Kiowa
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- ''This article discusses the Kiowa people. For the helicopter, see OH-58 Kiowa.
The Kiowa are a nation of Native Americans who lived mostly in the plains of west Texas, Oklahoma and eastern New Mexico at the time of the arrival of Europeans. Today the Kiowa Tribe is federally recognized, with about 12,000 members living in southwestern Oklahoma.
History of the tribe
The Kiowas originated in the northern basin of the Missouri River, but migrated south to the Black Hills around 1650 and lived there with the Crow. Pushed southward by the invading Cheyennes and Sioux who were being pushed out of their lands in the great lake regions by the Ojibwa tribes, the Kiowas moved down the Platte River basin to the Arkansas River area. There they fought with the Comanches, who already occupied the land. Around 1790, the two groups made an alliance and agreed to share the area. From that time on, the Comanches and Kiowas formed a deep bond; the peoples hunted, traveled, and made war together. An additional group, the Plains Apache (also called Kiowa-Apache), also affiliated with the Kiowas at this time.
The Kiowas lived a typical Plains Indian lifestyle. Mostly nomadic, they survived on buffalo meat and gathered vegetables, lived in tipis, and depended on their horses for hunting and military uses. The Kiowa were notorious for long-distance raids as far north as Canada and south into Mexico. Even though the winters in their homeland were harsh, the Kiowa tended to enjoy this climate and did not spend much time south of their land.
Two of the most famous Kiowa chiefs were named Satanta and Satank. They participated in the Warren Wagon Train Raid.
The Indian Wars
After 1840 the Kiowas joined forces with their former enemies, the Cheyennes, as well as the Comanches and the Apaches, to fight and raid the Eastern natives then 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 (see Palo Duro Canyon).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 alloted 80 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 settlement.
Kiowa art
Important Kiowa artists include the Kiowa Five (http://www.jacobsonhouse.com/kiowa.html) and author N. Scott Momaday who won the 1969 Pulitzer Prize for his novel House Made of Dawn. Kiowa music is often noted for its hymns.Jesse Ed Davis was a versatile session musician of the late 1960s-early 1970s, whose guitar playing was featured on albums by Eric Clapton, Neil Diamond, John Lennon and John Lee Hooker, among many others. He worked with bluesman Taj Mahal, playing guitar and piano on Mahal's first three albums
Quick Facts
- The historic Kiowa also ranged through southwest Colorado and southwest Kansas. The Spanish in Santa Fe mediated a peace treaty between the Kiowa and Comanche in 1807. (Elizabeth Johns)
- Ethnographic studies place the historic Kiowa in western Montana in the early 17th century, then migrating easterly until they reached the Black Hills. (Calendar History of the Kiowa Indians-James Mooney)
- Sherman Chaddlesone, enrolled member of the Kiowa Tribe, is also a great depictor of the Kiowa Ledger Art.
- The Kiowa are considered the originators of a style of dance known as Gourd Dancing.
See also
The Kiowa were the founders of the Native American Church.References
- Boyd, Maurice (1983). Kiowa Voices: Myths, Legends and Folktales. Texas Christian University Press. ISBN 0912646764
- Corwin, Hugh. The Kiowa Indians, their history and life stories.
- Hoig, Stan (2000). The Kiowas and the Legend of Kicking Bird. Boulder: The University Press of Colorado. ISBN 0870815644
- Mishkin, Bernard (1988). Rank and Warfare Among The Plains Indians. AMS Press. ISBN 0404629032
- Richardson, Jane (1988). Law & Status Among the Kiowa Indians (American Ethnological Society Monographs; No 1). AMS Press. ISBN 0404629016
- Nye, Colonel W.S. (1983). Carbine and Lance: The Story of Old Fort Sill. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 0806118563
- Momaday, N. Scott (1977). The Way to Rainy Mountain. University of New Mexico Press. ISBN 0826304362
External links
- [Univ. of Wisconsin-Eau Claire: The Geography and History of the Kiowa]
- [Kiowa Collection: Selections from the Papers of Hugh Lenox Scott]
- [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 A.D. 1879], hosted by the [Portal to Texas History].
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