Friday (Arapaho chief)

{{Short description|Chief and interpreter of Northern Arapaho}}

{{Short description|Chief and interpreter of Northern Arapaho}}

[[File:Friday, Arapaho Chief.png|thumb|Friday in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] (1873) by [[Alexander Gardner (photographer)|Alexander Gardner]]]]

[[File:Friday, Arapaho Chief.png|thumb|Friday in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]] (1873) by [[Alexander Gardner (photographer)|Alexander Gardner]]]]

'''''Teenokuhu'''''<ref name="CE bio" /> ([[Arapaho language|Arapaho]]: '''Warshinun'''<ref name="FCHC" />) '''('''c. 1822–1881),<ref name="FCHC" /> popularly known as '''Chief Friday''' or '''Friday Fitzpatrick''', was an Arapaho leader and interpreter in the mid to late 1800s. When he was around the age of eight, he was separated from his band and was taken in by a white trapper. During the next seven years, he was schooled in [[St. Louis]], Missouri and went on trapping expeditions with his informally adopted father, [[Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper)|Thomas Fitzpatrick]]. After he was recognized by his mother during an encounter with the Arapaho, he returned to the tribe.

'''''Teenokuhu'''''<ref name="CE bio" /> ([[Arapaho language|Arapaho]]: '''Warshinun'''<ref name="FCHC" />) '''('''c. 1822–1881),<ref name="FCHC" /> popularly known as '''Chief Friday''' or '''Friday Fitzpatrick''', was an Arapaho leader, translator, interpreter, and peacemaker who helped negotiate treaties and resolve cultural misunderstandings in the mid to late 19th century.

Called the "Arapaho American" by tribal members, Friday was a translator, interpreter, and peacemaker who helped negotiate treaties and resolve cultural misunderstandings. He traveled with and translated for the explorers [[John C. Frémont]] in 1843 and [[Rufus Sage]] in the spring of 1844. He assisted [[Ferdinand V. Hayden]] during his [[Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden#Geological surveys|surveying expedition]] and in the winter of 1859–1860 taught Hayden the Arapaho vocabulary.<ref name="Scott">{{cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=High Lenox |year=1907 |title=The Early History and the Names of the Arapaho |url=https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1907.9.3.02a00110 |journal=American Anthropologist |publisher=American Anthropological Association |volume=9 |issue=3 |page=554 |doi=10.1525/aa.1907.9.3.02a00110 |url-access=subscription |via=Anthrosource online library, Wiley}}</ref> Friday became the leader of a band who were centered in the [[Cache la Poudre River]] area (near present-day [[Fort Collins, Colorado]]), but also ranged into Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska. He made friends of white settlers in northern Colorado and secured jobs on farms and ranches for his tribal members after losing access to the Arapaho's traditional hunting grounds. After multiple attempts to establish a reservation for the Northern Arapaho in Colorado or Wyoming, Friday ultimately moved with his people to the [[Wind River Indian Reservation]].

Called the "Arapaho American" by tribal members, he traveled with and translated for the explorers [[John C. Frémont]] in 1843 and [[Rufus Sage]] in the spring of 1844. He assisted [[Ferdinand V. Hayden]] during his [[Ferdinand Vandeveer Hayden#Geological surveys|surveying expedition]] and in the winter of 1859–1860 taught Hayden the Arapaho vocabulary. Friday became the leader of a band who were centered in the [[Cache la Poudre River]] area (near present-day [[Fort Collins, Colorado]]), but also ranged into Wyoming, Kansas and Nebraska. He made friends of white settlers in northern Colorado and secured jobs on farms and ranches for his tribal members after losing access to the Arapaho's traditional hunting grounds. After multiple attempts to establish a reservation for the Northern Arapaho in Colorado or Wyoming, Friday ultimately moved with his people to the [[Wind River Indian Reservation]]{{Citation needed}}.

==Early years==

==Early years==

Born in the early to mid 1820's to a band of [[Arapaho|Northern Arapaho]] Indians in what is now Northern Colorado, he was given the name 'Teenokuhuh', which means "sits meekly" in his native [[Arapaho language|Arapaho]] tongue<ref name="CE bio" /> and also was called 'Warshinun' ("black spot" or "black coal ashes").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hafen |first=LeRoy R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r3sx6CYB4OMC&pg=PA145 |title=Broken Hand: The Life of Thomas Fitzpatrick, Mountain Man, Guide and Indian Agent |date=1981-01-01 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-7208-8 |pages=145}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Dunn |first=Meg |date=November 16, 2020 |title=Friday an Arapaho Leader |url=https://www.northerncoloradohistory.com/friday-the-arapaho/ |access-date=July 4, 2025 |website=Northern Colorado History}}</ref> One day in 1831, when Teenokuhuh was just a boy, he and his band were camping next to the [[Cimarron River (Arkansas River tributary)|Cimarron River]] alongside a band of [[Gros Ventre]] (Atsina) Indians in what is today Dodge City, Kansas.<ref name=":0" />A fight broke out which led to the Arapaho chief being stabbed; the Atsina chief was killed in retaliation.<ref name="Scott" /> In the melee, Teenokuhuh and two boys were separated from their people and became lost in the [[Colorado Territory]] where they wandered for several days.<ref name="CE bio" /><ref name="Scott" /> They were eventually found by an irish trapper, [[Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper)|Thomas Fitzpatrick]], with the [[Rocky Mountain Fur Company]], who was in the area for an annual rendezvous.<ref name=":0" /> Fitzpatrick took Teenokuhuh under his wing, renaming him "Friday" (the day of the week Fitzpatrick found the boy) and enrolled him in a school in St. Louis.<ref name=":0" /> Friday learned fluent English as well as the ways of these relative newcomers who were slowly expanding into, and placing restrictions on, his own peoples’ land.<ref name="FCHC">{{Cite web |title=Chief Friday |url=https://history.fcgov.com/explore/friday |access-date=2021-12-07 |website=Fort Collins History Connection}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Born in the early to mid 1820's to a band of [[Arapaho|Northern Arapaho]] Indians in what is now Northern Colorado, he was given the name 'Teenokuhuh', which means "sits meekly" in his native [[Arapaho language|Arapaho]] tongue<ref name="CE bio" /> and also was called 'Warshinun' ("black spot" or "black coal ashes").<ref>{{Cite book |last=Hafen |first=LeRoy R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r3sx6CYB4OMC&pg=PA145 |title=Broken Hand: The Life of Thomas Fitzpatrick, Mountain Man, Guide and Indian Agent |date=1981-01-01 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-0-8032-7208-8 |pages=145}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Dunn |first=Meg |date=November 16, 2020 |title=Friday an Arapaho Leader |url=https://www.northerncoloradohistory.com/friday-the-arapaho/ |access-date=July 4, 2025 |website=Northern Colorado History}}</ref> One day in 1831, when Teenokuhuh was just a boy, he and his band were camping next to the [[Cimarron River (Arkansas River tributary)|Cimarron River]] alongside a band of [[Gros Ventre]] (Atsina) Indians in what is today Dodge City, Kansas.<ref name=":0" />A fight broke out which led to the Arapaho chief being stabbed; the Atsina chief was killed in retaliation.<ref name="Scott">{{cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=High Lenox |year=1907 |title=The Early History and the Names of the Arapaho |url=https://anthrosource.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1525/aa.1907.9.3.02a00110 |journal=American Anthropologist |publisher=American Anthropological Association |volume=9 |issue=3 |page=554 |doi=10.1525/aa.1907.9.3.02a00110 |url-access=subscription |via=Anthrosource online library, Wiley}}</ref> In the melee, Teenokuhuh and two boys were separated from their people and became lost in the [[Colorado Territory]] where they wandered for several days.<ref name="CE bio" /><ref name="Scott" /> They were eventually found by an irish trapper, [[Thomas Fitzpatrick (trapper)|Thomas Fitzpatrick]], with the [[Rocky Mountain Fur Company]], who was in the area for an annual rendezvous.<ref name=":0" /> Fitzpatrick took Teenokuhuh under his wing, renaming him "Friday" (the day of the week Fitzpatrick found the boy) and enrolled him in a school in St. Louis.<ref name=":0" /> Friday learned fluent English as well as the ways of these relative newcomers who were slowly expanding into, and placing restrictions on, his own peoples’ land.<ref name="FCHC">{{Cite web |title=Chief Friday |url=https://history.fcgov.com/explore/friday |access-date=2021-12-07 |website=Fort Collins History Connection}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

Friday went with Fitzpatrick into the frontier on his trapping journeys. He met other trappers who found him to have an "astonishing memory" and he was known for "his minute observation and amusing inquiries".<ref name="CE bio">{{Cite web |last=Encyclopedia Staff |date=2020-06-09 |title=Teenokuhu (Friday) |url=https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/teenokuhu-friday |access-date=2021-12-07 |website=coloradoencyclopedia.org |language=en-US}}</ref> At some point, Fitzpatrick was a [[Bureau of Indian Affairs|United States Agent]] for the Arapaho.<ref name="Scott" />

Friday went with Fitzpatrick into the frontier on his trapping journeys. He met other trappers who found him to have an "astonishing memory" and he was known for "his minute observation and amusing inquiries".<ref name="CE bio">{{Cite web |last=Encyclopedia Staff |date=2020-06-09 |title=Teenokuhu (Friday) |url=https://coloradoencyclopedia.org/article/teenokuhu-friday |access-date=2021-12-07 |website=coloradoencyclopedia.org |language=en-US}}</ref> At some point, Fitzpatrick was a [[Bureau of Indian Affairs|United States Agent]] for the Arapaho.<ref name="Scott" />