PASSINGS

Robert Summers Yellowtail Sr.; Crow Indian Patriarch

Robert Summers Yellowtail Sr., 98, a patriarch of the Crow Indian Tribe who once turned down the post of commissioner of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Yellowtail was known as a modern-day warrior who fought the tribe’s battles with words. His rejection of the bureau post came in the 1950s during the Eisenhower Administration. “I never did get along with the Indian Bureau, even when I worked for it,” he said in explaining his decision to turn down the federal position. Born near Lodge Grass, Mont., Yellowtail graduated from high school in Riverside, Calif., studied law and planned to become a lawyer, but instead became involved in tribal affairs and politics. He served several times as tribal chairman, and the bureau appointed him superintendent of his reservation--the first Indian to hold the post. He held the job for 11 years. In Lodge Grass on Saturday.