July 05, 2020
Jerry Crow grew up in Oklahoma. There was a period of three years during his youth that his family spent in Los Angeles in support of his father’s work in the airline industry. The stay was reasonably brief, however, with them moving back after 3 short years to return to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. His grandfather, Jerry Crow, was the chief of the Seneca-Cayuga Nation tribe in the early 1900’s. Dating even further back, Jerry Crow’s great uncles were Amos and Moses Crow, who played a critically important part of history by signing the treaty from Abraham Lincoln keeping the Confederates away from the Iroquoian Indians.
Crow attended undergraduate school at Spartans School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Okla. where he pursued a bachelors’ degree on a program funded by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. From there, he continued onward through his professional career, and completed 20 years of work within the oil and gas industry, serving and leading on teams that developed proficiency with robotics and mechanics.
For the last 27 years of his career, Jerry worked with Tulsa Technology School on the operations and engineering of production technologies. Crow worked on every aspect of machinery throughout the plant until he retired from the organization in 2014.
When asked what one thing he’d like to be remembered for he shared: “I want to be remembered as an honest man that followed the rules. I want to see the SCN children be successful, pursue a job, and pursue a sustainable career. I want to see our community more independent. I want every member in our community to have access to education, while learning about a world reaching even beyond Seneca- Cayuga Nation boundary lines.”
Crow passionately shared about his own vision for our great nation: “There is a big world out there, and there exists a lot of opportunity. Our members could be a massive part of developing needed solutions to the problems of the world. What if we lived in a way that would foster a culture of higher employment numbers, of academic achievements and developed solutions? I want to see our people grow by bringing their skill sets to light. There are thousands of dollars in grants and educational funds available. Go to school, get the education, let us help you pursue your vision and your dreams. Know that SCN will be here cheering for you, you can always come home to us. Grab the opportunity around you, your future is bright!”
Being a Seneca-Cayuga member is something that Crow is especially proud of: “I believe in representing and supporting the tribe to achieve its full potential. I want to witness our people thriving in ways we never dreamed possible. I want generations of families to have more meaningful lives because they are Seneca-Cayuga. In order for us to do this, we have to grow and experience the growing pains. I look forward to the day this Nation operates and performs at the highest of levels without any outside financial assistance.” Jerry is most proud of the work SCN is doing to focus members on long-term success and impact multiple generations of a family.