Cheyenne people Native American people of the Algonquian linguistic family. The Cheyenne were farmers, hunters, and gatherers in central Minnesota, but were driven from the area by the Sioux and Ojibwa in the late 17th century. They then gradually migrated westward along the river that now bears their name. They settled on the Cheyenne River in North Dakota, living in earth lodges, and farming. The Ojibwa destroyed this settlement about 1770, and the Cheyenne moved south. When they reached the Black Hills of South Dakota, the Cheyenne switched from farming and small-game hunting to dependence on the buffalo and life as nomads. The horse, which reached this part of America about 1750, helped the Cheyenne become one of the major tribes of the Western Plains. They had a typical nomadic Plains culture and were noted buffalo hunters and fierce warriors. The Cheyenne practiced the sun dance, in which new braves "danced" for hours while suspended from a pole by skewers inserted beneath the chest muscles. Their religion placed heavy emphasis on visionary experience. During visions, animals were thought to adopt a person, bestowing special powers. By about 1830 the Cheyenne were divided into two groups: the southern Cheyenne along the upper Arkansas River, and the northern Cheyenne at the headwaters of the Platte River. Until a massive influx of gold prospectors entered their territory in the late 1850s, the Cheyenne were peaceful toward white settlers. Conflicts escalated to a massacre by United States military forces of a peaceful group of Cheyenne men, women, and children at Sand Creek, Colorado, in 1864. In 1876 groups of Sioux and Cheyenne warriors were responsible for the defeat of General George Custer and his 300 troops in the Battle of Little Bighorn. After their surrender in 1877, the Cheyenne were relocated by the U.S. government to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma). There the tribe suffered from disease and malnutrition and tried desperately to escape. In 1990 the total number of Cheyenne descendants was 11,456. Many lived on reservations in southwestern Oklahoma and in southeastern Montana. "Cheyenne (people)," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Wyoming, History, Early Inhabitants Native Americans have lived in Wyoming for over 11,000 years. In 1975 archaeologists uncovered a site dating back 11,200 years in which the remains of prehistoric mammoths were found next to bone tools, projectiles, and knives. Another site shows evidence of prehistoric people mining quartzite, presumably to use for tools. The principal Native American groups of Wyoming were the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sioux, Blackfoot, Crow, Shoshone, and Bannock. Many of these groups had similar lifestyles, based on the Great Plains culture. They were nomads, living in small groups of up to 100 people, hunting primarily Plains bison. In order to trap the animals, Native Americans built corrals made of brush and poles near steep bluffs or ravines. Then they drove bison herds toward the corral. When the bison entered the corral, men hiding behind the walls chased the bison over cliffs. In the middle of the 17th century, Native Americans of the Great Plains began to use horses. These animals provided the Native Americans greater mobility because they could carry more goods, and they could transport the young and the elderly with greater ease. Horses also became an important tool for bison hunting. A fast and well-trained group of horses could drive a herd of buffalo over a cliff so that the Native Americans did not have to build a corral. Native American groups with the most horses were often the most prosperous. Many Native American groups stole horses from one another to improve their hunting or to weaken their neighbors' claims on adjacent hunting grounds. During the 18th and 19th centuries, some Native Americans from the Eastern Woodlands began migrating west to the Great Plains as white settlers took their land. As the plains became more populated, rivalries intensified among different Native American groups. The Cheyenne and the Arapaho probably came into the Great Plains region in the 18th century from North Dakota or Minnesota. These traditional allies lived on the eastern plains of Wyoming. The Sioux, who relocated from Minnesota and Wisconsin, also hunted in the eastern plains of Wyoming. By the early l9th century the Crow people were based in the Bighorn Mountains. The Blackfoot, who were antagonistic toward the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, and Sioux, occupied the Snake River country and the Three Forks of the Missouri River in Montana. In the mountains of western Wyoming roamed the Shoshone and Bannock. Other tribes who at one time hunted in the Wyoming country included the Ute, the Flathead, the Nez Perce, and the Kiowa. Access to the best buffalo lands was determined by warfare. from: "Wyoming (state)," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

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