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Northern Arapaho

"Northern Arapaho" is a phrase with a few different, and sometimes confusing, meanings.

1) The Northern Arapaho Tribe refers to one of the two main divisions of the Arapaho people. Today the Northern Arapahos are located in Wyoming, where they share the Wind River Reservation with the Eastern Shoshone.

2) Northern Arapaho was one of the major dialects of the Arapaho language, so called because it was originally spoken by bands in the northern part of Arapaho territory. However, both the people today known as "Northern Arapaho" and "Southern Arapaho" are speakers of the original Northern Arapaho dialect. The Southern Arapaho dialect was spoken by the Nawathineha and related bands, and although there are Nawathineha descendants among the Southern Arapaho tribe, the Southern dialect is no longer spoken today. So the "Northern Arapaho language" is today the same thing as the "Arapaho language."

3) The Gros Ventre tribe was sometimes historically referred to as the "Northern Arapaho," due to their location directly to the north of Arapaho territory and their very similar language and customs.

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Here are links to our webpages about the Northern Arapaho tribe and language:

Northern Arapaho language
Gros Ventre
Arapaho Indians
Arapaho pronunciation
Arapaho words
Algonquians
Tribes of the Plains

Here are some other Internet resources about the Northern Arapahos:
Northern Arapaho Tribe
Northern Arapaho Tribal Industries
History of the Northern Arapaho Tribe

And here are a few good books about the Northern Arapahos:
The Four Hills of Life: Northern Arapaho Knowledge and Life Movement
The Northern Arapaho Flat Pipe And The Ceremony Of Covering The Pipe
The Arapaho Language

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