Ehyophsta
Cheyenne woman warrior / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ehyophsta ( "Yellow-Haired Woman")[1] (b. circa 1826, d. 1915) was a Cheyenne woman warrior. She was the daughter of a chief, Stands-in-the-Timber, who died in 1849, and the niece of Bad Faced Bull.[2] She fought in the Battle of Beecher Island in 1868, and also fought the Shoshone that same year, where she counted coup against one enemy and killed another.[3] She fought the Shoshone again in 1869, and during battle she stabbed and killed an enemy, saving a member of her own people.[4]
Ehyophsta | |
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Ehyophsta, (Cheyenne: "Yellow-Haired Woman") | |
Personal details | |
Died | 1915 |
Relations | Uncle, Bad Faced Bull. |
Parent | Stands-in-the-Timber |
Known for | Fought in the Battle of Beecher Island |
It is said that she rode her father's horse, and sang songs alongside a fellow woman warrior, Buffalo Wallow Woman of the Lakota.[5] She was also a member of a secret society composed exclusively of Cheyenne women. During this period, Cheyenne women often participated in battle, dressed and armed the same as the male warriors were.[6]
She died in August of 1915 at the Tongue River Reservation in Montana, aged eighty-nine.[4]
She is one of the women in the Heritage Floor of the famous feminist installation art work, The Dinner Party, by Judy Chicago.[7]