Cheyenne

Treaty of October 28, 1867

Articles of a treaty and agreement made and entered into at the Council Camp on Medicine Lodge Creek, seventy miles south of Fort Larned, in the State of Kansas, on the twenty-eighth day of October, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, by and between the United States of America, represented by its commissioners duly appointed thereto, to wit: Nathaniel G. Taylor, William S. Harney, C. C. Augur, Alfred H. Terry, John B. Sanborn, Samuel F. Tappan and John B. Henderson, of the one part, and the Cheyenne and Arapahoe tribes of Indians, represented by their chiefs and head-men duly authorized and empowered … Read more

Treaty of October 17, 1865

Whereas a treaty was made and concluded, by and between the undersigned commissioners on the part of the United States, and the undersigned chiefs and head-men of the Cheyenne and Arrapahoe tribes of Indians, on the part of said tribes, on the fourteenth day of October, A. D. 1865, at the council-grounds on the Little Arkansas River, in the State of Kansas; and, whereas, the Apache Indians, who have been heretofore confederated with the Kiowa and Comanche tribes of Indians, are desirous of dissolving said confederation and uniting their fortunes with the said Cheyennes and Arrapahoes; and whereas the said … Read more

Treaty of February 18, 1861

Articles of agreement and convention made and concluded at Fort Wise, in the Territory of Kansas, on the eighteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, by and between Albert G. Boone and F. B. Culver, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the following named chiefs and delegates, representing the confederated tribes of Arapahoe and Cheyenne Indians of the Upper Arkansas River, viz: Little Raven, Storm, Shave-Head, and Big-Mouth, (on the part of the Arapahoes), and Black Kettle, White Antelope, Lean Bear, Little Wolf, and Left Hand, or Namos … Read more

Treaty of October 14, 1865 – Treaty of Little Arkansas River

Treaty of Little Arkansas River Articles of a treaty made and concluded at the camp on the Little Arkansas River, in the State of Kansas, on the fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, by and between John B. Sanborn, William S. Harney, Thomas Murphy, Kit Carson, William W. Bent, Jesse H. Leavenworth, and James Steele, commissioners on the part of the United States, and the undersigned, chiefs and head-men of and representing the confederate tribes of Arrapahoe and Cheyenne Indians of the Upper Arkansas River, they being duly authorized by … Read more

Tongue River Agency

Omaha Dance

Tongue River Agency Report of special agent, Walter Shiraw on the Indians of Northern Cheyenne reservation, Tongue River agency, Montana. Name of Indian tribe occupying said reservation: Northern Cheyenne.  The unalotted area is 371,200 acres, or 680 square miles. It was established, altered, or changed by executive order November 26, 1884. Indian population 1890: 865. Northern Cheyenne Reservation I visited Tongue River agency in August 1890, and found James A. Cooper, special United States Indian agent, in charge, and was informed that an accurate enumeration of the 865 Indians on the reserve had been made and the acknowledgment of the … Read more

Cheyenne Indians

Cheyenne Indians. This tribe moved frequently; in South Dakota they were associated with the Cheyenne River and the Black Hills. (See also Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and Wyoming.)

Treaty of September 17, 1851

Articles of a treaty made and concluded at Fort Laramie, in the Indian Territory, between D. D. Mitchell, superintendent of Indian affairs, and Thomas Fitzpatrick, Indian agent, commissioners specially appointed and authorized by the President of the United States, of the first part, and the chiefs, headmen, and braves of the following Indian nations, residing south of the Missouri River, east of the Rocky Mountains, and north of the lines of Texas and New Mexico, viz, the Sioux or Dahcotahs, Cheyennes, Arrapahoes, Crows, Assinaboines, Gros-Ventre Mandans, and Arrickaras, parties of the second part, on the seventeenth day of September, A. … Read more

Cheyenne Indian Customs

Under their old system, before the division of the tribe, the Cheyenne had a council of 44 elective chiefs, of whom 4 constituted a higher body, with power to elect one of their own number as head chief of the tribe. In all councils that concerned the relations of the Cheyenne with other tribes, one member of the council was appointed to argue as the proxy or “devil’s advocate” for the alien people. This council of 44 is still symbolized by a bundle of 44 invitation sticks, kept with the sacred medicine-arrows, and formerly sent around when occasion arose to convene … Read more

Cheyenne Tribe

Little Coyote and Morning Star

Cheyenne Tribe – An exhaustive resource for anyone researching the history, culture, genealogy, names, towns, treaties or ethnology of the Choctaw Nation.

Cheyenne Indian Chiefs and Leaders

Dull Knife

Black Kettle A Cheyenne chief and famous warrior whose village on Sand Creek, Colorado, was attacked by a force of Colorado militia under Col. Chivington in 1864 and a large number of innocent men, women, and children were massacred and their bodies mutilated. Black Kettle had come in by the direction of Gov. Evans of Colorado, and surrendered to Maj. Wynkoop, U. S. A., who had promised him protection. On November 27, 1868, United States troops under command of Gen. P. H. Sheridan attacked Black Kettle’s village on the Washita, and destroyed it, Black Kettle being killed in the fight. … Read more

Cheyenne Indian Tribal Divisions

Other names, not commonly recognized as divisional names, are: Moqtávhaitä’niu, ‘black men,’ i. e. `Ute’ (sing., Moqtávhaitän). To the Cheyenne and most other Plains tribes the Ute are known as ‘Black men’ or ‘Black people.’ A small band, apparently not a recognized division, of the same name is still represented among the Southern Cheyenne, and, according to Grinnell, also among the Northern Cheyenne. They maybe descended from Ute captives and perhaps constituted a regular tribal division. Ná’kuimána, ‘bear people’; a small band among the Southern Cheyenne taking its name from a former chief and not recognized as properly constituting a … Read more

Blackfeet Tribe in War

The Blackfeet were a warlike people. How it may have been in the old days, before the coming of the white men, we do not know. Very likely, in early times, they were usually at peace with neighboring tribes, or, if quarrels took place, battles were fought, and men killed, this was only in angry dispute over what each party considered its rights. Their wars were probably not general, nor could they have been very bloody. When, however, horses came into the possession of the Indians, all this must have soon become changed. Hitherto there had really been no incentive … Read more

Blackfeet Hunting Customs

The Blackfoot country probably contained more game and in greater variety than any other part of the continent. Theirs was a land whose physical characteristics presented sharp contrasts. There were far-stretching grassy prairies, affording rich pasturage for the buffalo and the antelope; rough breaks and bad lands for the climbing mountain sheep; wooded buttes, loved by the mule deer; timbered river bottoms, where the white-tailed deer and the elk could browse and hide; narrow, swampy valleys for the moose; and snow-patched, glittering pinnacles of rock, over which the sure-footed white goat took his deliberate way. The climate varied from arid … Read more

Cheyenne – Arapaho Indian Research

An important Plains tribe of the great Algonquian family, closely associated with the Cheyenne for at least a century past. They call themselves Iñunaina, about equivalent to ‘our people.’ The name by which they are commonly known is of uncertain derivation, but it may possibly be, as Dunbar suggests, from the Pawnee tirapihu or larapihu, ‘trader.’ By the Sioux and Cheyenne they are called ” Blue-sky men ” or “Cloud men,” the reason for which is unknown. Read more about Arapaho Tribe History. Cheyenne – Arapaho Indian Biographies Little Raven (Hósa, ‘Young Crow’). An Arapaho chief. Nawat (‘Left-hand’). The principal … Read more

Arapaho and Cheyenne in Kansas

Powder Face And Squaw. Northern Arapaho

The Arapaho and Cheyenne will be considered together. They both belong to the great Algonquian family, and, for a long period, were closely associated. Both were important Plains tribes and bore prominent parts in the early history of that plain along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Cheyenne ranged far down the plains streams, coming into close contact with pioneer settlers of Northwestern Kansas. The Arapahos did not trouble the white people making homes in Western Kansas. Both tribes lay in wait along the great trails to fall upon the stragglers and the unprotected. They were fierce and daring … Read more

Social Distinction Amongst Plains Indians

Fig. 38. A Blackfoot War Record.

Social Distinction. There being no such thing as individual ownership of land, property consisted of horses, food, utensils, etc. These were possessed in varying degrees by the individual members of a tribe, but in no case was the amount of such property given much weight in the determination of social position. Anyone in need of food, horses, or anything whatsoever, was certain to receive some material assistance from those who had an abundance. Beginning at the top, we have Bear-chief (a) on foot surprised by Assiniboin Indians but he escaped; (b) Double-runner cut loose four horses; (c) Double-runner captures a … Read more