Arapaho

Member of an American Indian people who moved from Minnesota and North Dakota to the upper Missouri River area in the 17th century, where they became close allies of the Cheyenne. Their language belongs to the Algonquian family. Originally a farming people in the eastern woodlands, they acquired horses and adopted the nomadic existence of the Plains Indians, hunting buffalo, and raiding other peoples and Anglo-American settlers. They also became known as great traders. The Arapaho now live on reservations in Wyoming and Oklahoma, and number about 5,000 (1990).

Like other Plains Indians, the Arapaho practised the sun dance and had secret societies that were military clubs for creating war rituals and ceremonies. They believed in medicine bundles, which contained objects thought to have magical or healing powers, for example special pipes or hoops. They lived in tepees and hunted and raided in small bands.

Although allies of the Cheyenne, the Arapaho were enemies of the Shoshone, Ute, and Pawnee with whom they constantly fought. They also fought to protect their land from white settlers. By 1835 the Arapaho had split into two groups, the Northern Arapaho remaining on the Platte River, Wyoming and in Montana, and the Southern Arapaho moving to the Arkansas River, Colorado. In 1867 the Southern Arapaho signed the Treaty of Medicine Lodge, and were given a reservation in Oklahoma with the Cheyenne; the Northern Arapaho were assigned to a reservation in Wyoming along with the Shoshone. Many of the remaining Arapaho live on the same reservations today; some now make a living in the gaming or casino industry.