Arapaho and Southern 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'taa'e (more commonly as Sutai) and the Tsé-tsêhéstâhese (Tsististas). The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes read more...of Algonquian stock around the Great Lakes in present-day Minnesota, perhaps ca. 1500. In historic times they moved west, migrating across the Mississippi River and into North and South Dakota. During the early 19th century, the Cheyenne formed a unified tribe, with more centralized authority through ritual ceremonies and structure than other Plains Indians. Having settled the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Powder River Country of present-day Montana, they introduced the horse culture to Lakota bands about 1730. Allied with the Arapaho, they pushed the Kiowa to the South. In turn they were pushed west by the more numerous Lakota. In the centuries before European contact, the Cheyenne were at times allied with bands of the Lakota (Sioux) and Arapaho. In the 18th century, they migrated west away from Lakota warriors, but by the next century, bands of Lakota had followed them into the Black Hills and Powder River Country. By the mid-nineteenth century, they were sometimes allied with other Plains tribes. The Cheyenne are one of the best known of the Plains tribes. The Cheyenne Nation formed into ten bands, spread across the Great Plains, from southern Colorado to the Black Hills in South Dakota. At the same time, they created a centralized structure through ritual ceremonies, such as the Sun Dance. When gathered, the bands leaders met in formal council. Alone among the Plains tribes, they waged war at the tribal level, first against their traditional enemy, the Crow, and later (1856–1879) against US forces. In the mid-19th century, the bands began to split, with some bands choosing to remain near the Black Hills, while others chose to remain near the Platte Rivers of central Colorado. The Arapaho (in French: Arapahos, Gens de Vache) 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, who are seen as an early offshoot of the Arapaho. Blackfoot and Cheyenne are the other Algonquian languages on the Plains, but are quite different from Arapaho. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands separated into two tribes: the Northern Arapaho and Southern Arapaho. Since 1878 the Northern Arapaho Nation has lived with the Eastern Shoshone on the Wind River Reservation. This is the seventh largest reservation in the United States. The Southern Arapaho Tribe live with the Southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma. Together their members are enrolled as a federally recognized tribe, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. The Southern Cheyenne, known in Cheyenne as Heévâhetane meaning "Roped People", together with the Southern Arapaho, form the federally recognized tribe, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, situated in western Oklahoma. Their combined population is 12,130, as of 2008. In 2003, about 8,000 of these identified as Cheyenne. With continued intermarriage, it is difficult to separate the tribes administratively.

View Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne Ledgers http://www.c-a-tribes.org/

Cheyenne - Southern

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'taa'e (more commonly as Sutai) and the Tsé-tsêhéstâhese (Tsististas). The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes read more...of Algonquian stock around the Great Lakes in present-day Minnesota, perhaps ca. 1500. In historic times they moved west, migrating across the Mississippi River and into North and South Dakota. During the early 19th century, the Cheyenne formed a unified tribe, with more centralized authority through ritual ceremonies and structure than other Plains Indians. Having settled the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Powder River Country of present-day Montana, they introduced the horse culture to Lakota bands about 1730. Allied with the Arapaho, they pushed the Kiowa to the South. In turn they were pushed west by the more numerous Lakota. In the centuries before European contact, the Cheyenne were at times allied with bands of the Lakota (Sioux) and Arapaho. In the 18th century, they migrated west away from Lakota warriors, but by the next century, bands of Lakota had followed them into the Black Hills and Powder River Country. By the mid-nineteenth century, they were sometimes allied with other Plains tribes. The Cheyenne are one of the best known of the Plains tribes. The Cheyenne Nation formed into ten bands, spread across the Great Plains, from southern Colorado to the Black Hills in South Dakota. At the same time, they created a centralized structure through ritual ceremonies, such as the Sun Dance. When gathered, the bands leaders met in formal council. Alone among the Plains tribes, they waged war at the tribal level, first against their traditional enemy, the Crow, and later (1856–1879) against US forces. In the mid-19th century, the bands began to split, with some bands choosing to remain near the Black Hills, while others chose to remain near the Platte Rivers of central Colorado. The Southern Cheyenne, known in Cheyenne as Heévâhetane meaning "Roped People", together with the Southern Arapaho, form the federally recognized tribe, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, situated in western Oklahoma. Their combined population is 12,130, as of 2008. In 2003, about 8,000 of these identified as Cheyenne. With continued intermarriage, it is difficult to separate the tribes administratively.

View Cheyenne - Southern Ledgers http://www.c-a-tribes.org/

Cheyenne - Northern

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'taa'e (more commonly as Sutai) and the Tsé-tsêhéstâhese (Tsististas). The Cheyenne are thought to have branched off other tribes read more...of Algonquian stock around the Great Lakes in present-day Minnesota, perhaps ca. 1500. In historic times they moved west, migrating across the Mississippi River and into North and South Dakota. During the early 19th century, the Cheyenne formed a unified tribe, with more centralized authority through ritual ceremonies and structure than other Plains Indians. Having settled the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Powder River Country of present-day Montana, they introduced the horse culture to Lakota bands about 1730. Allied with the Arapaho, they pushed the Kiowa to the South. In turn they were pushed west by the more numerous Lakota. In the centuries before European contact, the Cheyenne were at times allied with bands of the Lakota (Sioux) and Arapaho. In the 18th century, they migrated west away from Lakota warriors, but by the next century, bands of Lakota had followed them into the Black Hills and Powder River Country. By the mid-nineteenth century, they were sometimes allied with other Plains tribes. The Cheyenne are one of the best known of the Plains tribes. The Cheyenne Nation formed into ten bands, spread across the Great Plains, from southern Colorado to the Black Hills in South Dakota. At the same time, they created a centralized structure through ritual ceremonies, such as the Sun Dance. When gathered, the bands leaders met in formal council. Alone among the Plains tribes, they waged war at the tribal level, first against their traditional enemy, the Crow, and later (1856–1879) against US forces. In the mid-19th century, the bands began to split, with some bands choosing to remain near the Black Hills, while others chose to remain near the Platte Rivers of central Colorado. The Northern Cheyenne, known in Cheyenne either as Notameohmésêhese meaning "Northern Eaters" or simply as Ohmésêhese meaning "Eaters", live in southeast Montana on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. In the 2000 census, the reservation had a total population of 4,400, with 72.8%, or about 3,250 people, identifying as Cheyenne.

View Cheyenne - Northern Ledgers http://www.cheyennenation.com/

Kiowa

The Kiowa are a nation of American Indians who migrated from the Northern Plains to their present location in Southwestern Oklahoma. They are a federally recognized tribe, the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, with over 11,500 members. Kiowa refer to themselves as Kgoy-goo [kaw-eh-goo] or 'koy-goo' meani read more...ng, "the principal people", in their tribal language. The word "Kiowa" originated after their migration through what the Kiowa refer to as "The Mountains of the Kiowa." This location is in the present eastern edge of Glacier National Park, Montana, just below the Canadian border. The mountain pass they came through was populated heavily by grizzly bear and Blackfoot people. The Blackfoot word for "grizzly bear" is "Kgyi-yo." Kgyi-yo was corrupted in English as the root translation for the word Kiow-a. Today, Kiowa, Montana is located on the very spot where ancient Kiowa passed through the mountains during their southward migration. Other tribes who encountered the Kiowa used sign language to describe them, by holding two straight fingers near the lower outside edge of the eye and moving these straight fingers back past the ear. This corresponded to the ancient Kiowa hairstyle, cut horizontally from the lower outside edge of the eyes to the back of their ears. This was a functional practice to keep their hair from getting tangled as an arrow was let loose from a bow string. George Catlin painted Kiowa warriors with this hairstyle. The Kiowas are considered nomadic hunter-gatherers. They migrated with the buffalo because it was their main food source. Original Southern Plains territory of the Kiowa Nation: In the early spring of 1790, at the place that would become Las Vegas, New Mexico, a Kiowa party led by war leader, Guikate, made an offer of peace to a Comanche party while both were visiting the home of a mutual friend of both tribes. This led to a later meeting between Guikate and the head chief of the Nokoni Comanches. The two groups made an alliance to share the same hunting grounds and entered into a mutual defense pact. From that time on, the Comanches and Kiowa hunted, traveled, and made war together. An additional group, the Plains Apache (also called Kiowa-Apache), affiliated with the Kiowa at this time. The Kiowa lived a typical Plains Indian lifestyle. Mostly nomadic, they survived on buffalo meat and gathered vegetables, lived in lodges, and depended on their horses for hunting, eating, and military uses. From their hunting grounds south of the Arkansas River, the Kiowa were notorious for long-distance raids as far west as the Grand Canyon region, south into Mexico, Central America, and north into Canada. After 1840 the Kiowas, with their former enemies the Cheyennes, as well as their allies the Comanches and the Apaches, fought and raided the Eastern natives moving into the Indian Territory. The United States military intervened and in the Treaty of Medicine Lodge of 1867, the Kiowa agreed to settle on a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma. Some bands of Kiowas remained at large until 1875. On August 6, 1901 Kiowa land in Oklahoma was opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation. While each Kiowa head of household was allotted 160 acres (320,000 m²), the only land remaining in Kiowa tribal ownership today is what was the scattered parcels of 'grass land', which had been leased to the white settlers for grazing before the reservation was opened for white settlement. Kiowa lands are now a tribal jurisdictional area.

View Kiowa Ledgers http://www.kiowatribe.net/

Arapaho

The Arapaho (in French: Arapahos, Gens de Vache) 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, who a read more...re seen as an early offshoot of the Arapaho. Blackfoot and Cheyenne are the other Algonquian languages on the Plains, but are quite different from Arapaho. By the 1850s, Arapaho bands separated into two tribes: the Northern Arapaho and Southern Arapaho. Since 1878 the Northern Arapaho Nation has lived with the Eastern Shoshone on the Wind River Reservation. This is the seventh largest reservation in the United States. The Southern Arapaho Tribe live with the Southern Cheyenne in Oklahoma. Together their members are enrolled as a federally recognized tribe, the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes.

View Arapaho Ledgers http://www.northernarapaho.com/

Crow

The Crow, called the Apsáalooke in their own Siouan language, or variants including Absaroka, are Native Americans, who in historical times lived in the Yellowstone River valley, which extends from present-day Wyoming, through Montana and into North Dakota, where it joins the Missouri River. In the read more... 21st century, the Crow people are a Federally recognized tribe known as the Crow Tribe of Montana, and have a reservation located in the south central part of the state.

View Crow Ledgers http://www.crow-nsn.gov

Fort Marion

During 1874-75, the Comanche, Kiowa, and Southern Cheyenne people tried to drive out hordes of White commercial buffalo hunters who had invaded their homeland in r raged across North Texas, and the Indian Territory, violating existing treaties, and destroying the livelihood of the Southern Plains tr read more...ibes. Naming the conflict the "Red River War", U.S. Army units sent to protect the invading hunters fought a series of battles, small and large, eventually trapping the tribes at their winter encampments in Palo Duro Canyon in the Texas Panhandle, destroying several villages, and most of their winter supplies of food. This forced the starving survivors to walk to Fort Sill, I.T., and surrender. Fearing a quick renewal of hostilities, the Army adopted a strategy of taking hostages to guarantee the "good behavior" of the tribes. In the spring of 1875, seventy-one Southern Plains Indian men in manacles and chains, two women and one child were transported from Indian Territory, more than a thousand miles east, to a three-year imprisonment at Fort Marion, in the Atlantic coastal town of St. Augustine, Florida. The long journey was made by wagon, steamboat and train. In 1875, Captain Richard N. Pratt found over twenty artists ready-made when he assembled seventy-three Kiowa, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, and Caddo incarcerated people at the old Spanish fort in St. Augustine, Florida. Drawings done at Fort Marion represent a new mode of Captivity Drawings: drawings made as gifts for Pratt to promote his experiment in “civilizing” and “educating” his charges for an American settler world, or for sale to non-Natives, using commercial sketchbooks and loose paper, rather than drawings made using pages of accountant’s ledger books captured in raids or other military exploits.

View Fort Marion Ledgers