Editing Cheyenne (section)

== Name ==
[[File:WRichardWestJr.jpg|thumb|upright|[[W. Richard West Jr.]], former director and cofounder of the [[Smithsonian Institution|Smithsonian's]] [[National Museum of the American Indian]]]]
The Cheyenne called themselves ''Tsétsêhéstâhese'' (more commonly as the ''Tsitsistas''; singular: ''Tsétsêhéstaestse''), which translates to "those who are like this".<ref name="Dictionary"/> The Suhtai, also called the Só'taeo'o, Só'taétaneo'o, Sutaio (singular: Só'taétane) traveled with the Tsétsêhéstâhese and merged with them after 1832.<ref name=grin10>Grinnell, [https://books.google.com/books?id=PGcGZhz7P0AC ''The Cheyenne Indians''], p. 10</ref> The Suhtai had slightly different speech and customs from the Tsétsêhéstâhese.<ref name="Grinnell, p. 2">Grinnell, ''The Fighting Cheyenne'', p. 2.</ref>

The name "Cheyenne" derives from the [[Siouan language|Lakota Sioux]] [[exonym]] ''Šahíyena'' meaning "little ''Šahíya''". The identity of the ''Šahíya'' is not known, but many [[Great Plains tribes]] assume that it means [[Cree]] or another people who spoke an [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian language]] related to Cree and Cheyenne.<ref>{{Cite web|url = http://www.geocities.com/cheyenne_language/origin.htm|title = What is the origin of the word "Cheyenne"?|access-date = September 21, 2007|date = 2002-03-03|publisher = Cheyenne Language Web Site |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090807032944/http://geocities.com/cheyenne_language/origin.htm |archive-date=2009-08-07}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2023}} The Cheyenne name for Ojibwe is ''Sáhea'eo'o'', a word that sounds similar to the ''Lakota'' word ''Šahíya''.{{citation needed|date=December 2023}}

Another of the common etymologies for ''Cheyenne'' is "a bit like the [people of an] alien speech" (literally, "red-talker").<ref>Bright, William (2004). ''Native American Place Names of the United States''. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, pg. 95</ref> 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" (''Šahíyena'').<ref name="Grinnell, p. 2"/>

The etymology of the name Tsitsistas (Tsétsėhéstȧhese), which the Cheyenne call themselves, is uncertain. According to the Cheyenne dictionary offered online by [[Chief Dull Knife College]], there is no consensus and various origins and translation of the word have been proposed. Grinnell's record is typical and states, "They call themselves Tsistsistas [sic, Tsitsistas is the correct pronunciation], which the books commonly give as meaning "people". It most likely means related to one another, similarly bred, like us, our people, or us.<ref name="lexicon">Chief Dull Knife College, Cheyenne Dictionary [http://cdkc.edu/cheyennedictionary/lexicon/main.htm "Tsé-tsėhéstȧhese"]</ref> The term for the Cheyenne homeland is ''Tsistano''.