Cheyenne Proverbs

Don’t judge with the eyes—use the heart instead.

Watch out for the man who says nothing and the dog who does not bark.

Our first teacher is in our own heart.

Don’t judge a person until you have walked two moons in his moccasins.

Native American Wisdom

The early Cheyenne farmed, fished, gathered and hunted in the Minnesota/ Lake Superior region. By the mid to late 1700s, they moved to the Great Plains, where they lived in tepees and hunted buffalo. In the early 1830s, they divided into Northern and Southern groups.

Their spiritual beliefs included the existence of a separate above ground and below ground god, as well as four spirits at the four points of the compass. They elaborately preformed the sun dance ritual, and they also used sacred good luck bundles. The Cheyenne were grouped into various society groups such as social, dance, medicine, spiritual, and military.

The 5,000 current day Cheyenne live mostly in Montana and Oklahoma.