Little Man (Cheyenne Arrow Keeper)

Little Man was an American tribal leader of Cheyenne ancestry.

Life

Little Man was the son of Stone Forehead's sister and thus the cousin of Black Hairy Dog.[1][2] At the latter's death, circa. 1883, Little Man succeeded him as Keeper.[1][2] His father was Turtle Following His Wife, and his mother was Running Face. He had a brother named White Beaver.

Little Man, Keeper of the Arrows,[3] reigned during a time when the Cheyenne were rebuilding. He was considered a traditionalist and regularly opposed the Indian Agent.[4] In 1901, the agent threatened to cut off rations if Little Man did not send the children to the Indian schools.[4]

In 1914, Little Man attempted to transfer the Keeper’s responsibility to Old Crow.[2] The transfer was refused by the Chiefs, the Arrow Priest, and the leaders of the military societies.[2] They held fast to Sweet Medicine's rule that the Arrow Keeper must be Tsistsistas. However, at their request, Little Man permitted peyote to be placed in the Sacred Arrow Bundle. He soon died in 1917.[2]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Grinnell, George Bird (2008). Fitzgerald, Joseph A. (ed.). The Cheyenne Indians: Their History and Lifeways : Edited and Illustrated. World Wisdom, Inc. p. 220. ISBN 978-1933316604.
  2. ^ a b c d e Schukies, Renate; Red Hat, Edward; Red Hat, Bill (1993). Red Hat: Cheyenne Blue Sky Maker and Keeper of the Sacred Arrows. LIT Verlag Münster. pp. 86, 184, 241–242. ISBN 3894735856.
  3. ^ Dorsey, George Amos (1905). The Cheyenne, Volumes 1-2. Field Columbian Museum. p. 11.
  4. ^ a b Berthrong, Donald J. (1992). The Cheyenne and Arapaho Ordeal: Reservation and Agency Life in the Indian Territory, 1875-1907. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 268–269. ISBN 0806124164.