The Cheyenne Tribe

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In today´s post we are going to talk about The Cheyenne Tribe. The word Cheyenne comes from the Dakota Sioux name for the Cheyennes, Šahiyenan, which means "relatives of the Cree." However, in their own languages they call themselves Tsitsistas, which means “the people”.

The Cheyenne tribe lived originally in stationary villages in the eastern parts of the country and occupied much of what is now Minnesota until they migrated to the high plains in the early 1800s. They were divided into the Northern Cheyenne and Southern Cheyenne and ranged from the Missouri River to the Arkansas River. Today there are two Cheyenne tribes, one in Oklahoma (Southern Cheyenne) and the other in Montana (Northern Cheyenne).

Like most Native American tribes, the Cheyenne tribes are autonomous. That means each tribe has its own government, laws, police, and services, just like a small country. However, only the Northern Cheyenne have their own reservation. The Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho live on trust lands or in Western Oklahoma towns. The Cheyenne tribe of Native American Indians were amongst what is now the most well known of plains Indian tribes.

The Cheyenne tribes were a proud people who valued their freedom and relationship with the created world. They lived in tepees, or tipis as is the Sioux spelling, and often migrated with the buffalo herds. The men of the Cheyenne tribe were considered to be brave providers and the women virtuous.

Though the buffalo provided food, bones for tools and weapons, and hide, their clothing was typically made by buckskin, which was softer in texture than buffalo skin.

They were ceremonious and celebrated many events and accomplishments through tribal rituals. The smoking of the peace pipe was one such ritual that men of the Cheyenne tribe highly valued and was a routine custom at council meetings. Storytelling was another valued custom and a way of preserving their past.

Their language is part of the Algonquian language and it is still spoken by many Cheyenne descendants.

Cheyenne artists are famous for their fine quill embroidery, native beading, pipestone carving, and pottery.

The Cheyennes traded regularly with other tribes of the Great Plains. Once they stopped farming, they especially liked to trade buffalo hides for tobacco and corn. The Cheyennes usually communicated with other Plains Indian tribes using the Plains Sign Language. Their closest allies were the Arapaho, with whom they often shared territory.

The Cheyenne also fought wars with other tribes. Plains Indian tribes treated war differently than European countries did. They didn´t fight over territory but instead to prove their courage, and so Plains Indian war parties rarely fought to the death or destroyed each other´s villages. Instead, their war customs included counting coup (touch an opponent in battle without harming him), stealing an enemy´s weapon or horse, or forcing the other tribe´s warriors to retreat. So the Cheyenne sometimes were enemies of neighboring tribes like the Sioux, Comanches, and Kiowas, and other times they were allies. The Europeans who first met them were surprised by how often the Cheyenne tribe fought with their neighbors, yet how easily they made peace with each other when they were done fighting.

Nėstaévȧhósevóomȧtse  (I'll see you again in Cheyenne language)

Bibliography:
http://www.indians.org/articles/cheyenne-tribe.html
http://www.bigorrin.org/cheyenne_kids.htm
http://www.kidport.com/reflib/usahistory/NativeAmericans/Cheyenne.htm