Pretty on Top, John

   Cultural director and speaker for the Crow/Absaroke Nation who succeeded Thomas Yellowtail as medicine man and Sun Dance chief in 1985. He was chosen for this role by Seven Arrows, the “medicine father” and chief of the Little People (who, in this culture, live inside mountains) who had elected and instructed previous medicine people and Sun Dance chiefs. In 1986 Pretty on Top was selected to represent all Native Americans at the world prayer meeting sponsored by Pope John Paul II at Assisi, Italy. He is listed on Center for SPIRIT’s website as rejecting Brooke Medicine Eagle’s claim to be a traditional medicine woman, saying, “The book she published is so far away from Crow spirituality she’s not recognized anywhere in our traditional ways.”