The Cheyenne people
The Cheyenne people are a native American tribal nation belonging to the numerous Algonkian lingustic group. Their name used in English was derived from the French Cheyenne, a transcription of Dakota šahíyena or "Little Cree" (Parks 2001: 880). In their native language, the Cheyenne people name themselves Tsétsėhéstȧhese (Tsitsistas) mostly. An approximate meaning is "those who are like us" or "those who are like this". Some emphasize their Só'taeo'o (Sutaio) origin.
European explorers estimated there were 3,500 Cheyennes in 1780 and they gained in numbers up to the cholera epidemy of 1849. After the Cheyenne-American conflict, in 1890, it was mentioned 3,137 Cheyenne only. The Cheyenne population diminished up to 1930’s due to unsatisfactory life conditions in reservations (2,695 in 1930). Afterward, a rapid upturn occured. There were about 15,500 enrolled Southern or Northern Cheyennes in 2000. They live in western Oklahoma and southeast Montana mostly.
The Cheyenne history is long and rich. The Cheyenne nation originated about mid-1700's. It was formed from two big groups of the Cheyenne proper (Omisis and Tsitsistas), a few smaller Cheyenne-Dakota groups, and the Sutaio tribe. Though the awareness of Sutaio origin is handed down among some familes, the Sutaio merged in much more populous Cheyenne proper culturally and lingustically long time ago. In 1800's, the Cheyennes nomadized on the Great Plains, from northeast Wyoming to southeast Colorado. They hunted buffalo and pronghorns, kept horses, and lived in permanent skirmishes with neighbours. The relations with Whites, friendly at first, worsened quickly after 1855. The Cheyenne were in a conflict with them up to 1879. The Cheyenne were massacred at Sand Creek (1864) and Washita (1868), they took a part in Custer's defeat at Little Bighorn (1876). In 1870's, they were forced to the reservations, lost traditional subsistence, and had to face up chronical poverty. The pressure of acculturation and christianisation joined since 1880's.
In spite of the acculturation and globalisation, the traditional tribal community don't break down even at the beginning of 2000's. Though today Cheyenne people are fully adapted to the modern world, they perform many old ceremonies to this day, abide with their ancestors' values, keep warrior or women societies, follow some traditional crafts, traditional music and dances. Some speak Cheyenne.
