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The Arapaho are a Native American people who originally lived on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming and worked in collaboration with the Cheyenne people. Since the 1850s, the Arapaho have been divided into two groups: Northern and Southern Arapaho.
See the fact file below for more information about Arapaho, or download the comprehensive worksheet pack, which contains over 11 worksheets and can be used in the classroom or homeschooling environment.
Arapaho
- There was no direct evidence to conclude how and when they started forming in the Great Plains. They were a prominent trading group in the region.
- Their buffalo hunters were called the Araphoe. They also practiced an agricultural way of life by planting corn.
- In November 1864, a small village composed of them and their allies from the Cheyennes was controversially attacked by the Union Army under the command of Colonel John Chivington. This was later on called the Chivington Massacre or the Sand Creek Massacre.
Early History
- Most historians believe they first appeared around 3,000 years ago in the western region of the Great Lakes, along the Red River Valley that is now Manitoba, Canada, and Minnesota, United States.
- They were considered farmers who planted maize or corn.
- After the European colonization of eastern Canada before 1700, they were forced to migrate to the eastern Great Plains. With the early Cheyenne people, they began to form villages in the area.
- They initially used dogs to pull their travois, but when they made contact with other groups of people in the early 1700s, they acquired and learned to use horses as a pack and riding animals. They have lived nomadically since then, increasing their success in hunting on the Plains.
Division: Northern and Southern Groups
- They gradually moved southward to the point where they needed to be divided into Northern and Southern Arapaho while establishing a large joint territory from southern Montana to the southeast and ending in western Kansas.
- The majority of Wyoming, the Nebraska Panhandle, central and eastern Colorado, and western Oklahoma were included in the territory.
- They started living independently. The northern settlers became commonly known as the Gros Ventre, as named by the French. The name means “Big Bellies” in French, as misinterpreted by French explorers from an indigenous guide’s sign language.
- The Southern settlers frequently regard the Gros Ventre as inferior, referring to them as beggars by the name Hitunena.
Culture
- They spoke the Arapahoe language, one of the Plains Algonquian languages.
- Men were responsible for hunting, while women were in charge of food preparation and making clothing, bedding, saddles, and housing materials.
- Horses were primarily their source of food but were replaced by buffalo, where all meat, organs, and blood were consumed. The blood was either drunk or made into pudding.
- They were said to have social and spiritual roles to what we now know as the Two-Spirit or third gender. According to anthropologist Alfred Kroeber, some male-bodied individuals lived as women, known as the haxu’xan.
- Women wore moccasins, leggings, and ankle-length dresses with porcupine quills, paint, elk teeth, and beads as ornaments. Meanwhile, men wore moccasins and leggings with buckskin breechcloths and warrior necklaces.
Expansion on the Plains
- Their primary means of expansion were trade, warfare, and alliances.
Alliances
- They allied with the Cheyenne around 1811, allowing them to expand significantly their hunting territory.
- With the help of the Lakota, Dakota, and Cheyenne, they drove the Kiowa south and invaded the Comanche.
- The Comanche and Kiowa people joined forces with them and the Southern Cheyenne in 1840.
- Chief Little Raven, who helped mediate peace among the nomadic people of the southern plains, was their most notable chief.
- After gaining power through an alliance with the Comanche and Kiowa, they entered the Llano Estacado in the Texas Panhandle.
- They gradually adopted Comanche culture and language, eventually becoming Saria Tuhka, or “dog-eaters,” a Comanche band.
Trades
- They were active participants in the upper Missouri River trade. They bartered meat and hides for corn, squash, and beans with Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa farming villages.
- The Arikara dubbed them the “Colored Stone People” because of their traded gemstones.
- Because they hunted bison, the Hidatsa referred to them as “bison-path people” or the E-tah-leh.
- They used to freely enter trading posts, exchanging bison hides and beaver furs for European goods such as firearms.
- They mostly encountered fur traders in the Rocky Mountains, which led to them becoming well-known traders in the region.
Warfare
- The majority of their men aspired to be warriors. Their understanding of horseback riding quickly transformed them into master horsemen. They learned skills that allowed them to fight on horseback.
- They had more responsibilities in society than just fighting because they were expected to keep the camps peaceful while providing food and wealth for their families.
- Their military was based on age. Each age level is assigned to a society of prestigious warriors. As they grow older, they may be able to advance to the next society.
- They frequently painted themselves and their horses with war paint, each with a unique design symbolizing spiritual empowerment.
- Before going to war, they were organized into war parties of individual warriors and a chosen war chief.
- Their warriors fought in the east against the Pawnee, Omaha, Ho-chunk, Osage, Ponca, and Kaw.
- They fought the Crow, Blackfoot Confederacy, Gros Ventre, Flathead, Arikara, Iron Confederacy, Plains Cree, Saulteaux, and Nakoda in the north.
- Furthermore, they fought with the Eastern Shoshone and the Ute in the west.
- Finally, they fought the Navajo, Apache, and Pueblo people in the south.
- They also fought against US soldiers, miners, and settlers who attempted to invade different parts of their territory.
The Sand Creek Massacre by Chivington
Background
- Several isolated incidents of fighting occurred between them and American settlers.
- Their group of fifteen warriors was attacked by American troops on April 12, 1864, because they demanded a reward from the rancher after returning his mules. The warriors fought back and drove the troops away.
- Colonel John Chivington was informed of what had occurred but was told that the warriors had attacked first. In addition, 175 cattle heads have been reported stolen from the government.
- Chivington dispatched troops to find and punish the warriors.
- Soldiers set fire to villages in the hopes of killing the people, and violence escalated.
- Colorado Governor John Evans attempted to establish peace by offering them protection, but it was broken by General Curtis’ military expedition against groups of people that included them between the Platte and Arkansas Rivers.
- Curtis and his men never met them because they fled with the Cheyenne, believing that an all-out war of extermination was about to begin.
The Massacre
- In November 1864, the Colorado military, led by Colonel Chivington, massacred a small village of Aparaho and Cheyenne in Sand Creek, Colorado.
- Margaret Coel published the events surrounding the massacre in her book “Chief Left Hand,” a historical narrative about the killings, in 1981.
- A linguistically gifted chief of the Southern Aparaho was unaware of the treaty in exchange for the title to the land that Governor Evans desired.
- The warriors acted independently of the chief, raiding their supply lines as the Civil War demanded.
- It got so bad that Aparaho and Cheyenne elders, women, and children were ordered to leave their traditional wintering grounds and move to Fort Lyon for food and protection.
- Colonel Chivington accused the chief and his followers of violence when they arrived at Lyon, so they turned away and traveled a safe distance from the fort.
- Colonel Chivington was led to the camp where the chief and his followers were staying by a traitor, who attacked it early the following day.
- The camp was populated by elders, women, and children who refused to accept heroic recognition for the colonel’s attack. Furthermore, rather than being promoted, he was relieved of his duties.
Aftermath
- It infuriated the Arapaho and Cheyenne, resulting in three decades of war against the United States.
- Many battles in Colorado were fought as part of the Colorado War.
- Other battles in Kansas and Texas were also included in the Comanche Wars.
- The Battle of Julesburg, in which around 1,000 allied Northern Aparaho, Cheyenne, and Lakota fought against the US army, was one of the most notable wars in the Southern Plains.
- In the Battle of Platte Bridge, 3,000 Southern Arapaho, Northern Cheyenne, and Lakota warriors attacked soldiers and civilians.
- The Battle of Summit Springs in northern Colorado was the last major battle against the US.
Modern-Day Arapaho
- Today, approximately 7,000 Northern Arapaho live in the Wind River Reservation north of Lander, Wyoming, alongside approximately 3,500 Eastern Shoshone.
- The group owns and operates high-stakes, Class III gaming at various casinos after winning a court battle against the State of Wyoming in July 2005 while fighting for their right to enter the gambling industry.
- The Northern Arapaho Experience cultural room is in the Wind River Casino’s hotel.
Arapaho Tribe Worksheets
This bundle contains 11 ready-to-use Arapaho Tribe Worksheets that are perfect for students who want to learn more about the Arapaho (Hocak Pajoke), which are Native American people who originally lived on the eastern plains of Colorado and Wyoming and worked in collaboration with the Cheyenne people. Since the 1850s, the Arapaho have been divided into two groups: Northern and Southern Arapaho.
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List of Worksheets Included
- Arapaho Facts
- Tribe Divisions
- The Tepees
- Arapaho Leaders
- Moccasins
- War Bonnets
- Weaponry
- Enemies
- Territory
- Arapaho Food
- Religion and Beliefs
Frequently Asked Questions
What language does the Arapaho speak?
They spoke the Arapahoe language, one of the Plains Algonquian languages.
What happened to the Arapaho nation?
In November 1864, the Colorado military, led by Colonel Chivington, massacred a small village of Aparaho and Cheyenne in Sand Creek, Colorado. It infuriated the Arapaho and Cheyenne, resulting in three decades of war against the United States.
Where do the Arapaho live today?
Today, approximately 7,000 Northern Arapaho live in the Wind River Reservation north of Lander, Wyoming, alongside approximately 3,500 Eastern Shoshone.
What did the Arapaho nation believe in?
They were said to have social and spiritual roles to what we now know as the Two-Spirit or third gender. According to anthropologist Alfred Kroeber, some male-bodied individuals lived as women, known as the haxu’xan.
What are Arapaho Indians known for?
They were active participants in the upper Missouri River trade. They bartered meat and hides for corn, squash, and beans with Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa farming villages. They mostly encountered fur traders in the Rocky Mountains, which led to them becoming well-known traders in the region.
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Link will appear as Arapaho Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 23, 2017
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