The Peace Chiefs of the Cheyennes

US: University of Oklahoma Press, 1990. Very Good. A copy that has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. A Plains tribe that subsisted on the buffalo, the Cheyennes depended for su rvival on the valor and skill of their braves in the hunt and in battle. Th e fiery spirit of the young warriors was balanced by the calm wisdom of the tribal headmen, the peace chiefs, who met yearly as the Council of the For ty-four. "A Cheyenne chief was required to be a man of peace, to be brave, and to be of generous heart," writes Stan Hoig. "Of these qualities the fir st was unconditionally the most important, for upon it rested the moral res traint required for the warlike Cheyenne Nation." As the Cheyennes began to feel the westward crush of white civilization in the nineteenth century, a great burden fell to the peace chiefs. Reconcilia tion with the whites was the tribe's only hope for survival, and the chiefs were the buffers between their own warriors and the United States military , who were out to "win the West." The chiefs found themselves struggling to maintain the integrity of their people-struggling against overwhelming mil itary forces, against disease, against the debauchery brought by "firewater ," and against the irreversible decline of their source of livelihood, the buffalo. They were trapped by history in a nearly impossible position. Thei r story is a heroic epic and, oftentimes, a tragedy. No single book has dealt as intensively as this one with the institution of the peace chiefs. The author has gleaned significant material from all available published sources and from contemporary n.