Here’s more on last week’s mysterious death in Glacier National Park of Clinton Croff, a well-known Blackfeet traditional singer and dancer.

Friends of Croff tell Michael Jamison, in this Missoulian story, that they’ve been told Croff committed suicide inside his car, by way of multiple self-inflicted stab wounds, but park officials would not confirm those details. The FBI’s Debbie Bertram says the Park Service has requested a review by the agency.

Mostly, though, people talked to Jamison about how Croff lived, remembering him as a keeper of Blackfeet culture:

Clinton Croff (Legacy.com photo)

“That’s how I will remember him,” said Maynard Kicking Woman, “as a dancer, a singer, an eagle-bone whistle carrier. From the day he was born, Clinton was connected to this culture. He’s going to be missed in Indian Country, because a lot of people knew him.” …

Kicking Woman is well-known on the traditional powwow trail, and among Native American drumming and singing groups. Currently, he serves as cultural coordinator for the Blackfeet Manpower One-Stop Center.

Croff’s extended family used to travel the dancing and singing circuit with Kicking Woman, “and we were pretty much a family,” Kicking Woman said. “He traveled with us even when he was a very small boy.”

Croff was only 30 years old. You can read his obituary on Legacy.com.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Blackfeet, Blackfeet Manpower One-Stop Center, buffalo post, Clinton Croff, FBI, Glacier National Park, Gwen Florio, Maynard Kicking Woman, Native American news, Suicide