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They were profoundly religious; they believed that powerful spirits inhabited the four cardinal points, but the two predominant sacred figures were: Heammawihio who lived in the sky; and Ahtunowihio who inhabited the subsoil.
They celebrated the Sun Dance and had a cosmic vision of complex symbology.
Their religiosity was manifested even in battle where it was customary to bring sacred sacks which represented the center of the owner’s spiritual life.
The Mahuts, (Sacred or Medicine Arrows) were kept by the Southern Cheyenne and symbolized the unity of the tribe.
There were four, two for success in battle and two to guarantee an abundance of bison.
The Southern Cheyenne (Suhtain) instead kept the Issi wun (Sacred Medicine Cap or Sacred Bison Cap).
With the massacre of Sand Creek began the great Indian Plain wars which included the Cheyenne nation until 1880.
It must be remembered that, in June of 1876, the Northern Cheyenne participated in the Little Big Horn battle, during which colonel Custer perished.
Having never actually been defeated on the battlefield, they were however confined in “reservations”.
Today there are approximately 4.500 Cheyenne near the Tongue River in Montana and in Wyoming and a few thousand with the Arapaho in Oklahoma.
