The Kiowa Indians are one of the lesser known Plains Indian tribes. However, their history and culture are both interesting and beautiful, and thus contain vital elements of the tribe's personal identification.
In recent times, the Kiowa Indians have faced multiple hardships. Regardless, their history is still vital.
Geography
The Kiowa Indians originally lived in the Kootenay Region of British Columbia, Canada. It is estimated that by around 1700 A.D., the approximate year outsiders discovered the tribe's existence, the Kiowa migrated to the Yellowstone and Missouri river regions in present day Montana and the area around the Texas Panhandle.
Identification
It is critical to know that the Kiowa are considered Plains Indians and their culture was last to develop, beginning in approximately 1620 A.D. The Kiowa Indians were among several other tribes such as the Arapaho, Blackfoot, Cheyenne and Comanche, who were also considered Plains Indians.
Features
Buffalo was a staple animal for the Kiowa Indians. They used all parts of the buffalo to provide food, clothing, shelter, bedding and even weapons. Dogs and horses were also animals that the Kiowa relied heavily on. Dogs, for example, were used as pack animals before the Kiowa had horses. Eventually, when the Kiowa began to use horses, they called horses sun dogs and used them in hunting, moving and even as objects of trade. These animals played a key role in the life of these Indians. Kiowa rituals had significant importance. The Kiowa Indians were well known for their Sun Dance ceremonies. This ceremony lasted for 10 days or more and was a celebration of the sun, which was believed to be on of the spirit forces. The Kiowa were highly polytheistic and animistic people. They believed that a universal spirit was present in all natural bodies. The Kiowa did not have a clan system. They, along with the Kiowa Apache and Cheyenne, belonged to the same type of kinship circle known as the generation or classification type. Regarding work, men and women had different jobs. The men were the hunters and warriors who guarded camp in case of attack. They were also babysitters for the children. The women of the tribe cooked, gathered fruits and nuts and took care of the dogs and teepees.
Size
As the Kiowa began to travel more, they encountered many different tribes. In 1790, they made lasting peace with the Comanche. Between 1775 and 1805, the Kiowa came in contact with the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne Indians near the Black Hills, causing them to be pushed farther south. By 1834, they had made peace they had made peace with the Osage.
In 1840, the Kiowa Indians, under the sponsorship of William Bent, joined with the Kiowa Apache and Comanche Indians to establish peace with the Southern Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes at Bent's Fort in Arkansas. The allied Kiowa, Comanche and Kiowa Apache hunted buffalo and foraged together. The allied tribes also made barriers from Arkansas to the Southern Plains, which the government sought to attack with very little success.
Significance
By 1865, the land holdings of the KCA began to shrink and after the Little Arkansas Treaty, the Kiowa and Comanche agreed to abandon land in Kansas and New Mexico. Through the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1868, the KCA Indians gave up all lands except a tract in Southwestern Oklahoma near the Wichita Mountains. That year the Kiowa were placed on a joint reservation with the Comanche and Kiowa Apache. Following the Red River war of 1874 to 1875, the Kiowa Indians remained on the KCA reservation where they were expected to act as Christian farmers and ranchers instead of buffalo hunters and raiders. Around 1892, measles and fever had destroyed nearly 300 of the KCA Indians. In that same year, the Cherokee Commission forced the KCA Indians into the allotment process and on August 6, 1901, the former KCA reservation was opened by lottery. In protest of this act, the Kiowa Indians took their case to the Supreme Court ( Lone Wolf vs. Hitchock) and lost. Eventually, they took individual 160 acre tracts of land. Today, the Kiowa reservation is closed, yet many still live there. It is estimated that approximately 4,000 Kiowa live in Oklahoma, while there are nearly 10,000 registered.
Related posts
Wild West towns were not as violent as the myths surrounding them.Myths and legends about the frontier West and the cowboys and Indians who lived there are an ingrained part of the American narrat...
About the Delaware IndiansWhen the first settlers arrived in the New World, they met Indians who called themselves the Lenape or "The People." The Europeans changed the Lenape name to De...
About the Chitimacha IndiansThe Chitimacha were comprised of a confederation, or group of smaller tribes, that shared cultural similarities. Originally, they lived in the Mississippi Delta region...
The Cherokee Indians pre-dated European settlers in the U.S. They continue on today, keeping alive the traditions and values of the original tribe. The Cherokee Indians today are made up of three...
While most people are familiar with the collectable Department 56 Snowbabies, it is not commonly known that these precious ornaments are styled after an antique German-made craze that began over a...
