The Cheyenne Journey: From Agriculture to Nomadic Life on the Plains

regions around the Platte and Arkansas rivers during the 19th century. Before 1700 the Cheyenne lived in what is now central Minnesota, where they farmed, hunted, gathered wild rice, and made pottery. They later occupied a village of earth lodges on the Cheyenne River in North Dakota; it was probably during this period that they acquired horses and became more dependent on the buffalo for food.After their town was destroyed by the Ojibwa (Chippewa), the Cheyenne settled along the Missouri River near the Mandan and Arikara tribes. Toward the close of the 18th century, smallpox and the aggression of the Dakota Sioux decimated the village tribes at the same time that the horse and gun were becoming generally available in the northeastern Plains. The Cheyenne moved farther west to the area of the Black Hills, where they developed a unique version of nomadic Plains culture and gave up agriculture and pottery. During the early 19th century, they migrated to the headwaters of the Platte River in what is now Colorado. In 1832 a large segment of the tribe established itself along the Arkansas River, thus dividing the tribe into northern and southern branches. This division was recognized in the First Treaty of Fort Laramie with the United States in 1851.Traditional Cheyenne religion focused upon two principal deities, the Wise One Above and a god who lived beneath the ground. In addition, four spirits lived at the points of the compass. The Cheyenne performed the Sun Dance in a very elaborate form. They placed heavy emphasis on visions in which a guardian spirit adopted the individual and bestowed special powers upon him or her so long as certain prescribed laws or practices were observed. Their most-venerated objects, contained in a sacred bundle, were a hat made from the skin and hair of a buffalo cow and four arrows—two painted for hunting and two for battle.