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Cheyenne Indian
Tribal Divisions
Other names, not
commonly recognized as divisional names, are:
(a) Moqtávhaitä'niu, 'black men,' i. e. `Ute' (sing., Moqtávhaitän).
To the Cheyenne and most other Plains tribes the Ute are known as
'Black men' or 'Black people.' A small band, apparently not a
recognized division, of the same name is still represented among the
Southern Cheyenne, and, according to Grinnell, also among the Northern
Cheyenne. They maybe descended from Ute captives and perhaps
constituted a regular tribal division.
(b) Ná'kuimána, 'bear people'; a small band among the Southern
Cheyenne taking its name from a former chief and not recognized as
properly constituting a division.
(c) Anskówǐnǐs, 'narrow nose-bridge,' a band of Sioux admixture and of
recent origin, taking its name from a chief, properly named Broken
Dish, but nicknamed Anskówǐnǐs. They separated from the O'mǐ'sǐs on
account of a quarrel, probably, as Grinnell states, a dispute as to
the guardianship of the sacred buffalohead cap, a stolen horn from
which is now in possession of one of the band in the south. They are
represented among both the Northern and the Southern Cheyenne.
(d) Pǐ'nûtgû' ' Pe'nätĕ`ka' (Comanche). This is not properly a
divisional or even a band name, but was the contemptuous name given by
the hostile Cheyenne in 1874-75 to the "friendlies," under Whirlwind,
who remained passive near the agency at Darlington, in allusion to the
well-known readiness of the Penateka Comanche to sell their services
as scouts against their own tribesmen on the plains.
(e) Máhoyum, 'red tipi'; this name, in the form Miayuma, 'red lodges,'
is erroneously given in the Clarke MS., in possession of Grinnell, as
the name of a band or division, but is really only the name of a
heraldic tipi belonging by heredity to a family of the Hó'nowa
division, now living with the Southern Cheyenne.
(f) Wóopotsǐ't (Wóhkpotsīt, Grinnell), 'white wolf' (?) A numerous
family group taking its name from a noted common ancestor, in the
southern branch of the tribe, who died about 1845. The name literally
implies something having a white and frosty appearance, as hide
scrapings or a leaf covered with frost.
(g) Totoimana (Tūtoimanáh, Grinnell), 'backward or shy clan,' a modern
nickname applied by the Northern Cheyenne to a band on Tongue river,
"because they prefer to camp by themselves" (Grinnell). From the same
root comes toto, 'crawfish,' referring to its going backward (Petter).
(h) Black Lodges. A local designation or nickname for those Northern
Cheyenne living in the neighborhood of Lame Deer "because they are on
friendly terms with the band of Crows known as Black Lodges"
(Grinnell, ibid.).
(i) Ree band. A local designation or nickname for those Northern
Cheyenne living about Rosebud creek, "because among them there are
several men who are related to the Rees" (Grinnell, ibid.).
(j) Yellow Wolf bond (Culbertson, Jour., 1850). From another reference
this is seen to be only a temporary band designation from a chief of
that name.
(k) Half breed band (Culbertson, Jour., 1850). Probably only a
temporary local designation, perhaps from a chief of that name
(Mooney).
The Warrior Organization (Nŭ'tqiu, 'warriors,'
'soldiers'; sing., Nŭtaq) of the Cheyenne is practically the same as
found among the Arapaho, Kiowa, and most other Plains tribes (see
Military Societies), and consists of the following 6 societies, with
possibly one or more extinct:
(1) Hotámitä'nio, 'dog men';
(2) Woksíhitänio, `(kit) fox men,' alias Mótsónitänio, `flint men';
(3) HT'moiyogTs 'pointed-lance men' (Petter) or Oomi-nfitcliu, `coyote
warriors';
(4) Miihohlv;is, `red shield,' alias Hotoanu'tgiu, `buffalo hull
warriors'; (5) Himátanóhis, `bowstring (men)';
(6) Hotam-ǐmsáw', `crazy dogs.' This last society is of modern origin.
Besides these the members of the council of 44
chiefs were sometimes considered to constitute in themselves another
society, theVǐ'hiyo, 'chiefs.' The equivalent list given by Clark
(Ind. Sign Lang.), omitting No. 6, is Dog, Fox, Medicine Lance, Bull,
Bowstring, and Chief. There seems to have been no fixed rule of
precedence, but the Hotámitä'niu, or "Dog soldiers" as they came to be
known to the whites, acquired most prominence and distinctive
character from the fact that by the accession of the entire warrior
force of the Masǐ"kota division, as already noted, they, with their
families, took on the character of a regular tribal division with a
place in the tribal circle. From subsequent incorporation by
intermarriage of numerous Sioux, Arapaho, and other alien elements
their connection with their own tribe was correspondingly weakened,
and they formed the habit of camping apart from the others and acting
with the Sioux or as an independent body. They were known as the most
aggressive of the hostiles until defeated, with the loss of their
chief, Tall Bull, by Gen. Carr's forces in 1869.
Consult Clark, Ind. Sign Lang. (articles, Cheyenne and
Soldier), 1885; Culbertson in Smithson. Rep. 1850, 1851; Dorsey, The
Cheyenne, Field Columb. Mus. Publ., Anthrop. ser., ix, nos. 1 and 2,
1905; Grinnell, various letters and published papers, notably Social
Org. of the Cheyenne, in Proc. Internat. Cong. Americanists for 1902,
1905; Hayden, Etllnog. and Philol. Mo. Val., 1862; Indian Treaties,
eds. 1837, 1873; Lewis and Clark, Exped., various editions; Margry, 1)
couvertes, 11, 1877; Maximilian, Travels, 1843; Mooney (1) Ghost Dance
Religion, 14th Rep. B. A. E., 1896, (2) Calendar Hist. of the Kiowa,
17th Rep. B. A. E., 1898, (3) Cheyenne MS., B. A. E.; Reports of the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs; War Dept. Rec. of Engagements with
Hostile Inds., 1882; Williamson in Minn. Hist. Soc. Coll. 1, 1872.
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Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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