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CHEYENNE (shy-EN)
In the days before white Europeans came to North America, the Cheyenne,
"people of strange speech," lived in the fertile prairie and wooded
hills along the banks of the Missouri and Red rivers. The area was lush
with wild berries and wild game, including buffalo that came to feed on
the great grasses of the area.
During the winter months, the Cheyenne set up camp in sheltered areas
near water sources. The rest of the year, however, they were nomadic,
following the buffalo herds. When a herd was located, camp would be set
in the traditional circle and plans for the hunt got underway. Buffalo
were critical to the Cheyenne, not only as a food, but as a source for
clothes, tipi covers and tools.
Like most Plains Indian tribes, Cheyenne men wore buckskin
breechcloths, buckskin shirts and moccasins. The women wore one-piece
dresses adorned with beadwork or decoration made from porcupine quills.
Fringe was often seen on Plains clothing, not only for decorative
purposes, but practical as well. The movement of the fringe served as a
continual "fly swatter" against the many insects of the prairie. Fringe
also provided a ready source of a lashing tool should something need to
be bound. In winter, leggings and buffalo robes were added for warmth.
Heammawehio, the creator of all things, was at the center of the
Cheyenne belief system. Another deity was Sweet Medicine, who bestowed
the Cheyenne with four arrows - two with power over men and two with
power over the buffalo.
The Cheyenne have a more varied history than many North American
tribes. Before migrating west to the Plains, the Cheyenne were a
Midwestern woodlands tribe. They lived not in tipis at that time, but
in the bark wigwams typical of the woodlands people. and ate a diet
based in wild rice rather than buffalo. They next moved south, became
farmers and adapted a lifestyle centered the earth lodges of
agricultural peoples. By the 1700s they had found a home on the Great
Plains, living in tipis and hunting buffalo.
When the Gold Rush brought a host of miners, white settlers and
soldiers to their territory, the Cheyenne resisted. The army was set
upon them in war over the land, and even once chief Black Kettle
surrendered under a flag of truce at Sand Creek, soldiers deathly
afraid of Indian hostility massacred the more than 200 Cheyenne. This
brutal act rallied other Cheyenne and their allies, the Arapaho.
Retaliatory raids against white settlements erupted immediately,
beginning a decade of fighting between Indians and whites known as the
Sioux Wars.
The Northern Cheyenne were eventually settled on a reservation in the
west in what was known as "Indian Territory." This place was crowded
and barren, with soil too poor to farm and hunting land that was all
played out. Having waited patiently for government supplies that never
arrived, Cheyenne leader Dull Knife and his band chose to leave the
reservation to hunt. Army troops tracked them down and killed everyone
but a few who escaped into the mountains.
Eventually, there were approximately a mere 80 Cheyenne left. These
survivors were moved to a reservation in southeastern Montana, where
many still live today. Other members of the Cheyenne live in Oklahoma.
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