Plains Apache
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The Plains Apache (also Kiowa-Apache, Naʼisha, Naishan Dene, meaning Those Who Carry or Transport Things About or Stealers referring to their raiding tradition, they also used the term Khat-tleen-deh = Cedar People or Bay-ca-yeh = Whetstone People) are a Southern Athabaskan group that lived primarily on the plains of North America. To most of the Plains People they were consequently known as "Whetstone People". To their close allies, the much larger Kiowa tribe, although speaking a completely unrelated language, they were known as Semat = Stealers. At major tribal events (such as the annual Sun Dance), the Kiowa Apache formed part of the Kiowa tribal 'hoop' (ring of tipis). This may explain why the Kiowa named the Kiowa-Apache Taugui = Sitting Outside. Many descendants of the tribe currently live in Oklahoma and are enrolled in the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma.
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[edit] Culture
Never numbering more than about 600 persons, the Kiowa Apache adopted many traits from the Southern Plains lifestyle of the Kiowa, while remaining ethnically distinct. It is recorded that many Kiowa Apache did not learn the Kiowa language, preferring to communicate with their allies using the sophisticated Plains Indian Sign Language, at which the Kiowa were past masters (having probably devised much of the system). The Kiowa Apache social organisation was split into numerous extendend families (kustcrae), who camped together (for hunting, gathering) as local groups (gonka). The next level was the division or band, which was a composite of a some gonkas (especially for warfare).
In pre-reservation times there were at least four local groups or gonkas who frequently joined together for warring neighboring tribes and settlements.
[edit] Language
The Kiowa Apache language was a member of the Southern Athabaskan language family. The Plains Apache language was the most divergent member of the subfamily. These speakers probably left their northern homeland later than the other Southern Athabaskan peoples. The last fluent speaker of the language died in 2008.
[edit] See also
[edit] Bibliography
- Beatty, John. 1974. Kiowa-Apache Music and Dance. Occasional Publications in Anthropology: Ethnology Series. Number 31. Greeley, CO: Northern Colorado UP.
- Bittle, William. 1954. “The Peyote Ritual of the Kiowa Apache.” Oklahoma Anthropological Society. 2: 69-79.
- ______. 1962. “The Manatidie: A Focus for Kiowa Apache Tribal Identity.” Plains Anthropologist. 7(17): 152-163.
- ______. 1963. “Kiowa-Apache.” In Studies in the Athapaskan Languages. (Ed. Hoijer, Harry). University of California Studies in Linguistics vol. 29. Berkeley: California UP. 76-101.
- ______. 1964. “Six Kiowa Apache Tales.” Oklahoma Papers in Anthropology. 5:8-12.
- ______. 1971. “A Brief History of the Kiowa Apache.” Oklahoma Papers in Anthropology. 12(1): 1-34.
- ______. 1979. “Kiowa Apache Raiding Behavior.” Oklahoma Papers in Anthropology. 20(2): 33-47.
- Brant, Charles S. 1949. “The cultural position of the Kiowa-Apache.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 5(1): 56-61.
- Brant, Charles S. 1950. “Peyotism among the Kiowa-Apache and Neighboring Tribes.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 6(2): 212-222.
- Brant, Charles S. 1953. “Kiowa-Apache Culture History: Some Further Observations.” Southwestern Journal of Anthropology. 9(2): 195-202.
- Brant, Charles S. 1969. Jim Whitewolf: The Life of a Kiowa Apache. New York: Dover Publications.
- Jordan, Julia A. 2008 Plains Apache Ethnobotany. University of Oklahoma Press.
- McAllister, J. Gilbert. 1937. “Kiowa-Apache Social Organization.” In Social Anthropology of North American Tribes. (ed. Eggan, Fred). Chicago: Chicago UP.99-169.
- _______.1949. “Kiowa Apache Tales.” In The Sky is My Tipi. (ed. Boatright, Mody). Dallas: SMU Press. 1-141.
- _______.1970. Dävéko: Kiowa-Apache Medicine Man. Austin: Bulletin of the Texas Memorial Museum, No. 17.
- Opler, Morris E. (1969). Western Apache and Kiowa Apache materials relating to ceremonial payment. Ethnology, 8 (1), 122-124.
- Opler, Morris E; & Bittle, William E. (1961). The death practices and escahatology of the Kiowa Apache. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, 17 (4), 383-394.
- Schweinfurth, Kay Parker. (2002). Prayer on top of the earth: The spiritual universe of the Plains Apaches. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.
