The Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation ( chy, Tsėhéstáno; formerly named the Tongue River) is the
federally recognized
This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...
Northern
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
tribe. Located in southeastern
Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...
, the
reservation is approximately in size and home to approximately 5,000 Cheyenne people. The tribal and government headquarters are located in
Lame Deer
Lame Deer (1821-1877), also called "The Elk that Whistles Running," was a first chief of the Miniconjou Lakota (trans. "They who plant by the water") and vice chief of the Wakpokinyan (trans. "To Fly along the river") band.
Biography
Lame Deer ...
, also the home of the annual Northern Cheyenne
pow wow
A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or pu ...
.
The reservation is bounded on the east by the
Tongue River and on the west by the
Crow Reservation. There are small parcels of non-contiguous off-reservation trust lands in
Meade County, South Dakota
Meade County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 29,852. Its county seat is Sturgis. The county was created in 1889 and named for Fort Meade, which was garrisoned as a United St ...
, northeast of the city of
Sturgis. Its timbered ridges that extend into northwestern
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...
are part of
Custer National Forest
Custer National Forest is located primarily in the south central part of the U.S. state of Montana but also has separate sections in northwestern South Dakota. With a total area of , the forest comprises over 10 separate sections. While in the wes ...
and it is approximately east of the site of the 1876
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...
.
According to tribal enrollment figures as of March 2013, there were approximately 10,050 enrolled tribal members, of which about 4,939 were residing on the reservation,
with approximately 91% of the population Native American (full or part
blood quantum
Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to establ ...
) and 72.8% identifying as Cheyenne. Slightly more than a quarter of the population five years or older spoke a language other than English.
Members of the
Crow Nation
The Crow, whose Exonym and endonym, autonym is Apsáalooke (), also spelled Absaroka, are Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans living primarily in southern Montana. Today, the Crow people have a federally recognized tribe, th ...
also live on the reservation.
Demographics
Traditional
Cheyenne
The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
spiritual culture, like most traditional
Indigenous
Indigenous may refer to:
*Indigenous peoples
*Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention
*Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band
*Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
spiritual ways, values the peoples' connection to their landbase, and sees the land itself, as well as special sites like
Bear Butte
Bear Butte is a geological laccolith feature located near Sturgis, South Dakota, United States, that was established as a State Park in 1961. An important landmark and religious site for the Plains Indians tribes long before Europeans reached Sout ...
, as sacred. Numerous Cheyenne work as foresters and fire fighters. This spiritual perspective is evident in traditional communities like Lame Deer and Birney and when the 2006 vote on development coal and
coalbed methane
Coalbed methane (CBM or coal-bed methane), coalbed gas, coal seam gas (CSG), or coal-mine methane (CMM) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, Au ...
on the reservation split along modernist vs traditional lines.
A historical buffalo jump, burial sites of Cheyenne chiefs and spiritual leaders, the site of
Custer
George Armstrong Custer (December 5, 1839 – June 25, 1876) was a United States Army officer and cavalry commander in the American Civil War and the American Indian Wars.
Custer graduated from West Point in 1861 at the bottom of his class, b ...
's last camp before the
Battle of the Little Bighorn
The Battle of the Little Bighorn, known to the Lakota and other Plains Indians as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, and also commonly referred to as Custer's Last Stand, was an armed engagement between combined forces of the Lakota Sioux, Nor ...
, the Cheyenne Indian Museum, Ten Bears Gallery,
St. Labre Indian School, and the Ashland
Powwow
A powwow (also pow wow or pow-wow) is a gathering with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Powwows today allow Indigenous people to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or pu ...
are sites of special interest in the Ashland area.
The Northern Cheyenne are related to the
Southern Cheyenne
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes are a united, federally recognized tribe of Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne people in western Oklahoma.
History
The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct histories. The Cheyenne (Tsi ...
, who are located in
Oklahoma
Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...
. Following the
Black Hills War
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred in 1876 and 1877 in an alliance of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne against the United States. The cause of the war was the ...
and earlier conflicts in
Colorado
Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...
(see
Sand Creek Massacre and
Washita Massacre
The Battle of Washita River (also called Battle of the Washita or the Washita Massacre) occurred on November 27, 1868, when Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer's 7th U.S. Cavalry attacked Black Kettle's Southern Cheyenne camp on the Washita Rive ...
), the Northern Cheyenne were forcibly moved to Oklahoma and restricted to lands of their southern relatives. Unable to acclimate swiftly to the heat of western Oklahoma (
Indian Territory
The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United St ...
at the time), having to grow their food instead of hunting or gathering as were their ways, and the brutal conditions in the barracks where they were held, the northerners quickly began dying. In desperation, a small band left the reservation and headed north in 1878, an odyssey that came to be known as the
Northern Cheyenne Exodus
The Northern Cheyenne Exodus, also known as Dull Knife's Raid, the Cheyenne War, or the Cheyenne Campaign, was the attempt of the Northern Cheyenne to return to the north, after being placed on the Southern Cheyenne reservation in the Indian Terr ...
.
The Northern Cheyenne briefly settled around
Fort Keogh
Fort Keogh is a former United States Army post located at the western edge of modern Miles City, Montana, Miles City, in the U.S. state of Montana. It is situated on the south bank of the Yellowstone River, at the mouth of the Tongue River (Montan ...
(
Miles City, Montana
Miles City ( chy, Ma'xemâhoévé'ho'eno) is a city in and the county seat of Custer County, Montana, United States. The population was 8,354 at the 2020 census.
History
After the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, the U.S. Army created fo ...
). In the early 1880s, many families began to migrate south to the
Tongue River watershed area and established homesteads in the northern edge of the
Powder River Basin
The Powder River Basin is a geologic structural basin in southeast Montana and northeast Wyoming, about east to west and north to south, known for its extensive coal reserves. The former hunting grounds of the Oglala Lakota, the area is very s ...
, which they considered their natural home. The Northern Cheyenne were allies of the
Lakota
Lakota may refer to:
*Lakota people, a confederation of seven related Native American tribes
*Lakota language, the language of the Lakota peoples
Place names
In the United States:
*Lakota, Iowa
*Lakota, North Dakota, seat of Nelson County
*Lakota ...
in the
Black Hills War
The Great Sioux War of 1876, also known as the Black Hills War, was a series of battles and negotiations that occurred in 1876 and 1877 in an alliance of Lakota Sioux and Northern Cheyenne against the United States. The cause of the war was the ...
of 1876–1877.
The United States government established the Tongue River Indian Reservation, which consisted of of land, under the executive order given by President
Chester A. Arthur
Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 21st president of the United States from 1881 to 1885. He previously served as the 20th vice president under President James ...
on November 16, 1884. The boundaries originally did not include the Cheyenne who had homesteaded further east near the Tongue River, therefore those people who had were helped by the St. Labre Catholic Mission. This changed though when on March 19, 1900,
President William McKinley extended the reservation to the west bank of the Tongue River, for a total of . Those Cheyenne who had homesteaded east of the Tongue River were relocated to reservation lands west of the river.
Communities and neighborhoods
Lame Deer, Montana
Lame Deer (Meaveʼhoʼeno in Cheyenne) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The community is named after Miniconjou Lakota chief Lame Deer, who was killed by the U.S. Army in 1877 under a flag of truce sout ...
, with about 4,000 residents, of which 92% are American Indian, is the capital of the Northern Cheyenne nation.
Chief Dull Knife College
Chief Dull Knife College is a public tribal land-grant community college on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Lame Deer, Montana. It is an open-admission college with about 141 students. On average, more than half of its graduates move ...
is located there. To the west is
Muddy, Montana
Muddy or Heóvonėheo'hé'e (Muddy Creek. Lit: yellow-paint-creek) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Big Horn County, Montana, United States and home to the Heóvonėheo'hé'etaneo'o or Heóvonêheo'he'é-taneno (″Muddy Creek people″) Che ...
, with about 600 residents, 94% American Indian, and further west
Busby, Montana
Busby is a census-designated place (CDP) in Big Horn County, Montana, United States. It is on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. The population was 745 at the 2010 census.
Description
The town is approximately northeast of the site of the B ...
, with about 700 residents, 90% American Indian. Busby was the site of the Tongue River Boarding School, opened in 1904. The school would later become quite active in
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...
, with their team playing a winning game against the
Harlem Globetrotters
The Harlem Globetrotters are an American exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, and comedy in their style of play. Created in 1926 by Tommy Brookins in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name ''Harlem'' because of i ...
and winning a state championship in the 1950s. The Busby White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church is located in Busby. In 1976 the reservation had 2400 people and
Marie Sanchez
Marie Elena Brady Sanchez (born Juanita Marie Brady, ''Cheyenne'': ''Otseohtse’e''; April 30, 1939 - August 9, 2019), was an American Cheyenne, Chief Judge of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, a human rights activist for indigenous people and a ling ...
was the Chief Judge.
Ashland, Montana
Ashland is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 464 at the 2000 census. Ashland is immediately east of the boundary of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation and also along the Tongue Ri ...
, is to the east. In 1884 a Catholic boarding school, the
St. Labre Indian School, was established there.
[Page 91, ''We, the Northern Cheyenne People'', accessed September 20, 2009] The 460 residents of Ashland are about 75% American Indian. They are also very active in basketball. When
Busby became part of their district, they had notable rivalry basketball games in the late 1940s and on.
Birney, Montana
Birney is a census-designated place (CDP) in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 108 at the 2000 census.
The post office was established in 1886.
History
The nearby town of Ashland was called Birney, the name of the pos ...
, population about 100, 86% Indian, is south of Lame Deer and Ashland. Part of Birney, "White Birney", lies south of the reservation.
Colstrip, Montana
Colstrip is a city in Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 2,096 at the 2020 census. Established in 1924 and incorporated as a city in 1998, Colstrip is the largest city in Rosebud County with 25.2% of the total populatio ...
, is a neighboring industrial city devoted to coal mining and electrical generation. Located 20 miles north of the reservation, it has a population of about 2,300 residents, of which approximately 240, or 11%, are American Indians. It is also where some Cheyenne attend public school or live for work.
Major employers within the community that contribute to the economy on the reserve include St. Labre Indian School, power and construction companies, the federal and tribal governments, farming and ranching, small businesses, and the education system.
Education
Chief Dull Knife College
Chief Dull Knife College is a public tribal land-grant community college on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Lame Deer, Montana. It is an open-admission college with about 141 students. On average, more than half of its graduates move ...
, originally named
Dull Knife Memorial College
Chief Dull Knife College is a public tribal land-grant community college on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Lame Deer, Montana. It is an open-admission college with about 141 students. On average, more than half of its graduates move ...
, is an open admission
Native American tribal
community college
A community college is a type of educational institution. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an "open enrollment" for students who have graduated from high school (also known as senior sec ...
and
land grant institution
A land-grant university (also called land-grant college or land-grant institution) is an institution of higher education in the United States designated by a state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890.
Signed by Abraha ...
. It is located on the reservation, in Lame Deer, and has a current enrollment of 141 students. On average, more than half of the graduates move on to four-year colleges. The college is accredited by the
Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities. ...
. It is member of the
American Indian Higher Education Consortium
The American Indian Higher Education Consortium (AIHEC) was established in 1972 to represent the interests of the newly developed tribal colleges, which are controlled and operated by American Indian nations. The four founders were Gerald One F ...
and
American Association of Community Colleges The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), headquartered in the National Center for Higher Education building in Washington, D.C., is the primary advocacy organization for community colleges at the national level and works closely wit ...
.
Northern Cheyenne Tribal School is the reservation's tribal school located in Busby, MT.
The reservation is the recipient of a 2010
Promise Neighborhoods Promise Neighborhoods is a United States Department of Education program authorized under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The Promise Neighborhoods program is based on the experience of programs such as the Harlem Children's Zone. The program's mis ...
grant from the
United States Department of Education
The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...
, through the local
Boys & Girls Clubs of America
Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) is a national organization of local chapters which provide voluntary after-school programs for young people. The organization, which holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code, ...
.
The St.Labre Catholic boarding school is also on the reserve and educates children in pre-K-12. It serves nearly 450 students and embraces the North American culture while also celebrating catholic faith and educating children. They integrate North American culture within the school curriculum allowing for formal education to take place in addition to cultural education. Along with the school, this facility also runs a Shiloh Youth Group Home, Childcare Center, Community Outreach Services, Elderly Outreach Services, and a Work Incentive Program. These programs along with the school aim to educate the community members ad provide them with skills in order to become independent in any way they need. There is also a St. Labre museum which houses important Cheyenne artifacts and aims to display history of the culture and language in hopes people with learn from it.
Notable Northern Cheyenne people
References
Sources
''We, the Northern Cheyenne People''Northern Cheyenne Reservation and Off-Reservation Trust Land, Montana/South DakotaUnited States Census Bureau
External links
*
"Bringing the Story of the Cheyenne People to the Children of Today" Montana state curriculum, 218-page pdf
{{authority control
Cheyenne tribe
American Indian reservations in Montana
American Indian reservations in South Dakota
Buffalo jumps
Federally recognized tribes in the United States
Geography of Big Horn County, Montana
Geography of Meade County, South Dakota
Geography of Rosebud County, Montana
1884 establishments in Montana Territory