Customer Reviews

The Arapahoes, Our People (Civilization of the American Indian Series)

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This paperback edtion of the Arapahoes was an update of the earlier 1970 edition that was published in 1986. The author, who died in 1994 at the age of 94 gives us a brief, yet comprehensive overview of Our People who came from the somehwere in Minnesota (where the book casts some doubt) to the Northern Plains to work in league with the Cheyenes in wandering through buffalo country to devote themselves to their way of life. The book covers events from their aforementioned origins to their settlements on reservations in Wyoming (northern Arapaho) and Oklahoma (Southern Araphoe), the breakup of the southern reservation via the Dawes Act and the half-hearted following of the Ghost Dance and development of the Peyote Cult, ceremonies that the tribe thought were part of the "many ways to God."

The story of the Arapahoes, as told in this book, was similar to other tribes that dwelt on the Plains. Engaging in constant battles with neigboring indian tribes, sustaining their livelihood through buffalo hunting, deprived of their lands by white encroachment and their defeat at the hands of the US Amry in such conflicts as the Sand Creek Massacre and the Battle of Washita which killed one of their great chiefs Black Kettle. The book concludes their history at the end of the 19th Century when they settled down as farmers and ranchers, most being converted to Christianity with old men telling glories of the past.

The book is recommended for one who wants to know more about the tribe. The book is over 300 pages long, has numerous illustrations, an extensive bibliography and a substantial index.