The Arapahos probably moved onto the western plains from the woodlands area near the Great Lakes, for they exhibit many traditions similar to Algonquian-speaking groups of that region. When they made the move is unknown. During the eighteenth century there were several divisions of Arapahos, which ranged from the Saskatchewan River south into Colorado and perhaps Oklahoma, west of the foothills of the Rockies, and east into western South Dakota and Kansas. The northernmost division are the Northern and Southern Arapahos. American traders adopted the Crow Indians' name for these people, which sounded like "Arapaho."
———About 1730 the Arapahos began to hunt bison using horses acquired from Comanches who lived within reach of Spanish settlements. Horses enabled greater mobility, larger residence groups, and more elaborate rituals, and also led to wealth inequalities based on horse ownership. From the bison, the Arapahos obtained food, clothing, shelter, tools, and weapons. To accommodate seasonal movements of the bison, Arapaho bands (residence groups) were flexible in comparison. A large network of kin facilitated cooperation in hunting.
———A men's lodge organization promoted band cooperation, particularly for military purposes. The organization consisted of two youths' and five men's lodges, or ceremonial societies, each of which had specific political and ritual duties. Men earned their way through completion of initiation rites that involved apprenticing themselves to the next higher lodge. The lodges were ranked by members' age, the members of the old men's lodge having the most prestige and authority. A group of male and female priests directed the lodge rituals, which ensured the survival of the Arapahos.
———During the 1850s, immigrants moving west to California and Oregon occasionally stopped in Colorado, in the heart of Arapaho hunting territory, to mine for gold, in violation of a treaty the Arapahos had signed with the federal government in 1851. In addition, immigrants disturbed the game and attacked the Arapahos. Troops did not distinguish one Indian from another when retaliating for Indian attacks on trespassing settlers. In the aftermath of the worst violence — the so-called India War of 1865-68 — the Arapahos moved to reservations, where they thought they would be safe from further attacks.
———About one thousand Northern Arapahos settled into the 2.5 million-acre Shoshone Reservation in Wyoming in 1878; they received individual allotments of land there in 1900. In 1917, the name of the reservation was changed to Wind River. Until 1947, when tribal leaders gained control over the tribes' mineral resources and instituted per capita distribution of several million dollars in income, the Arapahos struggled to sustain themselves on government rations, occasional wage work, and lease income from land allotted to individuals. After 1947, 15 percent of the income from mineral royalties was used for community services; the remaining 85 percent was distributed in monthly per capita payments.
———Congress required the consent of tribal leaders, or "councilmen" on leases of tribally owned land, and the councilmen tried to use these moneys to improve living conditions. Elderly male and female ritual leaders supervised the actions of the councilmen. Leaders of all ages tried to mitigate the federal governments' "civilization" policy by promoting changes that simultaneously reinforced traditional values and customs and indicated a desire to cooperate with federal officials.
———In Oklahoma, about sixteen hundred Southern Arapahos settled on the Cheyenne-Arapaho Reservation, established by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1869. Federal officials pushed a "civilization program," and important headmen began building cattle herds and supervising labor on large gardens and hay fields. The federal government, under political pressure to open Oklahoma reservation lands to settlement by non-Indians, forced a cession from the Cheyennes and Arapahos in 1891. Individuals were allotted 160 acres, and the remainder of the 4-million-acre reservation was opened to settlement. Non-Indian settlers trespassed on Indian farms and ranches, stealing stock, equipment, wood, and other property. Pressure for land continued unabated, and in 1902 and 1906 Congress passed legislation that encouraged the sale of allotted Indian lands. Increasing poverty led to further land sales, so that today only about seventy-five thousand of the half million acres originally allotted remained in Arapaho hands.
———Unable to support groups of followers and ignored by the federal government, political leaders lost authority. Peyote rituals were introduced to the Cheyennes and Arapahos in the late 1890s by Native Americans living to the south. The elderly leaders of the Arapaho ceremonial organization did not initiate successors, so that by the onset of World War II the Southern Arapahos had to apprentice themselves to the Northern Arapahos.
———Today the Northern Arapahos number four thousand. A six-member elected business council oversees tribal operations, represents the tribe in dealings with the local and federal governments, and meets with the Shoshone council on matters of joint interest. There is no constitution and by-laws; rather, the business council attempts to operate by consensus, and a general council composed of eligible voters reserves veto power over their actions.
———In 1975 Congress passed Public Law 638, which enabled tribes to contract for grants and programs formerly administered by federal agencies. This changed allowed the business council to seek and control money for social programs. Families have continued to rely on the monthly per capita payment, for despite jobs created by the establishment of tribally owned business, unemployment remains high.
———The three thousand Southern Arapahos have a few tribally owned oil wells on tribal land, but the income from these is sufficient for only a nominal annual per capita payment. Unemployment is lower than it is among the Northern Arapahos, because jobs in Oklahoma City and other urban areas are within commuting distance.
———The Southern Arapahos agreed to form a joint constitutional government with the Southern Cheyennes in 1935. Today, tribal members elect four Arapahos and four Cheyennes to the Cheyenne-Arapaho business committee, which contracts for a number of social programs and oversees tribal businesses, including bingo, cigarette sales, and commercial farming.
———For most Arapahos, religious life revolves around the Sun Dance Lodge, an annual ceremony of sacrifice and renewal. Ceremonial leaders are to be found only in Wyoming, although some curing and associated ceremonies have been delegated to a few Southern Arapahos. There are Christian churches and peyote meetings in both Wyoming and Oklahoma, the members of which may participate in the traditional Arapaho religion.

LORETTA FOWLER
University of Oklahoma