Nawat
('Left-hand' ). The principal chief of the Southern Arapaho since the
death of Little Raven (q. v.) in 1889.
He was born about 1840, and because noted as a warrior
and buffalo hunter, taking active part in the western border wars
until the treaty of Medicine Lodge in 1867, since which time his
people, as a tribe, have remained at peace with the whites.
In 1890 he took the lead in signing the allotment
agreement opening the reservation to white settlement, notwithstanding
the Cheyenne, in open council, had threatened death to anyone who
signed. He several times visited Washington in the interest of his
tribe. Having become blind, he has recently resigned his authority to
a younger man.
Little Raven
(Hósa, 'Young Crow'). An Arapaho
chief.
He was first signer, for the Southern Arapaho, of the
treaty of Fort Wise, Colo., Feb. 18, 1861. At a later period he
took part with the allied Arapaho and Cheyenne in the war along
the Kansas border, but joined in the treaty of Medicine Lodge,
Kansas, in 1867, by which these tribes agreed to go on a
reservation, after which treaty all his effort was consistently
directed toward keeping his people at peace with the Government
and leading then to civilization.
Through his influence the body of the Arapaho remained
at peace with the whites when
their allies, the Cheyenne and Kiowa, went on the
warpath in 1874-75.
Little Raven died at Cantonment, Okla., in the winter
of 1889, after having maintained for 20 years a reputation as the
leader of the progressive element. He was succeeded by Nawat,
'Left-hand'.
