The Cheyenne
Well I have always had a very strong love for Native Americans. I decided to make a tribute page to the Cheyenne for this DQ site. I am always adding more info to this site because I love the topic so much. So learn about the Cheyenne, both the real ones and the DQ ones. It's a great thing to know about.
Location: The Cheyenne Indians lived in the Great Plains area, east of the Rocky Mountains and west of the Mississippi River. Today they are settled in Montana and Oklahoma.
History: The Cheyenne first lived in the eastern portion of the United States. They lived in fixed villages and used the land for farming. Some moved west and southwest. Eventually, they moved into the plains area, in the woodlands of the Mississippi River Valley.
Language: The Cheyenne dialect is part of the Algonquin language family. Their alphabet only contains fourteen letters which can be combined to form words and phrases. Today, the United States government is working to convert the Cheyenne to an English-only speaking tribe. The Cheyenne are trying desperately to keep their language alive despite the government’s recent attempts to make their language extinct.
Daily Life: Before the sun rose, the Cheyenne began preparing for the day. Building the fire was the first task to be completed. The women woke to get the water from the nearby stream, while the men and boys went to the stream to bathe. As dawn continued, the camp became livelier. The women made the morning meal and the boys herded the horses back into camp.
After the meal, announcements were made by the old crier who circled the people on his horse. When he was finished, the people went about their daily activities. The children would scatter about the area to swim, run, and model images out of clay. The women of the camp had many activities to keep them busy. They would go off in groups to gather wood and roots early in the day. This was their time for joking and laughing. They gathered sticks from the ground and broke dead branches off the trees in the forest. The wood was divided up, formed into bundles, and strapped on their backs. They then set out for camp. The older men made bows, arrows and pipes, while the young men spent time enhancing their personal appearance or listening to wise men.
Many men hunted game to provide the camp with food. As day turned into night, the Cheyenne people prepared for the meal. This was the lively event of the day in which music, dancing and various other activities took place. After a few hours, the camp became silent as people turned in for the night.
Best Known Features: An important Cheyenne custom was the smoking of the peace pipe. There were strict rules that were practiced during the smoking of the pipe. A prayer was offered before the first smoke. Most men had their own specific way to smoke the peace pipe.
Another tradition of the Cheyenne was their story telling, which could only be done by certain people. These stories were often related and followed a structure.
References
Grinnell, George Bird. The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Ways of Life. New York: Cooper Square Publishers, Inc., 1962.
Hoebel, E. Adamson. The Cheyenne’s: Indians of the Great Plains. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1960.
The Cheyenne of Dr. Quinn
One of my favorite aspects of DQ is the representation of Native Americans. They were portrayed as the victims most of the time, which is how I see them.
When we first meet the Cheyenne, they are in negotiations with the Army. We hear from Sully that this does not go well. The army expected the Cheyenne to stay on the reservation. When they left to help Dr. Mike look for Brian, the Army was ready to attack. We all know they were only trying to help. Yet the Army could only see that they were the "enemy."
Throughout the series, the Cheyenne were mistreated. The Army tried to kill them once in the Pilot. From that, Chief Black Kettle was injured. We saw the Army try to wipe them out with Typhus. We saw them massacred at the Washita River. All of these things were done in the name of war. Yet all the Indians wanted was peace.
Many will argue that renegade Indians helped cause “war.” But it was in anger and frustration that these people turned to violence. I do not condone these actions, especially when we see Dr. Mike kidnapped, but just the same, they had their reasons. They were good reasons, but not good actions.
But we cannot blame the actions of a few renegades on all of the Cheyenne. Many women and children were killed for no reason at all.
After the massacre at Washita, only one man was left. Cloud Dancing. He was the sole Native American influence in the show. Yes, he got moved to the reservation and there were other Indians around, but he was the main focus. Without him, the show would have had no focus to go by in the Native American representation. Yes, they brought Sully in and tried to kill him off with the uprising. Then Sully works for peace between the Indians and the Army. But all that would not have happened had Sully not simply been trying to save Cloud Dancing.
I fell in love with the Cheyenne on Dr. Quinn. They were represented fairly and truthfully. My love did not come from this show alone, but it certainly grew from it.