Wild West Podcast

Cheyenne Chronicles: A Deeper Dive into the Bravery, Culture, and Conflicts of a Noble People

August 19, 2020 Michael King
Wild West Podcast
Cheyenne Chronicles: A Deeper Dive into the Bravery, Culture, and Conflicts of a Noble People
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Step back in time with us, to the unspoiled American plains of the 19th century, where the noble Cheyenne people thrived before the encroachment of the white man. We promise you an eye-opening exploration of their rich culture, their social structure and democratic government, and their strong connection with the great buffalo herds that sustained them. Discover their profound respect for their land and their unyielding determination to maintain control of it, even in the face of an equally determined adversary. And be prepared to examine closely the clashes and conflicts that ensued.

Our journey doesn't end there as we delve into the fascinating aspects of Cheyenne's honor and bravery. Have you ever heard of the ritual of touching the enemy? It's an act that was seen as the highest form of bravery, surpassing even killing or scalping an enemy. We will delve deep into this ritual, from preparing a scalp taught by an elder to filling a ceremonial pipe and offering prayers for the future. Allow us to guide you through this gripping narrative as we unlock the secrets of a people whose respect for the earth and for one another offers us timeless lessons in humility, courage, and honor.

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Speaker 1:

The Wild West podcast proudly presents the first of a five-part series on the early Cheyenne Indian Wars from 1857 to the 1868 Sheridan Winter Campaign. In part one of the series, the Ways of the Cheyenne People, is a depiction of the Cheyenne culture. Part one will provide the listener with a quick overview of the Cheyenne way of the southern plains. The southern plains of the 19th century were a broad expanse of level and almost treeless, semi-arid terrain covered by thick prairie grass. The plains supported an abundance of wildlife, including antelope, bison and deer. The bison, or American buffalo, was the most significant of all the plains' animals. A buffalo was essential to the plains' Indians' way of life. It yielded meat for food, hides for clothing and shelter, and bones for utensils and tools. Even dried buffalo droppings or buffalo chips provided a burnable fuel. The Comanche Coyowa and Coyowa Apache had migrated into the southern plains region in the early 18th century. The Cheyenne and Arapahos were new to the area, having more recently arrived during the 1830s. White immigrants began moving into the region in the 1850s. Ironically, the southern plains' fight was not so much a contest of indigenous Native Americans against the white invaders, but more of a conflict between two vastly different immigrant cultures. The southern plains' tribes were determined to retain control of the land and preserve their way of life. The determination to preserve the Indian way of life was an opposition to an equal determination on the part of the white man to possess the land. Both the determination and opposition over the land led to an unyielding conflict between the two cultures.

Speaker 1:

The Cheyenne people made up one of the largest tribes in the southern plains region during the mid-19th century. Before the 18th century, the Cheyenne lived in the Great Lakes region until more prominent tribes in that area forced them westward. Over time, the Cheyenne migrated toward the Black Hills and the Platte River Valley. Eventually, the extensive herds of buffalo roaming the plains attracted a division of the tribes southward, beyond the Platte River, into the Arkansas River Valley of today's southern Colorado and Kansas. By the mid-1800s the Cheyenne had rejected their fixed agricultural traditions and ultimately adopted the nomadic buffalo hunting culture. They substituted their earthen lodges with tepees and their diet changed from agrarian products to mainly buffalo meat. The Cheyenne flourished in the Arkansas River area up until the late 1840s. The war between the US and Mexico in 1846 caused expansive traffic onto the Santa Fe Trail, but most travelers passed unmolested through the Cheyenne territory. However, the discovery of gold in California caused swarms of miners throughout the Cheyenne lands. The gold prospectors were only moving through, but without realizing it, they brought cholera to the southern plains in 1849. The disease was crushing to the Cheyenne and may have reduced more than half of the southern Cheyenne population.

Speaker 1:

The Cheyenne society was democratic, with its social structure formed upon the family. They had a respect for individual freedoms, strengthened by reverence for the necessities of the people. In the Cheyenne Tribal Organization, the family was the primary social unit. A family grouping called a kindred began with the lodge of a family head, branched out with the lodges of his other wives and again with the daughter's lodges and their husbands. A band consisted of several closely associated kindred. There were ten leading bands and several subordinate bands. Each of the bands provided four chiefs who in turn selected four head chiefs thought to be the wisest.

Speaker 1:

In the tribe. The four chiefs from each band employed the same authority within their respective bands. When the tribe was scattered Of strong influence in the government of the tribe was the sentiment of the soldier bands. These were the police and chief fighting force of the tribe and at different times one or another band might possess a unique influence on account of its bravery, its success and the self-confidence which followed this success. The will of the people was the force they controlled. The chiefs, however great their power, seldom attempted to counter the public opinion. Usually the band joined in late spring or early summer for religious ceremonies and a communal buffalo hunt. After the hunt each of the bands would scatter for the winter. By October the bands might spread into even more modest groups to ensure the available local resources were adequate to survive the winter. In the spring the cycle would start all over again. A council of 44 provided the civil authority of the tribe. The council acted as a court and judge for the tribe and exercised influence over movement, locating campsites, determining times and places for tribal hunts and directing tribal religious ceremonies.

Speaker 1:

The Cheyennes made their camp in a circle, usually straddling a small creek or near a river. The circle of the camp had a break in the circle towards the east, where the sun rises. The opening of the teepee always faced the rising sun. Every band of the tribe had its exact appointed location. The Cheyennes, observing their traditional formalities, pitched a large-scale camp constructed of teepees. Warm in the winter, cool in the summer and sturdy enough to withstand gale force winds. The teepee is a remarkable dwelling. The teepee is perfectly fitted to the protection requirements of the roving buffalo hunters. This buffalo skinned tent was portable, quickly erected, waterproof and, owing to an ingenious wind-deflecting device of smoke flaps, well ventilated even with a burning fire inside.

Speaker 1:

The needs of a nomadic life did not allow the Cheyennes to camp together most of the year, and when they did, it could not be for an extended period. A single area could not provide enough food for such a large gathering, and their large herds of ponies would quickly eat all the grass around any large village site. The southern Cheyennes were never an immense nation. The eight-and-a-half bands on the southern plains believably numbered about 3,500 people. Of those, perhaps 60% were female and of the remaining 1,400 males, about 20% would have been children and another 20% older men. They were never more than about 850 warriors for all the southern Cheyennes. Their leaders were not vested with unlimited power. Instead, they governed through the power of influence and persuasion.

Speaker 1:

Coronado brought the first horses on the plains. The Coronado expedition started in Mexico to Kansas and almost to the Missouri River. De Soto mounted troops arrived in the area before Coronado crossed the Mississippi and almost reached the edge of the plains. Horses were lost by both expeditions and those that escaped found themselves in a favorable environment in which there were no natural enemies. Since there was nothing to check their increase, they multiplied astonishingly. As early as 1680, there were horses among the Pawnees and other tribes of the Missouri. Moreover, from that time on, horses spread with great rapidity from south to north.

Speaker 1:

The Spaniards in Mexico possessed vast herds, and while many of them were branded, many escaped the iron and became genuinely wild. These wild horses were captured by the Spaniards in various ways, usually in corrals, towards which the horses were driven between diverging wings until they entered the pen. They were seldom run down and captured with the rope. The Cheyennes secured their horses by capturing them from their enemies. In earlier days, as in the latter part of the 18th and first half of the 19th centuries, they captured many wild horses. Trained horse chasers devoted much of their time in capturing the wild horses. The horse chaser possessed swift and enduring horses, which were always kept in proper training so they should be strong, sturdy and long-winded. Horses were a valuable tool to carry out their way of life. The horse evolved into a necessary form of wealth. Although the Cheyennes cared for in bred horses to increase their herds, riding them from enemy tribes became the most expedient way to increase wealth. A man's and a family's wealth and status generally were calculated in horses.

Speaker 1:

The Cheyenne camps moved about from place to place following the buffalo. As a result of these animals' habits, a set of tribal laws began to govern the hunt. Since the Cheyennes depended on the buffalo for food, it was necessary to organize the hunting. The Cheyenne method of harvesting buffalo allowed for large quantities of food to be killed at one time. The second reason, and more importantly, the animals that were to furnish food should not be disturbed or frightened and so driven beyond the reach of the people.

Speaker 1:

The laws governing buffalo hunting developed slowly, but they long existed. Their utility was generally recognized and they were supported by public opinion. Their enforcement was in the hands of the soldier bands of the camp who rigidly carried them out when buffalo were plenty. Small parties or single individuals were not permitted to chase the buffalo alone. There was no individual hunting. When one man hunted buffalo, all joined in the chase. Anyone found going out alone and running buffalo was severely whipped by the soldiers with quirts, ramrods or bows. If the warrior was obstinate and persisted in disobeying the law, other members might cut up his lodge, chop up the poles and perhaps even kill his horses, which is equivalent to a hefty fine. Men who violated the law were beaten until they could hardly walk and could not get up out for several days. When the camp moved up near the mountains into a country where deer and elk were plentiful and there were only a few buffalo, each man was free to hunt as he pleased. However, if a hunter came upon a herd of buffalo in great numbers, he did not disturb them, for he knew it was wrong to do so. The chiefs decided when the buffalo surround was to be made. They gave their orders to the soldiers and from that time forward the soldiers had charge of the hunt. The day before the surround, it was bellowed throughout the village that all would chase buffalo on the morrow.

Speaker 1:

The Cheyenne men were all warriors. War was regarded as the noblest of pursuits. Moreover, from the earliest youth, boys were encouraged to excel in war. The youth were taught that no pleasure equaled the joy of battle, that success in the war brought respect and admiration of men, women and children. In the tribe, war was a worthy subject of courage, and any man who participated in war was brave. The Cheyenne believed that death and battle was not evil. Besides being glorious, such a death protected one from all the miseries that threatened later life and were inevitable to old age.

Speaker 1:

The motives which the Cheyenne go to war were a desire for glory, a wish to add to their positions or eagerness for revenge. The chief motive was the love for fighting which was instilled into them from early youth. Warfare was the traditional pathway to male honor and status. Therefore, blended within the tribal organization were various military societies. These societies were clubs or social groups responsible for community service and young men's training into warriors. There were four traditional societies. Each society had four elected chiefs. These chiefs were the principal war leaders for the tribe or the band's war leaders when the tribe was scattered.

Speaker 1:

The Cheyenne warriors were some of the best light cavallaries in the world. Before extensive contact with the white men, their weapons consisted of a bow, war club and lance. Over time, and with increased contact with the white men, firearms became popular weapons for them. The plains Indians had their style of warfare. Occasionally, the tribe or bands within the tribe conducted warfare against other tribes to control territory. However, it was more typical for small war parties to conduct raids to steal horses or cattle from other tribes or white settlers. The plains warrior recognized no non-combatants and would not hesitate to butcher an enemy. However, it was the concept of counting coup and obtaining honor that dominated Indian warfare. The practice of coup counting included performing brave deeds such as killing an enemy and scalping him. A more prestigious coup was showing disregard for risk by simply touching or striking an opponent. The number of coups a warrior counted determined a warrior's prestige among his peers.

Speaker 1:

Avoiding losses was another critical condition of the Indian way of war. Each warrior was a provider for his family. The loss of a warrior was crippling to the family and the death of several warriors could be overwhelming to the band or tribe. If a party returning from war had been successful, had taken horses, killed an enemy or counted a coup and had lost no men, they stopped at a little distance from the village to prepare for their entry. It was at this place that they often painted their robes painting the war robes, they called it. The edge of the buffalo robes were trimmed off evenly. Strips of wolf hide about two inches wide were prepared, and some man who had before had his robes thus ornamented was called on to sew a border of wolfskin. All about the robes, the quality most highly esteemed among the Indians of the plains was courage, and the warrior he displayed the greatest courage was he who brought back the most glory from the war path.

Speaker 1:

The most notable achievement of an Indian was the taking of a scalp. To kill an enemy, or scalp them or strike an enemy alive or dead were considered three brave deeds which were all equally praiseworthy. Among the plains tribes, killing an enemy was immeasurable in so far as it reduced the number of hostile parties. However, otherwise, the act was regarded as relatively unimportant. To scalp an enemy was not a notable feat and in no sense especially credible. When an enemy was scalped, the skin of the head was taken merely as a trophy. A scalp was something to show, something to dance over, a good thing, but of no great importance. However, to touch the enemy was something held in hand. Bare hand or part of the body was proved from bravery.

Speaker 1:

The touching of the enemy entitled the warrior to the highest credit. When an enemy was killed, each warrior nearest to him tried to be the first to reach him and touch him. This ritual usually occurred by striking the body with something held in hand a gun, bow, whip or stick. Those who followed raced up and struck the body as many as might desire to do so. Anyone who wished might scalp the dead. In many instances no one could be certain who killed a particular enemy. While some boy might be told to take off a scalp, the chief applause was won by the man who could first touch the fallen enemy.

Speaker 1:

The general opinion that the act of scalping reflects credit on the warrior has no foundation. The belief perhaps arose from the fact that when an enemy was killed or wounded, two brave Indians rushed toward him. White observers have very likely inferred that those who were rushing upon an enemy were eager to take his scalp. The Cheyenne cared little for the scalp but very much for the credit of touching the falling man. When, on the warpath the scalp had been taken by a young Cheyenne who had never before scalped an enemy, he needed to be taught how to treat the scalp and prepare it for transportation to the village. An elder in the tribe provided instructions on how to care for the scalp. During the ceremony. A pipe was filled, lit and held toward the sky and to the ground. Then the stem was held toward the scalp and a prayer was made asking for further good.

Cheyenne Culture and Way of Life
The Importance of Touching the Enemy