Kiowa

For other uses, see Kiowa (disambiguation).

Kiowa

Two-hatchet
Regions with significant populations
United States (Oklahoma)
Languages
English, Kiowa
Religion
Christianity and Native American Church
Related ethnic groups
Linguistic affiliation with Tanoan speakers

J.T. Goombi, former Kiowa tribal chairman and first vice-president of the National Congress of American Indians

The Kiowa (Template:Pron-en) are a nation of American Indians who migrated from the Northern Plains around the 18th century to their present location in Southwestern Oklahoma. They are a federally recognized tribe, the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma, with over 11,500 members.

Early culture

At the time of European contact "Kiowa" had no meaning in the Kiowa language. Ancient names were "Kwu-da" and "Tep-da", relating to the myth pulling or coming out. Later they called themselves "Kom-pa-bianta" for people with large tipi flaps before they met Southern Plains tribes or before white man contact. Today they call themselves "Kaui-gu" that identifies them as a group. Another explanation of their name "Kiowa" originated after their migration through what the Kiowa refer to as "The Mountains of the Kiowa" (Kaui-kope). This location is in the present eastern edge of Glacier National Park, Montana, just below the Canadian border. The mountain pass they came through was populated heavily by grizzly bear and Blackfoot people. The Blackfoot word for "grizzly bear" is "Kgyi-yo." Kgyi-yo was corrupted in English as the root translation for the word Kiow-a. Today Kiowa, Montana is located on the very spot where ancient Kiowa passed through the mountains during their southward migration.

Other tribes who encountered the Kiowa used sign language to describe them by holding two straight fingers near the lower outside edge of the eye and moving these straight fingers back past the ear. This corresponded to the ancient Kiowa hairstyle cut horizontally from the lower outside edge of the eyes to the back of their ears. This was a functional practice to keep their hair from getting tangled as an arrow was let loose from a bow string. George Catlin painted Kiowa warriors with this hairstyle.

The Kiowas are considered nomadic hunter-gatherers. They migrated with the buffalo because it was their main food source. There was also an abundant supply of antelope and deer. Kiowa acquired horses which later revolutionized their economy and lifestyle.

History

Original Southern Plains territory of the Kiowa Nation

In the early spring of 1790, at the place that would become Las Vegas, New Mexico, a Kiowa party led by war leader, Guikate, made an offer of peace to a Comanche party while both were visiting the home of a mutual friend of both tribes. This led to a later meeting between Guikate and the head chief of the Nokoni Comanches. The two groups made an alliance to share the same hunting grounds and entered into a mutual defense pact and became the dominant inhabitants of the Southern Plains. From that time on the Comanche and Kiowa hunted, traveled, and made war together. An additional group the Plains Apache (also called Kiowa-Apache), affiliated with the Kiowa at this time.

The Kiowa lived a typical Plains Indian lifestyle. Mostly nomadic they survived on bison meat and gathered vegetables, lived in semi-sedentary lodges, and depended on their horses for hunting and military uses. From their hunting grounds south of the Arkansas River the Kiowa were notorious for long distance raids as far west as the Grand Canyon region, south into Mexico, and north into Canada.

Big Tree, a Kiowa chief and warrior

Famous Kiowa leaders were Dohäsan (Tauhawsin), Over-Hanging Butte, alias Little Mountain, alias Little Bluff; Gui-pah-gah, The Elder (Gui-pah-go)), alias Guibayhawgu (Rescued From Wolves); sub-leaders Satanta and Satank. Dohosan is considered by many to be the greatest Kiowa Chief (1805–1866). He signed several treaties such as the Fort Atkinson Treaty of July 27, 1852 and the Arkansas River Treaty in 1865. Lone Wolf, The Elder (Gui-Pah-gho), became the head chief of the Kiowa when Dohosan (Little Bluff) died. Lone Wolf, The Elder (Gui-Pah-gho), died in 1879. In 1871 Satanta and Big Tree were accused, arrested, transported, and confined at Fort Richardson, Texas, after being convicted by a "cowboy jury" in the Trial of Satanta and Big Tree in Jacksboro, Texas, for participating in the Warren Wagon Train Raid. In some documents Big Tree is translated as, Addo-etta (Big Tree).[1] During the transport to Fort Richardson, Satank was shot in an escape attempt by accompanying cavalry troops near Fort Sill, Indian Territory.

The sculptor of the Indian Head nickel, James Earle Fraser, is reported to have said that Chief Big Tree, Adoeette, from the Kiowa tribe, was one of his models for the U.S. coin that was minted from 1913 through 1938.

Indian Wars

After 1840 the Kiowas with their former enemies the Cheyennes, as well as their allies the Comanches and the Apaches fought and raided the Eastern natives moving into the Indian Territory. The United States military intervened and in the Treaty of Medicine Lodge of 1867, the Kiowa agreed to settle on a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma. Some bands of Kiowas remained at large until 1875.

On August 6, 1901 Kiowa land in Oklahoma was opened for white settlement, effectively dissolving the contiguous reservation. While each Kiowa head of household was allotted 160 acres (320,000 m²), the only land remaining in Kiowa tribal ownership today is what was the scattered parcels of 'grass land', which had been leased to the white settlers for grazing before the reservation was opened for white settlement. Kiowa lands are now a tribal jurisdictional area.

Socio-Political organization

The Kiowa organized themselves into matrilocal (men lived in the families of their wives), extended families, which merged to become a band (topadoga). These bands were led by a chief, the Topadok'i.

The Kiowa had two political subdivisions (particularly with regard to their relationship with the Comanche):

• To-kinah-yup (‘Men of the Cold’, ‘northern Kiowa’, lived along the Arkansas River and the Kansas border)
• Gwa-kelega (‘southern Kiowa’, lived in the Llano Estacado (Staked Plains), Oklahoma Panhandle and Texas Panhandle, allies of the Comanche)

Kiowa bands within the tipi ring during the annual Sun Dance:

• Kâtá (‘Biters’, often called Arikara, most powerful and largest Kiowa band)
• Kogui (‘Elks Band’)
• Kaigwa (‘Kiowa Proper’)
• Kinep or Khe-ate (‘Big Shields’)
• Semat (‘Stealers’, name by which the Kiowa called their allies, the Kiowa Apache)
• Soy-hay-talpupé (‘Blue Boys’) or Pahy-dome-gaw (‘Under-the-Sun-Men’)

During the Sun Dance each band of the Kiowa had a special obligation and responsibility to do, which was traditionally defined:

The Kâtá had the traditional right (duty or task) to supply the Kiowa during the Sun Dance with enough bison meat and other means. This band was particularly wealthy in horses, tipis and other goods. One of the famous Kiowa chiefs, Dohäsan, was member of this band.

The Kogui were responsible for conducting the war ceremonies during the Sun Dance. Many famous families and leaders because of their military exploits and bravery, like Ad-da-te (‘Islandman’), Satanta, Big Bow, and others belonged to this band.

The Kaigwu were the guardians of the Sacred or Medicine bundle (Tai-mé, Taimay) and the holy lance. Therefore they were very respected by the other groups and enjoyed a special prestige.

The Kinep or Khe-ate were often called ‘Sun Dance Shields’, because during the dance they observed police duties and ensured security.

The Semat were allowed to participate equally, but had no specific duties and obligations during the Sun Dance.

The Soy-hay-talpupé were often called Montalyui (‘Black Boys’). Like the Semat they had no specific duties or responsibilities.

Visual art, literature, and music

Kiowa artists are well known for a pictographic art form that now is referred to as Plains Indian Ledger Art and for its contribution to the development of contemporary Native American art. Traditionally, Kiowa women painted and beaded in geometric designs, while Kiowa men painted representational, narrative art. Early Kiowa ledger artists were those held in captivity by the U.S. Army at Fort Marion in St. Augustine, Florida at the conclusion of the Red River War, which also is known as the Southern Plains Indian War. Zotom was a prolific producer of this art and he chronicled his experiences before and after becoming a captive at the fort. Traditionally, the artist's media for their pictographic images were natural objects and animal skins, but for the Kiowa in captivity the lined pages of record-keeping books became a frequent substitute for the unavailable natural materials, thus the name "ledger art" came into use. Koba, 1875, was a Ft. Marion, Florida, artist.

Set-t'an was the first artist of the annual Kiowa calendars dating to winter of 1833-1892. In his drawings it contains a black bar of winter. A pioneering Kiowa easel artist was Haungooah (Silver Horn) (1860–1940). He created over one thousand drawings and paintings using Western art media to describe Kiowa daily and ceremonial life at the turn of the 20th century.

Following in Silver Horn's footsteps are the Kiowa Five, or, as they increasingly are known, the Kiowa Six. They are Spencer Asah, James Auchiah, Jack Hokeah, Stephen Mopope, Lois Bougetah Smoky, and Monroe Tsatoke. Coming from the area around Anadarko, Oklahoma, these artists studied at the University of Oklahoma. Lois Smoky left the group in 1927, but James Auchiah took her place in the group. The Kiowa Five gained international recognition as fine artists by exhibiting their work in the 1928 International Art Congress in Czechoslovakia.

Kiowa photographer Horace Poolaw (1906–1984) was one of the most prolific Native American photographers of his generation. He documented the Kiowa people living near his community in Mountain View, Oklahoma from the 1920s onward.

Kiowa painters of the later 20th century include Bobby Hill (White Buffalo), Robert Redbird, Roland N. Whitehorse, and T. C. Cannon. The pictographic art of contemporary and traditional artist Sherman Chaddlesone has revived the ledger art form that was absent in most of the art of the Second Generation Modernists that had developed since Silver Horn and the Kiowa Five. Chaddlesone studied under Native American masters Allan Houser and Fritz Scholder.

Kiowa beadwork art derived through various forms. Noted Kiowa beadwork artists are/were: Donna Jean Tsatoke, Alice Littleman, the late Venice Reid, the late Edna Hokeah Pauahty, Kathy Littlechief, Marilyn Yeahquo, Katherine Dickerson, Charlie Silverhorn, Paul McDaniels, Jr., and Grace Tsontekoy.

Richard Aitson, Vanessa Jennings – the granddaughter of Kiowa Five member Stephen Mopope – and Teri Greeves are all Kiowa artists who have gained international recognition for their traditional and contemporary beadwork.

Other Kiowa artists include George Geionty, Woody Bigbow, R.G. Geionty, Tennyson Reid, Huzo Paddelty, the Dennis Belindo, Dixon Palmer, and the Mirac Creepingbear, and Parker Boyiddle (Delaware Nation-Kiowa).

Kiowa-Cherokee author N. Scott Momaday won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for his novel House Made of Dawn. Other Kiowa authors include playwright Hanay Geiogamah, poet and filmmaker Gus Palmer, Jr., Alyce Sadongei, and Tocakut.

Kiowa music often is noted for its hymns that traditionally were accompanied by dance or played on the flute. Traditional performers include Cornel Pewewardy and Phillip "Yogi" Bread. Contemporary Kiowa musicians include Kiowa-Comanche flutist Tom Mauchahty-Ware and Terry Tsotigh, flutist. Both Tom and Terry have their own bands and perform nationally.

• 
  Kiowa parfleche, ca. 1890, Oklahoma History Center
• 
  Kiowa beaded moccasins, ca. 1920, OHS
• 
  Detail of painting by Silver Horn (Kiowa), ca. 1880
• 
  Kiowa ledger art, ca. 1874

Notable Kiowa

Lone Wolf, Kiowa chief, ca. 1907

Richard Aitson (Kiowa-Kiowa Apache) bead artist and poet

• Richard Aitson (b. 1953), bead artist and poet
• Spencer Asah, painter, one of the Kiowa Six
• James Auchiah, painter, one of the Kiowa Six
• Blackbear Bosin (1921–1980), painter and sculptor
• T. C. Cannon, painter and print maker
• Cozad Singers, drum group and NAMMY winners
• Dohäsan (ca. 1785–1866), chief of Kata band and Principal Chief of the Kiowas, artist, calendar keeper
• Teri Greeves, bead artist
• Jack Hokeah, painter, one of the Kiowa Six
• Big Bow (1833-?) (Zepko-ette, Za-ko-yea), war chief
• Kicking Bird (1835–1875), war chief
• Lone Wolf (Kiowa), Principal Chief and member of Koitsenko
• Lone Wolf II, The Younger (Quaparko), Mammadayte
• Tom Mauchahty-Ware, musician and dancer
• Parker McKenzie (1897–1999), traditionalist and linguist
• N. Scott Momaday, Pulitzer Prize Winner, author, painter, and activist
• Stephen Mopope, painter, one of the Kiowa Six
• Horace Poolaw (1906–1984), photographer
• Red Warbonnet (d. 1849), traditionalist
• Satanta (Set'tainte) (ca. 1820-1878), war chief
• Silver Horn (1860–1940), artist and calendar keeper
• Sitting Bear (Set-Tank, Set-Angia, called Satank)(ca. 1800-1871), warrior and medicine man
• Lois Smoky, bead artist and painter, one of the Kiowa Six
• Monroe Tsatoke, painter, one of the Kiowa Six
• White Horse (Tsen-tainte) (?-1892), chief

See also

• Comanche
• Gourd dance
• Kiowa Apache
• Kiowa County
• Kiowa language
• Kiowa music
• Koitsenko, warrior society
• Native American tribes in Nebraska

Bibliography

• Boyd, Maurice (1983). Kiowa Voices: Myths, Legends and Folktales. Texas Christian University Press. ISBN 0-912646-76-4
• Corwin, Hugh (1958). The Kiowa Indians, their history and life stories.
• Greene, Candace S. Silver Horn: Master Illustrator of the Kiowas. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. ISBN 0-806133-07-4
• Hoig, Stan (2000). The Kiowas and the Legend of Kicking Bird. Boulder: The University Press of Colorado. ISBN 0-87081-564-4
• Mishkin, Bernard (1988). Rank and Warfare Among The Plains Indians. AMS Press. ISBN 0-404-62903-2
• Richardson, Jane (1988). Law & Status Among the Kiowa Indians (American Ethnological Society Monographs; No 1). AMS Press. ISBN 0-404-62901-6
• Nye, Colonel W.S. (1983). Carbine and Lance: The Story of Old Fort Sill. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0-8061-1856-3
• Momaday, N. Scott (1977). The Way to Rainy Mountain. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0-8263-0436-2
• Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Resource Center.
• Viola, Herman (1998). Warrior Artists: Historic Cheyenne and Kiowa Indian Ledger Art Drawn By Making Medicine and Zotom. National Geographic Society. ISBN 0-7922-7370-2
• U.S. Dept. of Inter (1974). "The Kiowa". Southern Plains Indian Museum and Crafts Center.

External links

• Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma (official site)
• Kiowa Indians on Encarta Encyclopedia (Archived 2009-10-31)
• Kiowa Comanche Apache Indian Territory Project
• Kiowa Collection: Selections from the Papers of Hugh Lenox Scott
• Photographs of Kiowa Indians hosted by the Portal to Texas History
• The Handbook of Texas Online: Kiowa Indians
• Sketch of a Chief of the Kiowas from A pictorial history of Texas, from the earliest visits of European adventurers, to AD 1879, hosted by the Portal to Texas History
• Kiowa ledger drawing in the Smithsonian
• The Kiowa Five
• Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Kiowa Indians" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.