Northern Cheyenne
Cheyenne
Trailriders
Cheyenne Trailriders offers you
this opportunity to tour an American Indian reservation from a unique vantage
point - from the back of a horse, the way our ancestors did it. Brenda and Joe
Grinsell are members of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and they welcome you to
visit their homeland.
The reservation consists of approximately 444,000 acres of beauty, from the
timbered hills teeming with spring and summer wildflowers to the sagebrush
prairies where you will find tipi rings that bear evidence of the presence of
their forefathers sojourn in years gone by. As you ride you may meet up with
other residents of the reservation - the many varieties of wildlife that abound
here.
In order to help you appreciate the significance of your visit to this land,
workshops are provided on Northern Cheyenne history, culture and ethnobotany.
You can also learn about Gourd dancing and how to play the intertribal ‘Hand
Game’. For your evening campfire entertainment, you can listen to a Cheyenne
storyteller, prepare for your next powwow by learning to round dance, learn
Indian sign language or just relax to the beautiful music of a Northern Cheyenne
flute player who composes his own music and make his own flutes.
A brochure will be sent to interested parties containing detailed information on
ride components that you can choose from to design your own ride, whether it be
for an hour or a week. Our horses are gentle and well trained. For those who do
not ride horseback, wagons can be provided that follow the riders. Also covered
in the brochure is information on meals, lodging and automobile tours of the
reservation.
Contact Information
Brenda and Joe Grinsell, Owners & Operators
PO Box 277
Busby, MT 59016
Phone: (406) 592-3520
Alternate Phone: (406)749-0193
e-mail:
cheyride@rangeweb.net
F Heart Ranch
The F Heart Ranch Resort prides itself in providing guests
with a unique out-door and cultural experience. Located on the Rosebud
Creek within the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, the F Heart Ranch is able to
provide a vast experience in a Native American setting. Guests are not
only exposed to the cowboy experience but also the rich culture of the Native
American people. The Ranch is within 15 miles of the Rosebud Battlefield,
the prelude to the Battle of the Little Big Horn.
Contact Information
Rowdy Alexander, Owner & Operator
PO Box 675
Busby, MT 59016
Phone: (406) 592-3887
Website: www.fheartranch.net
E-mail:
fheartranch@hotmail.com
Phillip Whiteman
Jr.
Sharing Messages of Hope and Encouragement, Phillip Whiteman, Jr.,
a Nationally-known Cultural Consultant, Presenter, Storyteller,
Horse-trainer, Champion Grass Dancer, and Rodeo Saddle Bronc
Champion is a Northern Cheyenne from Lame Deer, Montana. Phillip's reputation
as a Cultural Consultant and Presenter has grown rapidly. His presentations
include traditional story-telling and songs that share a powerful
and inspirational message of hope. Recently, Phillip has released
his first CD "Spirit Seeker" - Stories and Songs for the
Spirit, which has received National attention.
Contact Information
Phillip Whiteman Jr.
PO Box 1138
Lame Deer, Mt. 59043
For
all Business and Booking Inquiries Contact:
Lynette
M. Two Bulls, Business Manager
Telephone (406) 477-8720
Fax (406) 477-8781
web:
http://www.phillipwhitemanjr.com
e-mail: spiritseeker@rangeweb.net
Northern Cheyenne
Tribal Council
Northern
Cheyenne Tribal Council
PO Box
128
Lame Deer, MT
59043
Phone:
(406) 477-6284
Fax: (406) 477-6210
nctribalsec@ncheyenne.net
nctribalservice@ncheyenne.net
Website:
http://www.ncheyenne.net
Historic Preservation Department
Northern Cheyenne Tribe
Gilbert Brady, Tribal Historic Preservation Officer
P. O. Box 128
Lame Deer, Montana 59043
Telephone: (406) 477-6035
Fax: (406) 477-6210
E-mail:
gilbrady_sr@hotmail.com
Tribal College
Chief Dull Knife College
P.O. Box 98, 1 College Drive
Lame Deer MT 59043
Phone: (406) 477-6215
Fax: (406) 477-6219
NORTHERN CHEYENNE
RESERVATION PROFILE
LOCATION AND LAND STATUS
The Northern Cheyenne Reservation spans nearly 450,000 acres of southeastern
Montana, about 100 miles east of Billings, Montana, and 75 miles due north of
Sheridan, Wyoming. Terrain varies from low, grass-covered hills to high, steep
outcroppings and narrow valleys. Elevations range from approximately 3,000 to
5,000 feet. The land has traditionally been considered primarily suited to
livestock grazing.
The reservation was established by Executive Order of President Arthur in
November of 1884, with a land trust of about 271,000 acres. In 1900, President
McKinley moved the eastern boundary over to the Tongue River, expanding the
reservation to approximately its current size. Over recent years the tribe has
successfully pursued a program to consolidate allotted holdings, purchase
non-Indian holdings, and transfer non-Indian-held leases to tribal members in
family sized ranch tracts.
CULTURE AND HISTORY
The Cheyenne descend from the Algonquian language family. They are believed to
have originally lived in the upper Great Lakes region, south of Hudson Bay and
James Bay. Sometime during the 15th century, they apparently began to move into
what is now northern Minnesota. This move precipitated a shift for the tribe
away from a reliance on fishing and toward the practice of farming. Then, at
about the time the colonists were settling the east coast, the Cheyenne (along
with other Plains Indians) began moving into what is now the Dakotas. In
approximately 1750 they acquired horses; this prompted another dramatic cultural
shift from farming to a sole reliance on the buffalo.
The Cheyenne first participated in treaty-making in 1825 near present-day Ft.
Pierre, South Dakota (the Friendship Treaty). Several years later, they
separated into two groups when a large portion of the tribe moved southward and
settled along the Arkansas River in Colorado. The remainder, the Northern
Cheyenne, continued to rove the plains in the region of the North Platte and
Yellowstone Rivers. The Northern Cheyenne joined forces in 1876 with the Sioux
in the Sitting Bull War and the annihilation of Custer’s forces. Though the
Indians won this battle, the war was already lost; the Northern Cheyenne were
finally subdued and taken as prisoners of war to Ft. Reno, Oklahoma, where they
were joined in captivity by the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho.
A band of Northern Cheyenne made a desperate escape attempt, in which fewer than
100 of the group survived to flee back to the north. There, in 1884, they were
placed on what is more or less the site of their current reservation. Over the
next few decades, the tribe was all but ignored by the federal government except
for the government’s attempt to merge its reservation with that of its
traditional enemy, the Crow. This attempt was finally abandoned.
The Northern Cheyenne, in the wake of the 1934 IRA, organized themselves into a
council form of government. At about the same time, New Deal programs brought
relative prosperity to the reservation for the first time, though the World War
II years saw a return of governmental neglect and poverty. By the late 1960s,
development of the tribe’s massive coal reserves had become a major issue.
In 1972, CONSOL, Inc., made a proposal to the tribe which would have placed over
70% of the reservation in the hands of outside energy companies. This
precipitated a surge in activism by tribal members to reassert the tribe’s
political, economic, and environmental sovereignty, arguing as they did that the
BIA and a few tribal leaders desired to sell out the people’s will. In 1978
Congress intervened and canceled the disputed leases, thus insuring the tribe’s
sovereignty. Since that time, the Northern Cheyenne have made significant
strides toward economic development while still preserving their integrity. But
while small business development, expansion of grazing, and casino gambling have
all worked toward this end, the tribe’s fundamental challenge today remains an
economic one.
GOVERNMENT
The tribe is organized under IRA rules, adopting a constitution and bylaws in
1936 and amending them in 1960. The Tribal Council serves as the governing body,
consisting of the president and 24 Council members elected in the proportion of
one member per 200 tribal members. Council members are elected every two years
(on a staggered basis) from five separate districts. The president is elected to
a four-year term.
Tribal Profile --
Tribal Data Resources®
