Family

The Cheyenne family is considered a nomadic family; they often move around to keep up with the ever changing world around them⁹. One reason is the availability of food; they need to keep up with the buffalo in order to survive. Cheyenne families rely on the buffalo for food, clothes, cloth and tipis. Tipis are made from thickened buffalo hides; they served as a place to rest and sleep²⁰. The family does not eat nor cook inside their tipi unless they absolutely have to, due to poor weather conditions. They prefer to cook and have their meals outside with the other families. Buffalo also are used to make clothes; the men wear breechcloths with leather leggings and moccasins⁹. This is very important to the men in order to perform their roles within the family. While females wear deer skin dresses and fringed boots⁹. Today, the main language used within the families is English but there are some who still speak the ancient Cheyenne language³⁷. The Algonquian Indian language is a musical language, which has many complicated parts, long words and complex morphology. Unfortunately, the language is a dying within the family, since many have been teaching their children to speak English³⁷. The Cheyenne are very proud people and they believe strongly in gender specific roles. When they are older, they tend to take on dual role division of labor.

MALE

The male’s role in the family is almost the same as every family in the world; they are the provider of food and protection. The men are warriors and they are responsible to protect their families from other tribes or animal attacks. They are also hunters in charge of finding food to feed their entire family⁹. The men would go out on long hunting missions with other men of the tribes that may take days or even weeks. Another role of the men is to teach their sons how to hunt, fish and use weapons. Men are also involved with politics of the family and the tribes. These politics include giving away their daughter in marriage or teaching their son how to become a member of the Council of Forty-Four, as an example of chiefdom and age-grade⁴⁷. Another practice of the male is to introduce their children to their religion. An important lesson the men taught their children was how to do the ritual dances. These dances include the Sun Dance, Animal Dance and Arrow Renewal⁴⁷. When the men get older and are not capable of hunting, they stay home and help out with teaching the children. They pass stories of legends, and their own tales to the young ones⁴⁷. 

FEMALE

The female’s role in the family is also gender specific. They clean, cook and tend to the children. When a new born is introduced to the family, the mother would carry a cradle for the young one; this way she is always around the child⁹. The female is also in charge of home making. Women are responsible to drag heavy logs and posts to build the tipis when the tribe migrates also⁹. When the settlement location is chosen, the females of the families are the ones who build the tipis⁹. Because of their nomadic nature, the females are the caretakers of the domestic animals such as horses⁴⁶. They are also in charge of teaching and taking care of the children. The female’s role is to teach their daughters how to cook, clean and build the tipis efficiently. This way, the young girls can be prepared for their marriage.

CHILDREN

The children of the Cheyenne tribes act like children anywhere else in the world. They play with other children and have fun. In the morning, they would go out with their mothers to help with chores around the house⁹. They also play a supporting role in keeping the home clean and livable when their father is out hunting. In the afternoon, when everything is done, they are allowed to play with other children in the tribe. The children play all sorts of games but the most popular game for young boys is Lacrosse⁹. Young girls often play dolls with the other girls. The Cheyenne strongly believes in harmony, so they never hit their children as a punishment. Their most severe punishment was splashing a bucket of water on their children²⁰. Even when the children do not get punished, they were introduced to independence training in a very early age and taught to be stoic. They are not allow to cry for any reason; this shows bravery and also will not give away the location of the tribe²⁶.  

When the children grow into their teenage years, the chores and roles begin to spit apart from each other. Young men are now allowed to go hunting with their fathers. They also learn how to fish and use weapons. Their fathers will teach them how to effectively use a bow, tomahawk and survival skills²⁰. Besides hunting, the young men are to be taught how to become warriors to defend their homes from other tribes^. When the father thinks a boy is ready, he can allow his son to go on long hunting trips with all the adult males²⁰. The Cheyenne tribe is very influenced by animism, so when the boy reaches the age of fourteen, he is allowed to go search for his guardian spirit²⁶. This trip can be considered a rite of passage or a coming of age ceremony.

By the time the girls reach their teens, they are already craft specialized; they have been taught how to cook and take care of the family²⁰. At first, the mother allows them to do simple stuff like cutting or boil water. Then as she gets older, she can start cooking the whole meal for the family. They are also taught how to cut and clean all the animals the men bring back from their hunting trips. These animals may include rabbits, deer, and buffalo²⁰. Once the young female has learned how to effectively cut and clean these animals, they are introduced to the art of cloth making. By strategic cutting of these animals, they can use the skin of the buffalo and deer to make hides, which in essential for clothes and tipis²⁰. These skills are the basics used to look after the men and their family.

MARRIAGE

Most of the Cheyenne marriages are arranged by the family. These types of marriages are monogamous; however, polygynous marriages are also accepted in the tribe¹¹. Since Cheyenne men are also warriors, levirate marriages are not uncommon¹¹. Cheyenne marriage is a very long process; this is to be expected since they are joining two families. The Cheyenne do believe in bride price. At first, the man’s family must offer of the woman’s family to get marry. The woman’s father will then consider the man’s family offer²⁰. Once accepted, the man moves into the woman’s house and lives with him as a long term engagement or trial marriage. Nuclear families are also predominating with the Cheyenne today¹¹. If the trial marriage is a success, they will then be married officially. Relationships outside of marriage are considered taboo by all Cheyenne family. Therefore, once engaged, the marriage could be years afterward³⁷. But at any time, the man could disgrace the woman by publicly throwing her away¹¹.

INHERITANCE

When a man dies, he is buried along with most of his personal possessions¹¹. All the possessions that remain are given away to anyone that is not a relative. The family of the man receives nothing. Possessions are given away at the time of the wake and a whole year afterward¹¹.