CHIEF LEFT HAND
1840 TO 1911
Born in the 1840's somewhere west of present Ft. Supply, Left Hand ("NIWAT" also "NAWATHIT") became principal chief of the Southern Arapahoe's on the death of LITTLE RAVEN in 1889. A noted buffalo hunter & warrior, He survived the "BATTLE OF SAND CREEK" in 1864. In 1867, he signed the Treaty of Medicine Lodge, moving the Cheyenne's and Arapahoe's to Oklahoma and he and his people were at peace with the whites. Believing the great Spirit would bring back the Buffalo and return the land to the Indians, Left Hand became deeply involved in the GHOST DANCE MOVEMENT in 1889, He actively backed the
agreement to open their Reservation to settlement. He died in 1911 and was buried nearby on this land which
was his allotment. The springs bear his name. LEFT HAND SPRINGS.