Although they originated in the Great Lakes region and spoke a language from the East, the Arapaho became great buffalo hunters and warriors of the western Great Plains. By the mid-19th century the Native American tribe had separated into two groups—the Southern Arapaho of present-day Colorado, and the Northern Arapaho of present-day Wyoming.

Society and culture

In their Minnesota homeland, the Arapaho were farmers. But after they moved west, they began hunting buffalo for most of their food. From the buffalo, they also obtained hides. Arapaho women sewed these hides into clothing and covers for their cone-shaped tepees. Women were also responsible for the hard work of cleaning the hides and smoking and drying extra buffalo meat.

Most Arapaho men belonged to secret societies that organized religious ceremonies. The most important was the Sun Dance. The Arapaho had eight such societies. Two were for young men. When they became older, they could graduate to one of the six societies for adults.

The Arapaho were highly religious people. Even the beaded designs women used to decorate clothing had a religious meaning. The Arapaho believed that medicine bundles—sacred objects wrapped in hide—had supernatural power. The most sacred object to the tribe was the Flat Pipe, a tobacco pipe with a very long stem. It was used only during special religious ceremonies.

History

The Arapaho language is related to the Algonquian tongues of the East. But the tribe lived for many centuries in present-day Minnesota, where they farmed the land. They slowly migrated west, possibly under pressure from other tribes.

Under pressure from the U.S. government, the Southern Arapaho agreed to move to a reservation. In 1869, they joined their Southern Cheyenne allies on a tract of land in Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). The Northern Arapaho, however, continued to resist the Americans. The government tried to resettle them on their relatives' Indian Territory reservation, but they refused to leave their homeland. The Northern Arapaho finally agreed in 1878 to move to the Shoshone Reservation (now called the Wind River Reservation) in present-day Wyoming. In the late 19th century, both Arapaho groups lost much of their reservation lands to white settlers.

There were more than 6,000 Arapaho in the United States at the end of the 20th century. Many of the Arapaho in Oklahoma make their living by farming, while many in Wyoming are involved in cattle ranching. The two branches of the Arapaho remain in close contract. Every year, both Southern and Northern Arapaho gather together in Wyoming to hold a Sun Dance.