Cheyenne indigenous people of the Plains (see NORTH AMERICA, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF), with an Algonquian language of the Algonquian-Wakashan stock (see NATIVE AMERICAN LANGUAGES). In the 17th cent. they lived in earth-lodge villages along the Cheyenne R. After acquiring horses (c.1760) they became nomadic buffalo hunters. They were friendly to whites until prospectors swarmed into their lands when gold was found in Colorado. Cheyenne raids against intruders brought punitive actions by the U.S. army. Aroused by an unprovoked massacre at Sand Creek (1864), the Cheyenne waged bitter war that culminated in the Battle of the LITTLE BIGHORN (1876), where Cheyenne annihilated the cavalry of Gen. George CUSTER. In 1877, however, the sick and starving Cheyenne surrendered and were moved first to Oklahoma, then to Montana. In 1990 there were 11,456 Cheyenne in the U.S. Bright Star