Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes
Encyclopedia
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho
Arapaho
The Arapaho are a tribe of Native Americans historically living on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Sioux. Arapaho is an Algonquian language closely related to Gros Ventre, whose people are seen as an early...

 and Southern Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...

 people in western Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

.

History

The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct histories. The Cheyenne (Tsis Tsis Tas/ The People) were once agrarian, or agricultural, people located near the Great Lakes in present-day Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. Grinnell notes the Cheyenne language is a unique branch of the Algonquian language family and, The Nation itself, is descended from two related tribes, the Tsis Tsis Tas and the Suh' Tai. The latter is believed to have joined the Tsis Tsis Tas in the early 18th century (1: 1-2). The Tsis Tsis Tas and the Suh' Tai are characterized, and represented by two cultural heroes whom received divine articles which shaped the time-honored belief systems of the Southern and Northern families of the Cheyenne Nation. The Suh' Tai, represented by a man named Erect Horns, were blessed with the care of a sacred Buffalo Hat, which is kept among the Northern family. The Tsis Tsis Tas, represented by a man named Sweet Medicine, were bestowed with the care of a bundle of sacred Arrows, kept among the Southern Family. Inspired by Erect Horn's vision, they adopted the horse culture
Horse culture
The term "Horse culture" is used to define a tribal group or community whose day to day life revolves around the herding and breeding of horses...

 in the 18th century and moved westward onto the plains to follow the buffalo
Bison
Members of the genus Bison are large, even-toed ungulates within the subfamily Bovinae. Two extant and four extinct species are recognized...

. The prophet
Prophet
In religion, a prophet, from the Greek word προφήτης profitis meaning "foreteller", is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and serves as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this newfound knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people...

 Sweet Medicine
Sweet Medicine
Sweet Medicine is an ITV drama series from 2003 about a family doctor's surgery in the Peak District of northern England. Intended as a replacement for the hit medical drama Peak Practice, it was not a success. Only one ten-episode series was made, despite moderate audience figures...

 organized the structure of Cheyenne society, including the Council of Forty-four
Council of Forty-four
The Council of Forty-four was one of the two central institutions of traditional Cheyenne Indian tribal governance, the other being the military societies such as the Dog Soldiers...

 peace chiefs and the warrior societies
Cheyenne military societies
Cheyenne military societies are one of the two central institutions of traditional Cheyenne Indian tribal governance, the other being the Council of Forty-four...

 led by prominent warriors.

The Arapaho, also Algonquian speaking, came from Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, which has an area of . Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota....

, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

, eastern Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, and western South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

 in the 18th century. They adopted horse culture and became successful nomadic hunters. In 1800, the tribe began coalescing into northern and southern groups. Although the Arapaho had assisted the Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Cheyenne are a Native American people of the Great Plains, who are of the Algonquian language family. The Cheyenne Nation is composed of two united tribes, the Só'taeo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese .The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes of Algonquian stock inhabiting lands...

 and Lakota in driving the Kiowa
Kiowa
The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians and indigenous people of the Great Plains. They migrated from the northern plains to the southern plains in the late 17th century. In 1867, the Kiowa moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma...

 and Comanche south from the Northern Plains, in 1840 they made peace with both tribes. They became prosperous traders, until the expansion of American settlers onto their lands after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho formed an alliance in the 18th and 19th centuries. Together they were a formidable military force, successful hunters, and active traders with other tribes. At the height of their alliance, their combined hunting territories spanned from Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

 to Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

The Arapaho signed the Fort Laramie Treaty with the US in 1851. It recognized and guaranteed their rights to traditional lands in portions of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. The US could not enforce the treaty, however, and European-American trespassers overran Indian lands. There were repeated conflicts between settlers and members of the tribes.

The US government brought the tribes to council again in 1867, to achieve peace under the Medicine Lodge Treaty
Medicine Lodge Treaty
The Medicine Lodge Treaty is the overall name for three treaties signed between the United States government and southern Plains Indian tribes in October 1867, intended to bring peace to the area by relocating the Native Americans to reservations in Indian Territory and away from European-American...

. It promised the Arapaho a reservation in Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

, but they disliked the location. They accepted a reservation with the Cheyenne in Indian Territory
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

, so both tribes were forced to remove south near Fort Reno
Fort Reno (Oklahoma)
Fort Reno was established as a permanent post in July 1875, near the Darlington Indian Agency on the old Cheyenne-Arapaho reservation in Indian Territory, in present-day central Oklahoma. Named for General Jesse L. Reno, who died at the Battle of South Mountain, it supported the U.S...

 in present-day Oklahoma.

The Dawes Act
Dawes Act
The Dawes Act, adopted by Congress in 1887, authorized the President of the United States to survey Indian tribal land and divide the land into allotments for individual Indians. The Act was named for its sponsor, Senator Henry L. Dawes of Massachusetts. The Dawes Act was amended in 1891 and again...

 broke up the Cheyenne-Arapaho land base. All land not allotted to individual Indians was opened to settlement in the Land Run
Land run
Land run usually refers to an historical event in which previously restricted land of the United States was opened for homesteading on a first arrival basis. Some newly opened lands were sold first-come, sold by bid, or won by lottery, or by means other than a run...

 of 1892. The Curtis Act of 1898
Curtis Act of 1898
The Curtis Act of 1898 was an amendment to the United States Dawes Act that brought about the allotment process of lands of the Five Civilized Tribes of Indian Territory: the Choctaw, Chickasaw, Muscogee, Cherokee, and Seminole...

 dismantled the tribal governments in an attempt to have the tribal members assimilate to United States conventions and culture.

After the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act
Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act
The Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936, also known as the Thomas-Rogers Act, is a United States federal law that extended the US Indian Reorganization Act of 1934. It sought to return some form of tribal government to the many tribes in former Indian Territory...

 passed in 1936, the Cheyenne and Arapaho organized a single tribal government in 1937. The Indian Self-Determination Act of 1975
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975
The Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 authorized the Secretaries of the Department of Interior, Health, Education and Welfare and some other government agencies to enter into contracts with, and make grants directly to, federally recognized Indian tribes...

 further enhanced tribal development.

Government

The tribal government consists of the Tribal Council, Executive Branch, Legislative Branch, and Judicial Branch. The Tribal Council includes all tribal members over the age of 18. The Executive Branch is led by the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The Legislative Branch is made up of legislators from the four Arapaho districts and four Cheyenne districts. The Judicial Branch includes a Supreme Court, including one Chief Justice and four Associate Justices; a Trial Court, composed of one Chief Judge and at least one Associate Judge; and any lower courts deemed necessary by the Legislature. In 2006 the tribes voted and ratified the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Constitution which replaced the 1975 constitution.

Their current tribal governor is Janice Boswell.

Today

The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are headquartered in Concho, Oklahoma
Concho, Oklahoma
Concho is a rural unincorporated community in Canadian County, Oklahoma, north of the Concho Indian School. The post office opened April 20, 1915. The ZIP Code is 73022. The school and post office were named for Indian agent, Charles E. Shell. It is the headquarters of the Cheyenne and Arapaho...

. Of 12,185 enrolled tribal members, 8,664 live within the state of Oklahoma. The tribe's Governor is Janice Boswell, currently serving a four-year term. The tribal jurisdictional area includes Beckham
Beckham County, Oklahoma
Beckham County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 19,799. Its county seat is Sayre.Founded upon statehood in 1907, Beckham County was named for J. C. W...

, Blaine
Blaine County, Oklahoma
Blaine County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population is 11,976. Its county seat is Watonga. Blaine County is the birthplace of voice actor Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck....

, Canadian
Canadian County, Oklahoma
Canadian County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2010, the population was 115,541. Its county seat is El Reno. Canadian County is also part of the Oklahoma City Metropolitan Statistical Area. Canadian County is named for the Canadian River.-Geography:According to the U.S...

, Custer
Custer County, Oklahoma
Custer County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It was named in honor of General George Armstrong Custer. As of 2000, the population was 26,142. Its county seat is Arapaho.-Geography:...

, Dewey
Dewey County, Oklahoma
Dewey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 4,743. Its county seat is Taloga.-Geography:According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water....

, Ellis
Ellis County, Oklahoma
Ellis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 4,075. Its county seat is Arnett.-Geography:...

, Kingfisher
Kingfisher County, Oklahoma
Kingfisher County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 14,384. Its county seat is Kingfisher.-History:...

, Roger Mills
Roger Mills County, Oklahoma
Roger Mills County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 3,436. Its county seat is Cheyenne.-History:Roger Mills County takes its name from Roger Q. Mills, a prominent American politician from Texas...

, and Washita Counties
Washita County, Oklahoma
Washita County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. As of 2000, the population was 11,508. Its county seat is New Cordell. It was formerly located in Cloud Chief, Oklahoma....

.

The tribe operates three tribal smoke shops and four casinos: the Lucky Star Casino in Clinton
Clinton, Oklahoma
Clinton is a city in Custer and Washita counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 9,033 at the 2010 census.-History:The community began in 1899 when two men, J.L. Avant and E.E...

, the Lucky Star Casino in Concho, the Feather Warrior Casino in Watonga
Watonga, Oklahoma
Watonga is a city in Blaine County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 4,658 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Blaine County.-Early History:...

, and the Feather Warrior Casino in Canton
Canton, Oklahoma
Canton is a town in Blaine County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 625 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Canton is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land....

. They also issue their own tribal vehicle tags. Their economic impact is estimated at $32 million. The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal Tribune is the tribe's newspaper. The Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma Culture and Heritage Program teaches hand games
Handgame
Handgame, also known as stickgame, is a Native American guessing game.-Rules:Stickgame is played with two pairs of 'bones', each pair consisting of one plain and one striped bone. Typically ten sticks are used as counters. The teams agree beforehand which bones they will be guessing - the plain...

, powwow
PowWow
PowWow is a wireless sensor network mote developed by the Cairn team of IRISA/INRIA. The platform is currently based on IEEE 802.15.4 standard radio transceiver and on an MSP430 microprocessor...

 dancing and songs, horse care and riding, buffalo management, and Cheyenne and Arapaho language, and sponsored several running events.

In partnership with Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Southwestern Oklahoma State University is a public university in Weatherford and Sayre, Oklahoma. It is one of seven state regional universities in the state of Oklahoma.The current president of SWOSU is Randy Beutler.-History:...

, the tribe founded the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribal College on August 25, 2006. Dr. Henrietta Mann, enrolled tribal member, currently is president. The campus is in Weatherford, Oklahoma
Weatherford, Oklahoma
Weatherford is a city in Custer County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 10,833 at the 2010 census.-Geography:Weatherford is located at , elevation 1,647 feet ....

 and the school offers programs in Tribal Administration, American Indian Studies, and General Studies.

Notable tribal members

  • Archie Blackowl
    Archie Blackowl
    Archie Blackowl was a Cheyenne painter from Oklahoma who played a pivotal role in mid-20th century Native American art.-Background:Archie Blackowl was born in Custer County, Oklahoma, on November 23, 1911 and died on September 15, 1992, in Stillwater, Oklahoma...

    , Artist
  • Chris Eyre
    Chris Eyre
    Chris Eyre , an enrolled member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, is a film director and producer.His films focus on all aspects of contemporary Native American life, while dispelling the usual stereotypes. Eyre's debut film, Smoke Signals , won the coveted Sundance Film Festival Filmmakers...

    , film director & producer
  • Suzan Shown Harjo
    Suzan Shown Harjo
    Suzan Shown Harjo is a well-known Cheyenne and Hodulgee Muscogee advocate for American Indian rights. She is a poet, writer, lecturer, curator, and policy advocate, who has helped Native peoples recover over a million acres of land...

    , Cheyenne-Muscogee Creek Activist, policymaker, journalist, and poet
  • Edgar Heap of Birds
    Edgar Heap of Birds
    Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds) creates art that includes multi-disciplinary forms of public art messages, large scale drawings, Neuf Series acrylic paintings, prints, and monumental porcelain enamel on steel outdoor sculpture.-Early life:Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds was born on 22 November...

    , artist and educator
  • Yvonne Kauger
    Yvonne Kauger
    Yvonne Kauger , She is currently a Justice on the Oklahoma Supreme Court, and was appointed to the Court's District 4 seat by Governor George Nigh in 1984, and served as Chief Justice from 1997 to 1998...

    , Oklahoma Supreme Court Justice
  • Chief Niwot
    Chief Niwot
    Chief Niwot or Left Hand was a tribal leader of the Southern Arapaho people and played an important part in the history of Colorado. Chief Niwot and his people lived along the Front Range often wintering in Boulder Valley, site of the future Boulder, Colorado...

    , traditional Arapaho chief
  • St. David Pendleton Oakerhater
    David Pendleton Oakerhater
    David Pendleton Oakerhater , also known as O-kuh-ha-tuh and Making Medicine, was a Cheyenne Indian warrior and spiritual leader, who became an artist and Episcopal deacon. Imprisoned in 1875 after the Indian Wars at Fort Marion , Florida, Oakerhater became one of the founding figures of modern...

    , Episcopal saint, deacon, warrior, and artist
  • Harvey Pratt
    Harvey Pratt
    Harvey Phillip Pratt is an American forensic artist and Native American artist, who has worked for over forty years in law enforcement, completing thousands of composite drawings and hundreds of soft tissue postmortem reconstructions. To this end, his work has assisted in thousands of arrests and...

    , artist
  • Henry Roman Nose
    Henry Roman Nose
    Chief Henry Roman Nose was a Southern Cheyenne Chief. Roman Nose's life spanned the most turbulent times for the Cheyenne people, and he is remembered as a peacemaker who helped his people make the transition from a nomadic lifestyle to a settled existence.- External links :*...

    , traditional Cheyenne chief
  • W. Richard West, Sr.
    W. Richard West, Sr.
    Walter Richard "Dick" West, Sr. was a Southern Cheyenne painter, sculptor, and educator from Oklahoma and an honored member of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.-Background:...

    , Cheyenne artist and educator
  • W. Richard West, Jr.
    W. Richard West, Jr.
    Walter Richard West, Jr. was the founding director of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. He retired in 2007. He is also a citizen of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma and a Peace Chief of the Southern Cheyenne...

    , Cheyenne lawyer and first director of the National Museum of the American Indian
    National Museum of the American Indian
    The National Museum of the American Indian is a museum operated under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institution that is dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere...

  • Wolf Robe
    Wolf Robe
    Wolf Robe was a Southern Cheyenne chief and a holder of Benjamin Harrison Peace Medal.During the late 1870s he was forced to leave the open plains and relocate his tribe on to the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation in Indian Territory. He was awarded the Benjamin Harrison Peace Medal in 1890...

    , traditional Cheyenne chief

Additional reading

  • Henrietta Mann, "Cheyenne-Arapaho Education 1871-1982", Niwot CO: University Press of Colorado, 1997. ISBN-0-87081-462-1
  • Raylene Hinz-Penner, "Searching for Sacred Ground: The Journey of Chief Lawrence Hart, Mennonite", Telford, PA:Cascadia Publishing House, 2007
  • John L. Moore, The Cheyenne, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 1996. ISBN 978-0631218623.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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