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Frederick William Voget ’35

Fred W. Voget ’35, May 8, 1997, in Portland. He attended Reed for two years and completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Oregon. He then studied anthropology at Yale University, and, after serving in the 71st Division of the U.S. Infantry during World War II, returned to Yale to earn a PhD in 1947. He was professor of anthropology at McGill University in Montreal, the University of Arkansas, the University of Toronto, and Southern Illinois University, where he remained until his retirement. In 1966, he received a Canada Council research grant to work with the Six Nations tribes of Eastern Canada, and in 1972 he was a Fulbright Scholar to Germany. After his retirement from Southern Illinois University, he returned to Portland, where he was an adjunct professor at Portland State University and guest lecturer at the University of Oregon and Linfield College. He was known as a leading authority on the Crow Indians of Montana, and he published many books and articles during his life on the subject of the Crow and their culture. His PhD dissertation, The Shoshone Crow Sun Dance, published in 1984 by University of Oklahoma Press, was the first full-length authoritative treatment of the subject. His most recent work, They Call Me Agnes, written with the assistance of his wife, Mary Kay Mee, described the life story of a Crow Indian woman and was a finalist for the Western Writers of America Spur Award for the best nonfiction book of 1995. He was an adopted member of the Crow Tribe and spent part of every summer with them Montana. His other interests included gardening, cooking, classical music, and chess. He is survived by his wife of 55 years; three daughters; a sister; a brother; and three grandchildren.

Appeared in Reed magazine: August 1997

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