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Southern Arapaho

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

1) The Southern Arapaho Tribe refers to one of the two main divisions of the Arapaho people. Today the Southern Arapahos are located in Oklahoma, where they share the Cheyenne and Arapaho reservation with the Southern Cheyenne.

2) Southern Arapaho was one of the major dialects of the Arapaho language, so called because it was originally spoken by bands in the southern 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 Arapaho dialect is no longer spoken today.

3) The Nawathineha band was often historically referred to as the "Southern Arapaho," due to their location at the southern part of Arapaho territory. Indeed, their Arapaho name means "southerners." However, the Nawathineha made up only a small part of the broader Southern Arapaho division. There are still Nawathineha descendants in the Southern Arapaho tribe today, but most Southern Arapaho people descend from Hinono'eino bands (sometimes known as "Arapaho Proper" in historical texts.)

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

Arapaho language
Arapaho community
Arapahos
Arapaho pronunciation
Arapaho words
Algonquian language
Plains Indians

Here are some other Internet resources about the Southern Arapahos:
Cheyenne & Arapaho Tribal Homepage (Southern Arapaho Tribe)
The Southern Arapaho
History of the Southern Arapahoes

And here are a few good books about the Southern Arapahos:
The Trace of the Southern Arapaho
Wives and Husbands: Gender and Age in Southern Arapaho History
Little Raven: Chief of the Southern Arapaho
Chief Left Hand: Southern Arapaho

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