Little Wolf and Dull Knife of the Northern Cheyenne. Photo courtesy of Chief Dull Knife College

In September of 1996, Chief Dull Knife College (CDKC) president Dr. Alonzo Spang asked me to eat with him in the college cafeteria. He then asked me to look at the campus. I looked around and told him what I saw and what I imagined seeing, adding that I saw nothing unusual. He said, “That’s why I asked you to look.” He explained that, except for the portrait of Chief Dull Knife hanging in the cafeteria, there was scant evidence that Chief Dull Knife College was an institution on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. He was right. He then said that we have to make the college look Cheyenne and reflect Cheyenne culture, language, and spirituality. Since then, CDKC has been on a journey to become a spiritually grounded college. This journey to shape itself continues to this day.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF CDKC

In September 1975, the Northern Cheyenne Tribal Council chartered the Northern Cheyenne Indian Action Program, Inc., the organization that became Dull Knife Memorial College. It was funded by the Indian Technical Assistance Center of the Bureau of Indian Affairs and directed by six appointed Northern Cheyenne representatives. Dull Knife Memorial College was renamed Chief Dull Knife College in 2001 to further recognize and honor its namesake, a respected Cheyenne leader. Chief Dull Knife, also known as Morning Star, helped lead the Northern Cheyenne people back to Montana from Oklahoma in 1878-1879. He was a visionary leader, who famously stated,

We can no longer live the way we used to. We cannot move around anymore the way we were brought up. We have to learn a new way of life. Let us ask for schools to be built in our country so that our children can go to these schools and learn this new way of life.

Chief Dull Knife was ridiculed for these words by people who did not trust White people or “the White man’s education.” His detractors even called him “the White man’s wife,” a demeaning accusation for a respected elder. Yet, Chief Dull Knife’s vision prevailed. His vision was realized with new schools and a two-year college on the Northern Cheyenne reservation. Today, his prophetic words are CDKC’s mission statement.

The directors appointed to manage the Northern Cheyenne Indian Action Program were, for the most part, nontraditional and did not live ceremonial lives. Thus, the program developed with a focus on training residents of the Northern Cheyenne reservation for regional jobs in mining and agriculture. Directors who were tradition-oriented were hesitant to incorporate Tsétsėhéstȧhese (Cheyenne) values and practices within the vocational training program. At that early stage, the priority was to educate people for the workplace; not to provide spiritual grounding.

The program flourished and in 1979, Dull Knife Memorial College began offering courses through an arrangement with Miles City College, a two-year institution located 100 miles to the northwest. This arrangement helped Dull Knife Memorial College become a credit-offering institution that earned and has maintained accreditation since 1995. Curriculum expansion and program development continued; CDKC now offers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate in Applied Science degrees, as well as certificates and dual-enrollment courses.

In the mid-1990s, Dr. Alonzo Spang introduced activities that promoted Cheyenne culture, such as inviting elders to campus to share stories, to view CDKC’s archived photographs, or just to eat, talk, and get reacquainted. He also started the tradition of giving male graduates coup sticks and female graduates beaded medicine pouches upon receipt of their diplomas at commencement ceremonies. However, it proved difficult to affect change that represented spiritual grounding.

CDKC’S SPIRITUAL GROUNDING

“Culture” and its components often get mixed up. It is important to distinguish between the cultural and the spiritual. As defined by Merriam-Webster, culture is “the customary beliefs, social forms of a racial, religious, or social group; also, the characteristic features of every day existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by a people in a place or time” (Merriam- Webster Online, n.d.). The spiritual, on the other hand, is defined as “relating to or affecting the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things” (i.e., the non-material, incorporeal, intangible), or as “relating to religion or religious belief” (i.e., religious, sacred, divine, holy, non-secular, church, ecclesiastical, faith-based) (Merriam-Webster Online, n.d.). A comparison of these two words clearly demonstrates that the former is tangible and the latter intangible, and yet there is considerable connectedness between the two; they complement each other.

In 1975, the Northern Cheyenne Indian Action Program, Inc. was chartered, evolving into Dull Knife Memorial College four years later.

The college’s strategic plan stated that Cheyenne culture was to be incorporated into all the disciplines taught at CDKC. Courses that have been extremely successful incorporating Cheyenne culture into the curriculum include Native American studies and Cheyenne language. Language classes begin with the instructor smudging his students with cedar or sweet grass smoke to cleanse and purify them. CDKC’s Cultural Affairs Department organizes cultural activities, linguistics workshops, and two annual immersion camps and answers questions concerning Cheyenne language, traditions, ceremonies, and biographical information. This department also prepares food baskets for grieving families, drum groups, and those who offer prayers at our ceremonies.

Much of this spiritual grounding is already evident and implicit within the Northern Cheyenne tribe itself and in its organizations. The Tsétsėhéstȧhese have two sacred covenants that permeate both the Northern and Southern Cheyenne tribes: the Sacred Buffalo Hat and the Sacred Arrows. These were given to the Tsétsėhéstȧhese long ago and, as george Bird grinnell explained, “They were a spiritual protection to the tribe, talismans given them by the Creator to help the people to health, long life, and plenty in time of peace, and in time of war to protect and strengthen them and give them victory over their enemies.” (grinnell, 1910, p. 542)

The Sacred Hat is located on the Northern Cheyenne reservation in Lame Deer, Montana, and the Sacred Arrows are located in Oklahoma. The following is a brief history of both:

Ésevone (Sacred Buffalo Hat) is the great symbol and source of female renewing power. Ésevone’s power renews the buffalo herd of the past, as well as the cattle herds of the present. It was through the Buffalo Hat that the sun dance first came to the So’taahe people. In the sun dance there is a sacred woman who offers her body as a renewal of the Cheyenne and their world. Through the supernatural power of the Arrows and Buffalo Hat, the male and female relationships in Cheyenne life are blessed, ensuring continued strength, harmony, and new life for the people and their world.

Four black painted arrows were given to Sweet Medicine at Bear Butte. Cheyenne called the Arrows Maahótse, derived from the name of Ma’heo’o, the All Father. These uniquely sacred objects share the supreme powers of the Creator himself, and they channel supernatural life into Cheyenne lives. Maahótse continue to be the means by which the Cheyenne are united with the All Father. After Morning Star’s (Chief Dull Knife’s) village was destroyed by general McKenzie in November 1876, the Sacred Arrow Keeper, Black Hairy Dog, bore the Arrows to safety in the south, and that is where they have remained. The Sacred Arrows are the divinely given symbol of male power, and no female dares to look at them (Chief Dull Knife College, 2008, p. 88).

These two covenants are influential in all Cheyenne history. Each spring, neither the Northern nor Southern Cheyenne can perform any of their ceremonies until the Sacred Arrows are renewed in Oklahoma. The two covenants are included in all of the appropriate tribal activities in Montana and Oklahoma. The Hat Keeper prays for all Cheyenne people twice a day. The mere presence of the Sacred Hat and Sacred Arrows on this earth consoles and comforts the Cheyenne people. The Sacred Hat’s presence on the reservation permeates all that the college and other tribal organizations do, and all the people who work there are aware of its presence. Asking for prayers from the Sacred Hat is not strictly ritualized. One must offer a gift to the Keeper.

Almost all the people who were instrumental in the establishment of Chief Dull Knife College are now gone. They have taken with them evidence of the spiritual grounding that may have been present upon its inception. Information on the initial spiritual grounding efforts is secondhand because not much was written specifically about the spiritual grounding of the college. However, the Northern Cheyenne are a highly spiritual people and rely on the Creator Ma’heo’o, the Sacred Hat and Sacred Arrows, the prophecies of Sweet Medicine, the knowledge of the elders, and past practices whenever there is any new occurrence—and the creation of a two-year tribal college certainly was a new occurrence for the Cheyenne people.

This spiritual grounding is vital because if Cheyenne culture disappears, the Cheyenne people from this land mass now called the United States will also disappear. Further, this grounding is vital because the culture, language, and spirituality represent who the Cheyenne people are. These characteristics include an identity that has taken a considerable battering because of stereotypes and other cultural differences that don’t mesh with mainstream America.

CDKC’s spiritual grounding does present challenges. For instance, the college was chartered by a council that was a product of the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA). In 1936, by a general vote of eligible tribal members, the people decided to institute the IRA form of tribal government. Theoretically, this choice left behind the “chief” form of government, which had been in effect with the Cheyenne since time immemorial, but it never really disappeared. For instance, culturally based disputes often arise between the tribe’s factions and traditional societies. These disputes could be settled by the IRA government under its jurisprudence system, but often the tribal judges and the tribal council will defer to the societies to settle these disputes, just like in pre- IRA times. These kinds of situations are politically delicate accommodations for both the “chief” and the IRA governments. There are proponents and opponents of each form of government, but so far nothing has changed since 1936 when the IRA form of government was established. CDKC gets involved in disputes of this nature and addresses them as they arise.

SAFEGUARDING SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE

Certain aspects of Northern Cheyenne spiritual knowledge must remain sacred and separate not only from tribal college life but from the general public. Participation in sacred ceremonies and rituals is required before a person, whether male or female, can participate in subsequent activities or qualify for certain positions in the tribe’s sacred ceremonies and rituals. There are aspects of Cheyenne culture that forbid women to view artifacts or to participate in certain activities. Some taboos may be obsolete but, for the most part, the taboos are still there.

The college gets more immediately involved in disputes regarding the teaching of classes on Cheyenne culture and spiritual ways. Occasionally, students object to who is teaching a class or to the subject matter being taught. They may argue that the subject matter is inappropriate or that the instructor is unqualified. These objections are eventually resolved, but sometimes with considerable classroom disruption and with visits from parents or society headsmen.

In these turbulent times, now more than ever all the Cheyenne, especially the youth, must have strong, positive grounding—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Mainstream culture has fettered all Indigenous people with highly detrimental stereotypes that do great psychological harm, and these stereotypes are difficult to deconstruct. So, the more students learn about Cheyenne culture, the more positive their outlook because they will be anchored in the reality of their culture.

The sacred vocabulary used in Cheyenne rituals and ceremonies should be researched, gathered, archived, and a protocol should be established for those people who have gained the stature to access and use these words. Otherwise, without this process, these words will disappear forever. How this spiritual knowledge is saved and stored so that it will be useful in the future requires immediate action from the tribe’s authorities on sacred matters. It is a necessary action so that future generations are not deprived of the lessons conveyed in these words.

However, there is the danger of cultural and linguistic theft, which has happened to the great detriment of the Northern Cheyenne people. This kind of theft can occur from outside or from within the tribe. Scruples fall by the wayside when it comes to information that might lead to monetary profit. Museums throughout the land possess Cheyenne artifacts and manuscripts which are often inaccessible to the Cheyenne people— sometimes just because of the geographical distance at which they are located (i.e., the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, and the Newberry Library in Chicago).

***

Dr. Alonzo Spang has departed for the next camp. He was a man of many firsts, and he is often unrecognized for his accomplishments. That conversation I had with him back in 1996 laid CDKC’s spiritual foundation and established its cultural direction. The college has not yet achieved all that he hoped for, but the Tsétsėhéstȧhese are a patient and persevering people. I have full confidence we will achieve what Dr. Spang envisioned.

Richard Littelbear, Ed.D. (Northern Cheyenne), is president of Chief Dull Knife College.

REFERENCES

Chief Dull Knife College. (2008). We, the Northern Cheyenne People: Our Land, Our History, Our Culture. Lame Deer, MT: Chief Dull Knife College.

Culture [Def. 1]. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved July 27, 2018, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Culture

Grinnell, G. (1910). The great Mysteries of the Cheyenne. American Anthropologist, 12(4), 542-575. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/659797

Spiritual [Def. 1 & 2]. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spiritual