Goes Up Hill: Resilience of the Arapaho People

Goes Up Hill – Arapaho – circa 1885

This historical portrait captures an Arapaho man named Goes Up Hill, photographed around 1885, during a period when Native nations across the Plains were facing dramatic upheaval. The Arapaho, originally part of the Great Plains nomadic tribes, were closely allied with the Cheyenne and often associated with the Lakota in resistance to U.S. expansion.

By 1885, the Arapaho people had already endured forced relocation, confinement to reservations, and the erosion of their traditional way of life. Photographs such as this one were often taken by ethnographers or commercial photographers, who sought to document Indigenous people in traditional regalia while their cultures were under immense pressure to assimilate.

The name “Goes Up Hill” itself suggests both strength and endurance — symbolizing persistence in climbing upward despite challenges. In many Plains traditions, names often carried deep spiritual or personal meaning, connecting individuals to the land, their character, or significant life events.

Today, this image stands not only as a portrait of an individual but also as a reminder of the resilience of the Arapaho people, who continue to preserve their language, stories, and traditions in the face of historical hardships.