Cheyennes

During the 17th century, Cheyennes started their gradual migrations from the Great Lakes region of the upper Mississippi Valley into the Great Plains of the Trans-Mississippi West. Change from pedestrian gardener-hunters to equestrian buffalo hunters and horse pastoralists, in conjunction with plains trade networking, intertribal warfare, colonial conquest, and reservation confinement characterize Cheyenne migrations. By the early 19th century, Cheyennes established their position in the midst of Native American and colonial conquest and competition as the dominant force of the [Page 134]Central Plains. However, after mid-century, American conquest, in addition to indigenous competition and ecological limitations of mounted buffalo hunting, brought a collapse and reservation confinement. Throughout their history in the American West, some Cheyenne movements have been voluntary, others pressured by geopolitical rivalries and economic necessities or directly forced by outside powers. Overall, these migrations entail a rich and complex history of change and adaptation in economic, cultural, and social lifeways. Today, approximately 15,000 Cheyennes still live in the West, most of them in Montana and Oklahoma.

When tracing early Cheyenne migrations to the Great Plains, one of the key tasks is to identify who, when, and where Cheyennes really were. The Cheyenne nation is a product of history, an alliance of bands that have interacted and integrated through time. Historical evidence places the origin of Cheyenne peoples north of the Great Lakes, toward the Hudson Bay area. These Algonquian people were frequently known by different names by their different neighbors, and their self-identification, group cohesion, and group composition changed through time and place. Separate Cheyenne groups migrated at different times and along various routes, embracing dissimilar economic adaptations. The word “Cheyenne” is an approximate spelling of the term applied by the Dakota people for “red talkers,” meaning “people of alien speech.” Cheyennes themselves use the term Tsistsistas, strictly translated as “people” but imbedded with meanings such as related to another, similarly bred, like us, our people, or us. Adding to the confusion, outsiders, individually or in groups, were incorporated into the Cheyenne tribe. Most significant incorporation took place when Tsistsistas in the late 1700s encountered Sutaio, strangers from the north speaking an Algonquin language similar to theirs, and merged with them. Despite the merge, Sutaio retained their customs, distinct dialect, and social organization well into the 19th century, and even today it is a matter of distinction, many families being aware of variations in vocabulary as well as the lineage of their own ancestors.

In general, Cheyennes traversed from the woodlands of the Great Lakes region to the Minnesota River by approximately 1700. From there, they migrated to modern-day North Dakota, on the Sheyenne River, concentrating on the Missouri River near the boundary of the Dakotas. Gradually, during the 18th century, migrations continued southwest into the Black Hills region, and from there Cheyennes moved to dominate the Central Plains south of the Black Hills and north of the Arkansas River during the 19th century.

Cheyenne economy in Minnesota revolved around collecting wild rice and, to a lesser extent, hunting buffalo. Villages were relatively large and life semi-sedentary. Pressure from the Assiniboine and the Chippewas, in combination with fears of devastating imported diseases that accompanied and preceded Euro-American conquest, pushed Cheyennes west. In conjunction, visions of economic wealth and affluence offered by the horse and the bison in the plains pulled them out of their homes. By 1800, the bison population east of the Mississippi River was shrinking drastically, but the animal still lived in great numbers on the plains.

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