Cheyenne Indian History Pt.4

The Sand Creek Massacre remains one of the least shining moments of American history, as the attack was motivated by the hunger for more land to accommodate the growing number of white settlers. Col. Chivington, continued shedding Cheyenne blood, killing as many as nine Chiefs, but he was not to be the last of their enemies; Gen. George A. Custer also attacked Black Kettle's Washita River village settlement in 1868, Black Kettle was killed, and his tribe was forced to flee, Custer's 7th cavalry also suffered casualties when other warriors came to defend the village.

The Southern and Northern Cheyenne were relocated to Oklahoma, to an area where there were few animals left to hunt, and soil that was too poor for raising crops; the government had promised to provide the Cheyenne with supplies, a promise that like many others before, was not kept. Dull Knife, also known as Chief Morningstar, a Northern Cheyenne leader and some of his men left the reservation to go hunting in the mountains, they were killed by Army troops. The Southern Cheyenne, who had managed to remain relatively peaceful later joined the fight against the white man's armies in the plains Indians uprising in 1874.

The Northern Cheyenne would later join the Dakota Indians and fight Gen. Custer one last time, in the famous Battle of Little Big Horn in 1876, which came to be known as Custer's last stand. A few months later, the US Army attacked once more, this time defeating the Indians.

Slowly, over the years that followed the wars and many conflicts, the Cheyenne population was decimated. Many died of disease and starvation, while others were killed by soldiers. The remaining Cheyenne, not strong enough in numbers to continue fighting, were eventually assimilated them into their culture, and indoctrinated into the Christian faith.

Some of the Southern Cheyenne who had refused to move from their land and consistently fought off invaders and outside influence, were eventually granted Federal recognition by the U.S. government, but this change did not come until America was well into the 1900s, with centuries old battles long relegated to the history books.

Today, the Cheyenne population has grown from what was only about a hundred survivors, into one tribe including nearly five thousand members, and owning two reservations. The Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho currently live in Oklahoma, while the Northern Cheyenne live on the Tongue River Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana.

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