Arapaho Indians
United States 
American Indians Colorado Oklahoma Wyoming Indians of Colorado Indians of Oklahoma Indians of Wyoming Arapaho Indians
Guide to Arapaho Indians ancestry, family history and genealogy: birth records, marriage records, death records, census records, parish registers, and military records.
Indians of Montana Arapaho Indians
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Alternate Names: Arapahoe
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| Ancestral Homelands: Great Lakes area and northern Minnesota, moving on to North Platte and Arkansas Rivers in Colorado Territory Descendants: | |||||||||
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Federally recognized | |||||||||
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Algonkian | |||||||||
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Plains Indians | |||||||||
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The Atsine or Gros Ventre are a branch of the Arapaho |
Contents
Tribal Headquarters
Northern Arapaho:
Northern Arapaho Nation
533 Ethete Road
Ethete, WY 82520
Phone: 1-307-332-6120 or 1-307-856-3461
Fax: 307.332.7543
- Northern Arapaho Tribe Official Website
Southern Arapaho:
Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes of Oklahoma
P. O. Box 38
Concho, OK 73022
Phone: 1-405-262-0345
Fax: 405.422.7424
History
During the 1700's the tribe migrated from the Great Lakes region into the Great Plains
In 1835 conflict with in the tribe caused a division, creating the Northern Arapaho and Southern Arapaho groups. The Northern Arapaho settled in what is now Wyoming near the Rocky Mountains. The Southern group settled in "Colorado" near the Arkansas River.
A Treaty in 1861 stated ..."Out of the lands so set apart and retained there shall be assigned to each member of said tribes, without distinction of age or sex, a tract of forty acres, to include in every case, as far as practicable, a reasonable portion of timber and water; ....and one hundred and sixty acres shall also be reserved out of each division of the retained tract for the establishment and support of schools for the education of the youth of the tribe..."
During the Sand Creek Massacre, in 1864 130 Southern Arapaho and Cheyenne were killed by the U.S. Army.
A proposed Treaty October 14, 1865 ratified in May of 1866. made an effort to provide for the survivors of the Sand Creek Massacre, and possessed..."an accurate census of the Indians entitled shall be taken at the time of the annuity payment in the spring of each year by their agent...the census shall be the bases on which the amount to be expended the next ensuing year shall be determined..."
The 1865 Treaty at the council-ground on the Little Arkansas in the state of Kansas, proclaimed theCheyenne, Arapaho and Apache tribe are to be united and recognized as Confederated Tribes.
With the signing of the Treaty of Medicine Lodge (1867), the Southern Arapaho were placed on a reservation in Oklahoma sharing with the Cheyenne. The Treaty of Fort Laramie assigned the Northern Arapaho to the Pine Ridge reservation in South Dakota to be shared with the Sioux, however the Northern Arapaho desired their own lands. Finally in 1878 the Northern Arapaho were assigned to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming sharing with the Shoshone.
Brief Timeline
- 1700: migrate from Great Lakes region into the Great Plains
- 1835: the tribe divided into the Northern Arapaho, who settled near the Rocky Mountains (Wyoming,and the Southern Arapaho who settled near the Arkansas River (Colorado).
- 1851 September 17, at Fort Laramie
- 1855-74: The tribe was under the jurisdiction of the Upper Arkansas Agency.
- 1861 February 18, at Fort Wise
- 1861: Treaty at Little Arkansas River
- 1864: Sand Creek Massacre, 130 Southern Arapaho and Cheyenne, many women and children, are killed by the U.S. Army, under the direction of Colonel John M. Covington.
- 1865: Treaty at camp on the Little Arkansas river, in the state of Kansas
- 1867 Treaty of Medicine Lodge, Southern Arapaho placed on a Reservation in Oklahoma, shared by the Cheyenne
- 1867: Treaty at Council Camp
- 1868: Treaty at Fort Laramie -- Northern Arapaho were assigned to the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota with the Sioux, but they sought their own lands.
- 1875-80: The tribe was under the jurisdiction of the Cheyenne and Arapahoe Agency.
- 1876: Northern Arapaho rejected proposal to rejoin with the Southern Arapaho
- 1878: Northern Arapaho assigned to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming, shared with the Shoshone who were former enemies
- 1892: Arapaho lands opened for settlement. (Oklahoma)
- 1896: April 21, The Shoshone and Arapaho Indians signed an agreement for the sale of the Owl Creek or Big Horn, Hot Springs. (Senate Doc. no. 247, 54th Congress 1st Session, page 3-6)
- 1963: A claim against the United States for land cession was settled.
** Fort Washakie, Wind River and Crowheart are Shoshone settlements. Arapahoes live at Ethete, Arapahoe and St. Stevens.
Reservations
Reservations are tacks of land set aside for the occupation and use by American Indians.
This tribe is primarily associated with the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming to which they were assigned in 1876, along with the Shoshone .
The Southern Arapaho were removed to a reservation in western Oklahoma in 1867; sharing the reservation with the Cheyenne. That reservation today is known by the combined name of Cheyenne and Arapaho Reservation.
See Also
The Arapaho Tribe was under the jurisdiction of the following agencies and superintendencies
Red Cloud Agency (Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wyoming)
Additional References to the History of the Tribe
- Frederick Webb Hodge, in his Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, gave a more complete history of the Arapaho tribe, with estimations of the population of the tribe at various time periods.
- Additional details are given in David Bushnell's Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi.
- The web page for the Northern Arapaho Tribe includes a history of the tribe.
- For additional history of the tribe, read more....
Records
The majority of records of individuals were those created by the agencies. Some records may be available to tribal members through the tribal headquarters.They were (and are) the local office of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and were charged with maintaining records of the activities of those under their responsibility. Among these records are:
- Allotment records
- Annuity rolls
- Census records
- Correspondence
- Health records
- Reports
- School census and records
- Vital records
Agencies
The following agencies of the Bureau of Indian Affairs had jurisdiction over the Arapaho for the time periods indicated. BIA agencies were responsible to keep such records as census rolls, allotment (land) records, annuity rolls, school records, correspondence, and other records of individual Indians under their jurisdiction. For details, see the page for the respective agency.
Arapaho
- Upper Platte Agency, 1846-1855
Northern Arapaho
- Upper Platte Agency, 1855-1871
- Red Cloud Agency, 1871-1878
- Pine Ridge Agency, 1878-1888
- Shoshone Agency, 1885-1937
- Wind River Agency. 1938-present
Southern Arapaho
- Upper Arkansas Agency, 1855-1874
- Cantonment Agency, 1903-1917
- Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, 1874-present
Allotment Records
1891-1915 Land (Allotment) Records Concho Agency FHL first film 1026683
Census Records
The Bureau of Indian Affairs compiled annual Indian Census Rolls on many of the reservations from 1885 to 1940. They list the names of individuals, their age, and other details about each person enumerated. For more information about these records, click here.
The following table lists the census rolls for the Arapaho Indians:
| Agency | Location of Original Records |
Post-1885 Census M595 RG 75 Rolls 693 Roll Number |
FHL Film Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wind River Agency, 1873-1952 | Denver | Roll 663 | 583122 |
| Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, 1875 | Washington D.C and Fort Worth | Rolls 27-32 | 573873-574191 |
| Shoshone Agency, 1885-1937 | Washington D.C. and Denver | Rolls 498-504 | 581873-581879 |
| Cantonment Agency, 1903-27 | Washington D.C. and Fort Worth | Rolls 16-17 | 573862-573863 |
|
Seger School, 1903-12, 1914-27 |
Washington D.C. | Roll 479 | 581489 |
Correspondence Records
There are several sets of correspondence between the supervising offices of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the local offices -- agencies, subagencies, etc. The correspondence is often historical in nature, including reports of the conditions among local groups of Indians, hostilities, plans for building facilities, activities of traders or missionaries, etc. Occasionally, there will be names of individuals but little detail about them. For more information about American Indian correspondence, click here.
The following table lists some correspondence relating to the Arapaho Indians:
| Agency | Location of Original Records |
Pre- 1880 Correspondence M234 RG 74 Rolls 962 Roll Number |
FHL Film Number |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upper Platte Agency, 1855-74 | Washington D.C. | Roll 889-96 | ff-1638620 |
| Upper Arkansas Agency, 1855-74 | Washington D.C. | Rolls 878-82 | 1638620 |
| Red Cloud (Pine Ridge) Agency, 1871-1961 | Washington D.C. and Kansas City | Rolls 715-26 | 1638620 |
| Cheyenne and Arapaho Agency, 1875 | Washington D.C. and Fort Worth | Rolls 119-26 | 1638620 |
ff=first film of 962
Treaties
During the latter part of the 18th Century and most of the 19th Century, treaties were negotiated between the federal government and individual Indian tribes. The treaties provide helpful information about the history of the tribe, but usually only include the names of those persons who signed the treaty. For more information about treaties, click here.
Treaties to which the Arapaho Indians were a part were:
- 1851 September 17, at Fort Laramie
- 1861 February 18, at Fort Wise
- October 14, 1861, at Little Arkansas River
- 1861 February 18, at Fort Wise
- 1865
- October 28, 1867, at Council Camp
- 1867 Treaty of Medicine Lodge
- 1868 April 29, at Fort Laramie
- May 10, 1868, at Fort Laramie
Tribal Office Records
The Tribal Office is responsible for enrollment records, vital records, tribal police records, tribal court records, employment records and many others. They are an entirely different set of records from those kept by the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Most of them remain in the Tribal Office. For details, contact that office at the address for the Tribal Headquarters listed above.
Vital Records
Prior to the Indian Reorganization Act, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, through their agencies, may have recorded some vital events. Some were recorded on health forms, such as the "Sanitary Record of Sick, Injured, Births, Deaths, etc." Others were recorded as supplements to the "Indian Census Rolls." Some were included in the unindexed reports and other correspondence of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Some vital records for the Arapaho Indians include:
- Cheyenne and Arapaho, M595, Births and Deaths 1925-1934, FHL Film: 574191
Important Websites
- Northern Arapaho Tribe Official Website
- Wikipedia article on the Arapaho
For Further Reading
Arapaho
- Carlson, Paul H. The Plains Indians. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press, c1998. FHL book 970.1 C197p
General
See For Further Reading.
References
