Cheyenne Indians History and Culture

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The Cheyenne people

The Cheyenne people refer to the American Indians whose ancestral land lies on the western side of the Mississippi river. Economically they are pastoralists, hunters and gatherers. Socially, they live in villages while the community has clans, which separate the families.

Politically, they have tribal councils, which ensure peace within the community. The next discussion summarizes the social, cultural, economic and political structures of the Cheyenne Indians, expounding on the impact of European exploration on their lifestyle.

The Cheyenne Indians migrated to new places depending on their needs. For instance, economic affairs like trade and hunting, invasion of their land by the whites, and their nomadic lifestyle also propelled them to change their homesteads frequently (Hoebel 4).

According to the anthropological data, the Cheyenne Indians had different identification or names, which depended on the people they encountered. Some of the names used to refer to them include, Chaa, Shahiyena and Shahiela amongst others (Hoebel 2).

Depending on the area of settlement, all the names had meanings. Initially, they migrated from their ancestral land for trading purposes. La Salle, a French explorer, was one of the men they relied on to initiate trading activities in their community.

However, because of lack of tools used in shaving animal fur, they had to seek assistance from the European manufacturers. In addition to depending on the game meat, they also survived on wild rice from the nearby river, as well as fruits from the nearby forests.

They constructed their houses using earth and barks of tree. On the other hand, some external forces like war with other communities or tribes like Ojibwa, Ute, Comanche, Kiowa and Chippewa encouraged them to, not only form military groups, but also acquire horses and guns for defense purposes (Hoebel 8).

Luckily, when the United States intervened on the territorial issue, it divided the Cheyenne Indians into two groups the Southern and Northern depending on their location.

The Cheyenne Indians had so many cultural ceremonies like the renewal of the arrow, which takes four days to complete. The Cheyenne Indians had medicine men and chief priests who presided over most of the community rituals (Hoebel 20).

The renewal of the sacred arrow promoted unity among the people, sanctified them and preached to the people to respect the norms of the community for their prosperity. Furthermore, it was to emphasize the unique powers and the superiority of the chief priests and the prophets in the community.

Secondly, the sun dance is a symbol of purity or new world. The ritual takes about eight days. Each day has distinct ritual that people should perform. Some of the hallmarks in the ceremony include the multiplier, the erect horns and the sacred mountain.

The third ceremony is the animal dance, which ensures the success of the hunting exercise, as well as victory during wars. The ceremony takes about four days. However, unlike the arrow renewal ceremony, women have a role to play during the ritual process.

Socially, a family was a prominent structure in the culture. The conduct of girls and women was the centre of the family. Adolescent girls and boys did not associate to ensure purity among girls. Suitors could only approach girls but not seduce them.

Therefore, there were strict rules and regulations concerning marriages and dowry was a mandatory practice. There was a division of families depending on their social status. Property ownership, the character of both the female and male people in the family and the ability to raid other communities are some of the features, which categorized a composite family as either rich or poor.

There was Kinship in the family and the family traditions and norms, which the family had to abide by strictly. The men were the heads of the families and women had to be submissive. Women who deviated from the normal traditions had to face punishment through whipping or excommunication.

There was a division of the families into Kindred, camps or bands depending on the number of people/primary or families present. Each division lays out rules on, which the members have to abide by. The kindred and camps form military personnel whose main role is to protect the community against external invasion.

Some of the military structures included Elk, fox, shield and bowstring. The military groups had a different number of warriors with a certain role to play within the society. In addition, there was a tribal council, which presided over all the social, economic and political activities of the community.

The council of chiefs solved both internal and external conflicts. They also ensured that peace prevailed in the community. The chiefs had certain virtues like generosity, solidarity and wise among others, which qualified them as leaders.

Furthermore, the Cheyenne Indians had public laws, which assisted in solving the internal and externals conflicts. The laws ensured there was unity in the community by solving the internal problems. Most of the cases involved murder cases, marital problems, conflicts over property and behavioral.

The law and justice structure allowed for reforming of the existing laws, enforcement of the society’s law and the use of military personnel and passing justice. There was a distinction on the roles of women and men and rarely misunderstandings ensued between the parties.

Women were subsistence farmers who provided vegetables and other forms of grains while men were hunters and gatherers. The need for hunting ground always raised animosity between Cheyenne Indians and their neighbors. Consequently, the community instilled military tactics and bravery among its men to promote victory.

Although they had inferior weapons compared to their enemies, the Cheyenne soldiers always showed bravery because of the reward that lie ahead on any victorious battle out victorious.

As earlier mentioned, the Cheyenne Indians had religious and ritual practices. They had religious men like the medicine men who presided over both traditional practices and prayers. All the cultural and religious practices were not only sacred but also practiced in sacred places like on certain mountains.

The social and cultural practices spelled out the personality of both men and women. In the mid to late nineteenth century, the Americans explorers, traders and missionary invaded the Cheyenne Indians homestead, which led to changes in their lifestyle (Hoebel 119).

The presence of whites and the mining of gold led to the outbreak of diseases like cholera. After the war, the Cheyenne Indians signed a treaty in 1851 with the whites. However, two years later, a war ensued and there was signing of the second treaty in 1861 fort wise treaty (Hardorff 20).

The treaties interfered with the social, economic and politics structures of the natives because they had to live under the rule of the Americans. Besides farming and education, they also had to adopt Christianity abandoning their culture. Their dressing styles and languages changed due to the invasion of the Americans.

Personally, reading about the Cheyenne Indians has enlightened me on their traditional practices, lifestyle and political structures. Besides being the natives of the Western side of the Mississippi river, they are also among the important people in the American history.

First, I have learned about the reasons for their migration from the ancestral lands and they include search for new hunting grounds, adventure and after external invasion from other communities. Economically, they relied on game meat, wild fruits, vegetables and wild rice for food. Second, the family is the most influential social structure among the Cheyenne Indians and each family member had a unique role to play.

Some of the cultural practices were also religious rites. The political structure includes the tribal council, law and justice and the military group. However, the invasion of the whites did not only interfere with their social, economic and political settings but also forced them to acquire new economic practices like blacksmith.

Christianity took over their traditional rituals and religion. In the contemporary society, the Cheyenne Indians call themselves the morning star people and economically they have large depots of coal used for generation of electricity. Finally, through archaeology, the history of the Cheyenne Indians is clear to the contemporary world (Haviland et al. 10) as it is the case in the above discussion.

Historically, the Cheyenne Indians are among the natives of the United States of America. Besides their nomadic lifestyle, the invasion of the whites into their homeland did not only disrupt their cultural heritage but also changed their economic, political and social features. However, in the contemporary society globalization has utterly interfered with their culture.

Works Cited

Hardorff, Richard. Cheyenne memories of the Custer fight. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. Print.

Haviland, William, Harald, Prins, and Walrath, Dana. The Essence of Anthropology. United State: Wadsworth Publishing Company, 2009. Print.

Hoebel, Adamson. The Cheyennes: Indians of the Great Plains (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology. United States: Wadsworth Company, 1978. Print.

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Cheyenne Indians History and Culture

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