper Missouri and
often visited her own people, the Gros Ventre. While there was an uneasy
peace which lasted for several years, Pine Leaf was ambushed and killed by
her own blood -- the Gros Ventre -- in 1858.

While there is not a lot written about Pine Leaf, the two sources which shed
the most light on her life were written by Edwin Denig, who knew her
personally, and by James Beckwourth, who lived among the Crow for a number
of years. In Beckwourth's autobiography, it is clear that he was quite smitten
by Pine Leaf . By his own words, he pursued her with great fervor, but she
would have none of him. Beckwourth became separated from the Crow for some
time and was believed dead. However, he made his way back to the tribe and,
according to him, Pine Leaf did agree to marry him. After only five weeks
of married life, he left the Crow and never saw Pine Leaf again. It's
interesting to note that Denig's careful telling of the story of Pine
Leaf/Woman Chief parallels the Beckwourth story in many ways, but this one
important point is not mentioned by Denig. Whether or not this really
happened, or was just wishful thinking on Beckwourth's part, is known only
to them.

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