Little Owl (

Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...

: Beah-at-sah-ah-tch-che) was a Northern Arapaho chief who signed the

Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851) The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nations. Also known as Horse Cree ...

. Disturbed by the ways in which the United States government neglected to honor their promises made in the treaty, Little Owl refused to participate in discussion and signing of the

Fort Wise Treaty The Treaty of Fort Wise of 1861 was a treaty entered into between the United States and six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and four of the Southern Arapaho Indian tribes. A significant proportion of Cheyennes opposed this treaty on the grounds th ...

Life

Little Owl was chief of the Long Legs band of the Northern Arapaho people. His relative, Sherman Sage, a later elder, described life among his family. People lived in family groups, generally of groupings of sisters. There were generally four bands of northern Arapaho: the Beavers, Greasy Faces, the Quick-to-anger, and the Long Legs or Antelopes. They lived a

hunter-gatherer A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...

lifestyle who moved together in groups throughout the seasons. They gathered with other groups for hunting and ceremonies, like the

Sun Dance The Sun Dance is a ceremony practiced by some Native Americans in the United States and Indigenous peoples in Canada, primarily those of the Plains cultures. It usually involves the community gathering together to pray for healing. Individuals ...

. There was one chief for each band and a head chief, usually of the Long Legs band. The head chief negotiated with leaders of other Native American tribes and whites. The head chief "possessed great influence over the whole; that his mandates were uniformly characterized by discretion and propriety, and were regarded by his subjects as inviolable laws." Little Owl followed Bear Claw as head chief. Little Owl's successor was Medicine Man.

Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851

Little Owl, a friendly middle-aged chief, was selected as the Arapaho head chief to sign the

. From the South Arapaho were Cute Nose and Big Man. Autho-nishah, an elder of the Arapaho nation, urged Little Owl and other signers to make a moral commitment to honor the provisions of the treaty. He said, "the Great Spirit is over us, and sees us all." Little Owl was respected by the white people who knew him. During negotiations, Little Owl and other Arapaho presented their positions with a conciliatory tone, as opposed to the Sioux, who gave "begging speeches". Little Owl wore a uniform of a high-ranking officer that was a gift from the United States government. The uniform identified him as a powerful Arapaho. Big Man and Little Owl signed the amended treaty for the Arapaho on August 31, 1853. Upon signing the treaty, the Northern Arapaho were a federally recognized tribe.

Broken promises

Arapaho chiefs - Raynolds expedition - 1859 or 1860

After 1851,

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day ...

became an interpreter for Little Owl. Little Owl's band consisted of 180 lodges who visited the surveying party of

Ferdinand V. Hayden Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden (September 7, 1829 – December 22, 1887) was an American geologist noted for his pioneering surveying expeditions of the Rocky Mountains in the late 19th century. He was also a physician who served with the Union Ar ...

and Captain

William F. Raynolds William Franklin Raynolds (March 17, 1820 – October 18, 1894) was an American explorer, engineer and U.S. army officer who served in the Mexican–American War and American Civil War. He is best known for leading the 1859–60 Raynolds Expedi ...

The Arapaho people had often camped at the confluence of Cherry Creek and the

South Platte River The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River. Flowing through the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska, it is itself a major river of the American Midwestern United States, Midwest and the American Sout ...

. With the

Pike's Peak Gold Rush The Pike's Peak Gold Rush (later known as the Colorado Gold Rush) was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 a ...

, miners settled in the area that became the city of Denver. The Arapahos had tried to live peacefully with white men. In the 1850s, the United States government broke their treaty agreements, which ruined the reputation of the friendly chiefs who had signed the 1851 treaty. Warriors were more revered. A newcomer to treaty negotiations, Medicine Man was selected as the Arapaho's spokesman at the 1859 treaty council. Other headmen in attendance were Little Owl,

Black Bear Black bear or Blackbear may refer to: Animals * American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), a North American bear species * Asian black bear (''Ursus thibetanus''), an Asian bear species Music * Black Bear (band), a Canadian First Nations group ...

, and Cut Nose.

Fort Wise Treaty

Little Owl refused to participate in the signing or recognition of the

Treaty of Fort Wise The Treaty of Fort Wise of 1861 was a treaty entered into between the United States and six chiefs of the Southern Cheyenne and four of the Southern Arapaho Indian tribes. A significant proportion of Cheyennes opposed this treaty on the grounds th ...

(1861). The Colorado bands of Arapahoes were ready to accept life on a reservation at Sand Creek, while Little Owl and Friday wished to continue to live along the

Cache la Poudre River The Cache la Poudre River ( ), also known as the Poudre River, is a river in the state of Colorado in the United States. Name The name of the river () is a corruption of the original Cache à la Poudre, or "cache of powder". It refers to an ...

in northern Colorado. Little Owl was still against moving his band of about 50 lodges to Sand Creek in 1863, when the reservation was established. There was no game on the land, and buffalo were 100 or more miles away. At the time, there was also dissension between the Northern and Southern Arapaho people. Starvation became a significant issue that caused concern that the Southern Arapaho might join the Sioux in a war against the whites. During the Sand Creek massacre of November 29, 1864, whites attacked an encampment of Arapaho and Cheyenne without provocation. After that, Arapaho became known as "war chiefs" for their wars against the whites in Colorado, Wyoming, and Kansas.

Popular culture

* A book of Native American chiefs and leaders.

References

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Little Owl Arapaho people People from Wyoming 19th-century Native Americans Native American leaders Wind River Indian Reservation Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown