A Cheyenne woman in 1930. Photo: Edward S. Curtis / Northwestern University Library Digital Library Collections, The North American Indian
The elders: Remembering the horse and buggy days
By Clara Caufield
Native Sun News Today Columnist
nativesunnews.today According to the most recent statistics about 11,200 people are enrolled in the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and about 5,000 of those live on the Reservation. Because of my service on the Northern Cheyenne Elderly Commission, I recently learned from Wallace Bearchum, Director of the Tribal Services Department that only 78 tribal members are age 80 and above and only four are ninety or more. They represent less than 7 percent of the tribal membership. The two oldest tribal members are Bertha Beartusk Freeman and Melvin Small Sr. both to turn 94 in a few months. Along with Barbara Bierdneau, age 91, they are the last of the original allottees on the reservation which was allotted in 1926. Inez Spotted Elk Wilson just celebrated her 90th birthday. Of the remaining who are in the eighth decade, several are very close to 90. Still, that’s not very many people to have survived to such age, a much lower percentage than in non-Indian communities.
Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: The elders: Remembering the horse and buggy days (Clara Caufield can be reached @acheyennevoice@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
Join the Conversation
