The country has seen a growing number of women and specifically Native American women in leadership roles from federal to tribal governments and businesses. Our country elected the first two Native American women to Congress which is a great example of Native American women leading the way for progress and positive changes.
At home in the Cheyenne and Arapaho community, Governor Reggie Wassana has taken the realm of our tribal government and businesses and chosen a number of tribal member women to help us progress in regulatory and operations of our gaming enterprises.
Located in the heart of Cheyenne and Arapaho country in Watonga, Oklahoma, Lucky Star Casino Hotel and Convention Center features a five-story 80-room hotel, a hospitality suite, a full-service restaurant for casual dining, a bar/lounge, a gift shop and a conference center. The business center and fitness center are available 24 hours along with the 100,000 sq ft casino which includes 400 slots.
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes hosted the annual chiefs meeting at the Watonga Lucky Star Casino Hotel and Convention Center on Friday, March 10, 2023. More than 65 chiefs and headsmen attended the meeting.
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Department of Parks and Recreation hosted the grand re-opening of the newly renovated parks & recreation building.
The parks & recreation building is the former housing authority building west of Clinton. Parks and recreation department executive director Sonny Redshin provided the welcome and shared background and the process of opening the new and improved facility. Governor Wassana also provided remarks.
In collaboration with Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology (OSUIT) and the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Judicial Branch, the first cohort of the Fiber Optic Lineman Training class graduated from the program on Saturday, June 16, held at the R.E.Sp.E.C.T. Gymnasium in Concho, Okla.
The eight-week Fiber Lineman Training session and two-week Fiber Splicing Training consisted of 11 Cheyenne and Arapaho citizens, that included nine males and two females, Jake Reynolds, Allison Williams, Sierra Sioux, Steven Melendez, Jose Warledo, Amir Jones, Dustan Harrell, Sebastian Whiteshirt, Nate Charley, Steven Blackowl and Russell Sutton. The class was taught by OSU Fiber Optics Instructor John Cassity
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes Department of Transportation celebrated the grand opening of the transportation transit building at Concho,
The Cheyennes and Arapahos are two distinct tribes with distinct histories. The Cheyenne (Tsitsistas/ The People) were once agrarian, or agricultural, people located near the Great Lakes in present-day Minnesota. Grinnell notes the Cheyenne language is a unique branch of the Algonquian language family and, The Nation itself, is descended from two related tribes, the Tsitsistas and the Suh' Tai. The latter is believed to have joined the Tsitsistas in the early 18th century (1: 1–2). The Tsitsistas and the Suh' Tai are characterized, and represented by two cultural heroes who received divine articles which shaped the time-honored belief systems of the Southern and Northern families of the Cheyenne Nation. The Suh' Tai, represented by a man named Erect Horns, were blessed with the care of a sacred Buffalo Hat, which is kept among the Northern family. The Tsitsistas, represented by a man named Sweet Medicine, were bestowed with the care of a bundle of sacred Arrows, kept among the Southern Family. Inspired by Erect Horn's vision, they adopted the horse culture in the 18th century and moved westward onto the plains to follow the buffalo. The prophet Sweet Medicine organized the structure of Cheyenne society, including the Council of Forty-four peace chiefs and the warrior societies led by prominent warriors.[2][3]
The Arapaho, also Algonquian speaking, came from Saskatchewan, Montana, Wyoming, eastern Colorado, and western South Dakota in the 18th century. They adopted horse culture and became successful nomadic hunters. In 1800, the tribe began coalescing into northern and southern groups. Although the Arapaho had assisted the Cheyenne and Lakota in driving the Kiowa and Comanche south from the Northern Plains, in 1840 they made peace with both tribes. They became prosperous traders, until the expansion of American settlers onto their lands after the Civil War.[4]
The Cheyenne and Arapaho formed an alliance in the 18th and 19th centuries. Together they were a formidable military force, successful hunters, and active traders with other tribes.
At the height of their alliance, their combined hunting territories spanned
from Montana to Texas Signing the Ft. Laramie Treaty, 1868
The Arapaho signed the Fort Laramie Treaty with the U.S. in 1851. It recognized and guaranteed their rights to traditional lands in portions of Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming. The U.S. could not enforce the treaty, however, and European-American trespassers overran Indian lands. There were repeated conflicts between settlers and members of the tribes.
The U.S. government brought the tribes to council again in 1867 to achieve peace under the Medicine Lodge Treaty. It promised the Arapaho a reservation in Kansas, but they disliked the location. They accepted a reservation with the Cheyenne in Indian Territory, so both tribes were forced to remove south near Fort Reno at the Darlington Agency in present-day Oklahoma.[2]
The Dawes Act broke up the Cheyenne-Arapaho land base. All land not allotted to individual Indians was opened to settlement in the Land Run of 1892. The Curtis Act of 1898 dismantled the tribal governments in an attempt to have the tribal members assimilate to United States conventions and culture.
After the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act passed in 1936, the Cheyenne and Arapaho organized a single tribal government in 1937.[4] The Indian Self- Determination Act of 1975 further enhanced tribal development
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