Arapaho

Arapaho, Native American tribe of Algonquian linguistic stock, originally inhabiting what is now Minnesota and later the plains between the Yellowstone River and Río Grande. At an unknown time the Arapaho formed a permanent alliance with the Cheyenne. The Arapaho were a nomadic tribe whose art and religious ceremonies exhibited advanced characteristics of Plains culture, especially in the sun dance. At one time the Arapaho may have lived as one people with the Gros Ventre, another Algonquian-speaking tribe. In the 1800s the Arapaho split into two different groups, the Northern Arapaho and the Southern Arapaho. The Northern Arapaho now live with the Shoshone in Wyoming, and the Southern Arapaho live with the Cheyenne in Oklahoma. In the 2000 U.S. census about 7,000 people identified themselves as Arapaho only; an additional 2,300 people reported being part Arapaho. See also Native American Languages; Native Americans of North America: Great Plains.