Cheyenne. The Cheyenne are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enrolled in the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes in Oklahoma, and the Northern Cheyenne, who are enrolled in the Northern Cheyenne Tribe of the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation in Montana. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o and the Tsétsêhéstâhese. The tribes merged in the early 19th century. At the time of their first European contact, the Cheyenne lived in what is now Minnesota. They were close allies of the Arapaho and loosely aligned with the Lakota. By the early 18th century, they were forced west across the Missouri River and into North and South Dakota, where they adopted the horse culture. Having settled the Black Hills of South Dakota and the Powder River Country of present-day Montana, they introduced the horse culture to Lakota people about 1730. With the Arapaho, the Cheyenne pushed the Kiowa to the Southern Plains. In turn, they were pushed west by the more numerous Lakota. The main group of Cheyenne, the Tsêhéstáno, was once composed of ten bands that spread across the Great Plains from southern Colorado to the Black Hills in South Dakota. They fought their historic enemies, the Crow and later the United States Army. In the mid-19th century, the bands began to split, with some bands choosing to remain near the Black Hills, while others chose to remain near the Platte Rivers of central Colorado. The Northern Cheyenne, known in Cheyenne either as Notameohmésêhese, meaning Northern Eaters or simply as Ohmesehese meaning Eaters, live in southeastern Montana on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. Tribal enrollment figures, as of late 2014, indicate that there are approximately 10,840 members, of which about 4,939 reside on the reservation. Approximately 91% of the population are Native Americans, with 72.8% identifying themselves as Cheyenne. Slightly more than one quarter of the population five years or older spoke a language other than English. The Southern Cheyenne, known in Cheyenne as Heévâhetaneo'o meaning Roped People, together with the Southern Arapaho, form the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, in western Oklahoma. Their combined population is 12,130, as of 2008. In 2003, approximately 8,000 of these identified themselves as Cheyenne, although with continuing intermarriage it has become increasingly difficult to separate the tribes. The Cheyenne are composed of two tribes, the So'taeo'o or So'taetaneo'o and the Tsetsehestahese, which translates to those who are like this. These two tribes had always traveled together, becoming fully merged sometime after 1831, when they were still noted as having separate camps. The Suhtai were said to have originally had slightly different speech and customs from their traveling companions. The name Cheyenne may be derived from Lakota Sioux exonym for them, A ahíyena. Though the identity of the A ahíya is not known, many Great Plains tribes assume it means Cree or some other people who spoke an Algonquian language related to Cree and Cheyenne. The Cheyenne word for Ojibwe is Sahea'eo'o, a word that sounds similar to the Lakota word A ahíya. Another of the common etymologies for Cheyenne is a bit like the alien speech. According to George Bird Grinnell, the Lakota had referred to themselves and fellow Siouan-language bands as white talkers, and those of other language families, such as the Algonquian Cheyenne, as red talkers. The etymology of the name Tsitsistas, which the Cheyenne call themselves, is uncertain. According to the Cheyenne dictionary, offered online by Chief Dull Knife College, there is no definitive consensus and various studies of the origins and the translation of the word have been suggested. Grinnell's record is typical; he states They call themselves Tsistsistas, which the books commonly give as meaning people. It most likely means related to one another, similarly bred, like us, our people, or us. The term for the Cheyenne homeland is Tsiihistano. Main article: Cheyenne language The Cheyenne of Montana and Oklahoma speak the Cheyenne language, known as Tsêhésenêstsestôtse. Approximately 800 people speak Cheyenne in Oklahoma. There are only a handful of vocabulary differences between the two locations. The Cheyenne alphabet contains 14 letters.