Cheyenne elders recalled life at the Whiteshield Camp, along the Washita River in Oklahoma.
Cheyenne families settled the camp in the late 1800s, after their ancestors were nearly wiped out at the Sand Creek Massacre in Colorado in 1864 and the Washita River Massacre in 1868.
Archie Hoffman, 71, and Edwin Pewo, 73, were among those who were raised at the site. They said they lived off the land and learned about Cheyenne traditions.
"I consider it a real blessing to have been raised in the Whiteshield Camp with all those elders,” Pewo told The Oklahoman. "We were just like one big, happy family.”
The families were eventually pushed off the site after the federal government began allotting Cheyenne lands.
Get the Story:Between two worlds (The Oklahoman 4/15)
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‘We're part of Oklahoma history' (The Oklahoman 4/13)
