George Paul Horse Capture (October 20, 1937 – April 16, 2013) (

A'aninin The Gros Ventre ( , ; meaning "big belly"), also known as the Aaniiih, A'aninin, Haaninin, Atsina, and White Clay, are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in north central Montana. Today the Gros Ventre people are ...

) was an anthropologist, activist, and writer. Horse Capture was one of the earlier Native Americans to be a museum

curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

. He was the first curator of the Plains Indian Museum in

Cody, Wyoming Cody is a city in Northwest Wyoming and the seat of government of Park County, Wyoming, United States. It is named after Colonel William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody for his part in the founding of Cody in 1896. The population was 10,066 at th ...

, and worked for a decade at the

National Museum of the American Indian The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum in the United States devoted to the culture of the indigenous peoples of the Americas. It is part of the Smithsonian Institution group of museums and research centers. The museum has three ...

, during planning for its new building on the Mall in Washington, DC. He was an enrolled member of the

Fort Belknap Indian Community of the Fort Belknap Reservation of Montana The Fort Belknap Indian Reservation ( ats, ’ak3ɔ́ɔyɔ́ɔ, lit=the fence or ats, ’ɔ’ɔ́ɔ́ɔ́nííítaan’ɔ, lit=Gros Ventre tribe, label=none) is shared by two Native American tribes, the A'aninin ( Gros Ventre) and the Nakoda ...

Early life and education

George Horse Capture was born into the

(Gros Ventre) in a log cabin in Fort Belknap, which is located in north-central

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

, near

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...

. He was an enrolled member of the tribe. As a child, he lived with his maternal grandmother and cousins on the reservation. When it came time for high school, he moved to Butte, Montana, where he joined his mother. After graduating, he joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, serving as a

shipfitter A shipfitter is a marine occupational classification used both by naval activities and among ship builders; however, the term applies mostly to certain workers at commercial and naval shipyards during the construction or repair phase of a ship. T ...

for four years. After leaving the Navy, Horse Capture worked for five years as a welder's helper, becoming a steel inspector for the

California Department of Water Resources The California Department of Water Resources (DWR) is part of the California Natural Resources Agency and is responsible for the management and regulation of the State of California's water usage. The department was created in 1956 by Governor G ...

; he was "the only minority person at that time for the State of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

." He participated in the Native American occupation of Alcatraz Island beginning in 1969. It gathered national attention for American Indian activism and issues. He enrolled at

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

Academic career

Horse Capture returned to Montana, where he served as assistant professor of American Indian Studies at Montana State University in Bozeman. He also taught college in Great Falls and earned a master's in history at the University there. In 1979, Horse Capture was hired as the first

of the Plains Indian Museum at the

Buffalo Bill Historical Center The Buffalo Bill Center of the West, formerly known as the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, is a complex of five museums and a research library featuring art and artifacts of the American West located in Cody, Wyoming. The five museums include the ...

; he was one of the first Native Americans to serve as a museum curator in the US. He is credited with bringing the museum to "national prominence." He also started publishing some of the material he had collected on the Gros Ventre and their culture and language. In 1994, Horse Capture was selected as the Deputy Assistant Director for Cultural Resources at the

in New York City. He worked at NMAI for 10 years, helping to develop the new museum to be built on the Mall in Washington, DC. He served as senior counselor to the director. He retired in 2004. "He was determined to make it a museum for Native peoples, not just about them." In 2005, he organized a conference at the

University of Great Falls The University of Providence (UP, formerly University of Great Falls) is a private Roman Catholic university in Great Falls, Montana. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. History The University of Provide ...

, ''"American Indian Nations: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow."''

Personal life

He married Kay-Karol, his third wife. He had children from his previous marriages: George Jr., Joseph, Daylight, and Peter. Horse Capture died April 16, 2013, of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as end-stage kidney disease, is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney failure is classified as eit ...

at their home in Great Falls, as complications from diabetes and congestive heart failure. He was buried at Fort Belknap Agency Cemetery. He was survived by his third wife, KayKarol Horse Capture, and his four children. His many grandchildren and great-grandchildren knew him as "Grandpa Braids".

Works

His published works include ''The Seven Visions of Bull Lodge'' (1980/1996), which he edited an annotated''Native American Authors Project,'' George P. Horse Capture
/ref> ''An American Indian Perspective'', ''I'd Rather Be Powwowing'', and ''Indian Country.'' Horse Capture spent his entire professional life gathering materials about his tribe, the A'aninin. These works include photographs, objects, publications, and songs. With this material, he created the Tribal Archive Project, "a database that includes information from worldwide museum sources about the A'aninin." One month after he presented his final version of the archive to tribal members, he died. This may be the first tribal digital archive created.

References

External links

* ttp://montanatribes.org/digital_archives/meet_the_speakers/GHo.html George Horse Capture shares the Aaninin, or Gros Ventre, origin story Montanatribes.org Digital Archives {{DEFAULTSORT:Horse Capture, George P. 1937 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Native Americans Montana State University alumni Montana State University faculty National Museum of the American Indian Native American anthropologists Native American curators Native American writers People from Blaine County, Montana Smithsonian Institution people University of California, Berkeley alumni Writers from Montana Gros Ventre people People from Fort Belknap Indian Reservation 21st-century Native Americans