The Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Over the past years, the Cheyenne have changed their lifestyles from Great Lakes woodlands to Northern Plains and by the midth century, the US government forced them onto reservations. At the time of their first European contact in the 16th century, the Cheyenne lived in what is now Minnesota.
They were close allies of the Arapaho and loosely aligned with the Lakota. By the early 18th century, they were forced west by other tribes across the Missouri River and into North and South Dakota , [ 3 ] where they adopted the horse culture. They fought their historic enemies, the Crow and later β79 the United States Army. In the midth century, the bands began to split, with some bands choosing to remain near the Black Hills, while others chose to remain near the Platte Rivers of central Colorado.
In turn, they were pushed west by the more numerous Lakota. Tribal enrollment figures, as of late , indicate that there are approximately 10, members, of which about 4, reside on the reservation. Slightly more than one-quarter of the population five years or older spoke a language other than English. Their combined population is 12,, as of [update]. Another of the common etymologies for Cheyenne is "a bit like the [people of an] alien speech" literally, "red-talker".
According to the Cheyenne dictionary offered online by Chief Dull Knife College , there is no consensus and various origins and translation of the word have been proposed. Grinnell's record is typical and states, "They call themselves Tsistsistas [sic, Tsitsistas is the correct pronunciation], which the books commonly give as meaning "people". It most likely means related to one another, similarly bred, like us, our people, or us. Approximately people speak Cheyenne in Oklahoma. The Cheyenne alphabet contains 14 letters.
The Cheyenne language is one of the larger Algonquian-language group. The earliest written record of the Cheyenne was in the midth century, when a group of Cheyenne visited the French Fort Crevecoeur , near present-day Peoria, Illinois.
