The Arapaho (also spelled Arapahoe) are a Native American people who originally lived on the Great Plains, the vast grasslands stretching across central North America. For centuries before European settlement, the Arapaho were nomadic buffalo hunters, following the great herds across present-day Wyoming, Colorado, Kansas, and Nebraska. They lived in portable cone-shaped homes called tipis that could be quickly assembled and taken down as they moved with the seasons.

The Arapaho were skilled horsemen and traders who maintained important relationships with neighboring tribes like the Cheyenne. Their society was organized around bands that came together for ceremonies, hunts, and important decisions. Like many Plains tribes, they depended on the buffalo for food, clothing, shelter, and tools.

In the 1800s, westward expansion and the near-extinction of buffalo herds drastically changed Arapaho life. Through treaties with the U.S. government, the Arapaho were eventually divided into two main groups: the Northern Arapaho, who share the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming with the Shoshone, and the Southern Arapaho, who live in Oklahoma with the Cheyenne. Today, around 10,000 Arapaho maintain their cultural traditions, language, and tribal governments while adapting to modern life.