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Plains Indian people of Algonquian stock (see Algonquian languages ), living principally in Montana and Oklahoma, U.S. Originally farmers, hunters, and gatherers who lived in central Minnesota, the Cheyenne moved in the early 19th century to regions around the Platte and Arkansas rivers and split into the Northern Cheyenne and the Southern Cheyenne.
In these areas they adopted the lifestyle of the Plains Indians; after acquiring horses, they became more dependent on the buffalo for food and developed a tepee-dwelling nomadic mode of life. They performed the sun dance and placed heavy emphasis on visions in which an animal spirit adopted the individual and bestowed special powers on him. They had well-organized military societies and fought constantly with the Kiowa until с 1840. In the 1870s they participated in various Indian uprisings, joining the Sioux at
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City (pop., 2000: 53,011), capital of Wyoming, U.S. It is the state's largest city and has been the capital since 1869.
It became an outfitting point for the {{link=Black Hills">Black Hills goldfields to the northeast and a major shipping point for cattle from Texas. Its own grazing lands became famed for their herds and cattle barons. In July it celebrates Frontier Days, which includes one of America's oldest and largest rodeos. Nearby Fort Francis E. Warren was the site of the nation's first intercontinental ballistic missile base (1957).