Language: Arapaho
Language Family: Algonquian
Traditional Culture: Plains (hunted buffalo, lived in tipis, moved nomadically, relied heavily on horses)
Traditional Religion: Plains (Sun Dance, sweat lodges, vision quests, belief in single Creator)
Traditional Territory: north of Arkansas R, south of Platte R, west to Continental Divide, east to Kansas and Nebraska (1851 Ft. Laramie Treaty)
Major Conflicts: Sand Creek and aftermath (1864-65); Southern Plains conflict and Washita River (1867-68); Bates Battle, WY (1874)
Reservation Era Began: 1878 (Wyoming); 1869 (Oklahoma)
Current Locations: Wind River Reservation, Wyoming (Northern Arapaho Tribe); western Oklahoma (Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribe)
Population: 7000 enrolled (north); 13,000 enrolled Cheyenne and Arapaho (south)
Status of Language: virtually no speakers in Oklahoma; a few hundred speakers aged 55 and over in Wyoming
Principal Population Centers: Ethete, Arapahoe, St. Stephens and Riverton, WY; El Reno and Concho, OK
Economic Bases: In Wyoming: mineral development, leasing of land for ranching and farming, tribal government and school system, casino under construction; In Oklahoma: tribal government, casinos, participation in local agricultural economy
Educational Institutes: Wind River Tribal College, Ethete, WY (2 year program)
Government: Tribal Councils (6-person in Wyoming, 8-person in Oklahoma, with 4 Arapahos and 4 Cheyennes)
Contemporary Religion: various Christian denominations; Native American Church; traditional religion
The Arapaho Flag: Click on the flag to learn more about it and its meanings
to the Arapaho,
in webpages contributed by Lisa Yawakia of the Wind River Reservation.
