Editing Plenty Coups (section)

==Early life==
Plenty Coups was born into the Crow ("Apsáalooke") tribe in about 1848 at the-cliffs-that-have-no-name (possibly near [[Billings, Montana]]), to his father Medicine-Bird and his mother Otter-woman.  He was given the birth name Chíilaphuchissaaleesh, or "Buffalo Bull Facing The Wind".<ref name=coups2>{{cite web|title=125 Montana Newsmakers: Chief Plenty Coups|url=http://www.greatfallstribune.com/multimedia/125newsmakers3/plentycoups.html|work=Great Falls Tribune|author=Tribune Staff|access-date=August 26, 2011}}</ref>

During the first decades of Plenty Coups' life, he led the life of a Crow warrior, which involved warring with other major tribes such as the [[Sioux]] and [[Cheyenne]] over territory, hunting rights, prestige, and the other parts of the traditional warrior way of life.<ref>{{cite book|title=Two Leggings:The Making of a Crow Warrior (Based on a Field Manuscript prepared by William Wildschut for the Museum of the American Indian)|pages=vii–viii|author=Nabokov, Peter|year=1967}}</ref>

===Change of name===
In accordance with tradition, as a young man his birth name was changed: his grandfather predicted that he would become chief of the Crow Tribe, live a very long life, and accomplish many great deeds, thus christening him ''Alaxchiiaahush'', meaning "many achievements".  Plenty Coups is the English translation of his name, coming from the word [[Counting coup|coup]], or act of bravery.  Over the course of his life, he would live up to his name and his grandfather's prediction.

===Visions of the future===
Early in his life, Plenty Coups started having prophetic dreams and visions.  Many seemed so far-fetched that no one believed them, but when they started coming true, his fellow tribe members began to revere him and listened to him carefully.<ref name=coups2/>

After the death of his beloved older brother when he was nine years old, he had a vision in which one of the [[Little People of the Pryor Mountains]] told him to develop his senses and wits, and that if he used them well, he would become a chief.<ref>Plenty Coups and Linderman, ''Plenty-Coups, Chief of the Crows,'' Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2002, pp. 19–25. {{ISBN|0803280181}}.  Also available as an e-book from Google.</ref> As he later said:
<blockquote>I ''had'' a will and I would use it, make it work for me, as the Dwarf-chief had advised. I became very happy, lying there looking up into the sky. My heart began to sing like a bird, and I went back to the village, needing no man to tell me the meaning of my dream. I took a sweat-bath and rested in my father's lodge. I ''knew'' myself now."<ref>Plenty Coups and Linderman, ''Plenty-Coups, Chief of the Crows,'' 2002, p. 25.</ref></blockquote>

Later, when he was 11 years old, Plenty Coups (along with other young men of the Crow Nation) was challenged to have a vision which might guide his people's future.<ref>Plenty Coups and Linderman, ''Plenty-Coups, Chief of the Crows,'' 2002, pp. 31–32.</ref> After fasting and spending several days in the [[Crazy Mountains]], he had a vision in which he saw many buffalo coming out of a hole. They spread over the plains, then disappeared. Surreal buffalo with weird tails, different colors (even spots), and odd bellows then came out of the hole and covered the plains. He saw himself as an old man, living near a cold spring in the foothills of the [[Pryor Mountains|Arrowhead Mountains]]. He also saw a forest; strong winds blew down the trees in the forest until only one tree was left standing. In it was the home of the [[Mountain Chickadee|chickadee]].<ref>Plenty Coups and Linderman, ''Plenty-Coups, Chief of the Crows,'' 2002, pp. 29–37.</ref>

His vision was interpreted by tribal elders to mean that the white man would take over the Native American lands and their way of life, like the wind that blew down the trees in the forest—all except one, which represented the Crow people.<ref name="McDannell184">McDannell, ''Religions of the United States in Practice,'' 2002, p. 184.</ref> The Crow tribe would be spared if they could learn how to work with the white man. His spirit guide then became the chickadee, and he would carry a pair of chickadee legs in a [[medicine bag]] he used for protection and spiritual power.<ref name="McDannell184" />  This vision would guide his actions (and that of the Crow People) for the remainder of his life.<ref name="McDannell184" /><ref name="Melton">Melton, ''Religious Leaders of America: A Biographical Guide to Founders and Leaders of Religious Bodies, Churches, and Spiritual Groups in North America,'' 1999, p. 445.</ref>