Descriptive Catalogue of Photographs of North American IndiansJackson, William Henry
History
Descriptive Catalogue of Photographs of North American Indians
Jackson, William Henry
Indians of North America -- Biography; Indians of North America -- Portraits -- Catalogs
"Very little is known of the early history of the Arapahos, but are
supposed by some to be the Querechos of the early Spanish explorers.
They called themselves Atsinas, of whom, however, they are but a branch.
The early English knew them as the Fall Indians, and the French as the
Gros Ventres of the south. They were then roaming over the plain country
about the heads of the Platte and Arkansas. Gallatin speaks of them as a
detached tribe of the Rapid Indians, which has wandered as far south as
the Platte and Arkansas and formed a temporary union with the Kaskasias
and some other erratic tribes. At the present time (1862) the Arapahos
are divided into two portions or bands. The first portion call
themselves Na-ka-si-nin, 'People of the Sage,' and number one hundred
and eighty lodges. They wander about the sources of the South Platte and
the region of Pike's Peak; also northward to the Red Buttes on the North
Platte. Sometimes they extend their journeyings in search of buffalo
along the foot of the Big Horn Mountains in the Crow country. The second
band call themselves Na-wuth-i-ni-hau, the meaning of which is obscure.
It implies a mixture of different kinds of people of different bands.
They number 200 lodges, and range along the Arkansas River and its
tributaries."--_Hayden._
In 1820 Morse estimated them at 10,000, and speaks of them as a warlike
people and often making predatory and murderous excursions on their
eastern and northern neighbors.
The Arapahos affiliate with the Cheyennes, with whom they have been on
friendly terms for many years. Lately, however, an antipathy seems to be
growing up between the two tribes in the Indian Territory, and the
Commissioner of Indian Affairs advises a separation. They are divided
into two principal divisions, known respectively as the Northern and
Southern Arapahos. Those of the north, numbering 1,562, affiliate with
the Cheyennes and Ogalallas at the Red Cloud agency. They have been
ordered to join their southern brethren, and at the present time the
necessary preparations are under way. The Southern Apaches, who number
1,664, with the Southern Cheyennes and a small band of Apaches, are
temporarily occupying a large reservation in the western portion of the
Territory. The new reservation assigned them lies along the northern
border of the Territory west of the Creek and Cherokee countries, and
was purchased from them. It comprises nearly 5,000,000 acres.
But little has been done by them looking toward civilization, beyond
signifying their willingness to have farms apportioned to them and in
sending their children to school.
21. YELLOW BEAR. NORTHERN ARAPAHOS.
LITTLE WOLF. NORTHERN ARAPAHOS.
22. POWDER FACE AND SQUAW. NORTHERN ARAPAHOS.
23. MEDICINE PIPE. NORTHERN ARAPAHOS.
FOOL DOG. NORTHERN ARAPAHOS.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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