This vision was not impossible in principle.

The Cherokee, in the Southeast, had tried a similar approach in the early nineteenth century — developing written laws, institutions of self-governance, and formal compliance with American expectations, while maintaining Cherokee identity and community.

The Cherokee were removed anyway, because the political will to honor the Cherokee Nation’s rights was ultimately insufficient.

Black Kettle was navigating toward a similar vision on the central plains — a Cheyenne nation that had made the necessary accommodations to American sovereignty while retaining the core of what made the Cheyenne the Cheyenne.

The specific elements of that vision — the continuation of bison hunting, the maintenance of Cheyenne social organization and ceremony, the physical presence in something approaching their historical territory — were all eliminated or severely compromised by the failure of the peace process.