Kiowa ( ) or Ǥáuigú () people are a Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuriesPritzker 326 and eventually into the Southern Plains by the early 19th century. In 1867, the Kiowa were forced to a reservation in Southwestern Oklahoma.
Anthropologists have debated how an equestrian plains tribe like the Kiowa, having migrated from Montana, shared linguistic ancestry with the Tanoan speaking Pueblo peoples of the southwest. One hypothesis is that before residence in western Montana, they descended from the Jumanos.Hickerson, Nancy P. The Jumanos: Hunters and Traders of the South Plains. University of Texas Press, 1994Meadows, William C. Kiowa Ethnogeography, University of Texas Press, 2008 Another hypothesis, claimed more consistent with Kiowa oral tradition, is that "the Kiowa speech community originated in the Eastern Fremont area around 450 CE, drifted northward to the Yellowstone area after 1300 CE, and then migrated south and east to the Southern Plains during historic times."Ortman, Scott G and Lynda McNeil, The Kiowa Odyssey: Evidence of historical relationships among Pueblo, Fremont, and Northwest Plains peoples, Plains Anthropologist, 2018, Vol. 63, No. 246, pp. 152-174
Today, they are federally recognized as Kiowa Tribe with headquarters in Carnegie, Oklahoma. They were formerly known as the Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma. , there were 12,000 Kiowa tribal citizens.
The Kiowa language (Ǥáuiđòᵰ꞉gyà), part of the Tanoan language family, is in danger of extinction, with only 20 speakers as of 2012."Kiowa Tanoan". Ethnologue. Retrieved 21 June 2012. the Kiowa have a Kiowa Language Department.Kiowa Tribe Kiowa Language Department retrieved 8 August 2024
In the early 18th century, the Plains Apache lived around the upper Missouri River and maintained close connections to the Kiowa. They were ethnically different and spoke different languages. The allied nations communicated using Plains Sign Talk and accompanied one another on their migration into the Southern Plains.
Name
In the Kiowa language, Kiowa call themselves (), spelled variously as Ǥáuigyú, [Gáuigyú, Cáuigú, Ka'igwu, Gáuigú, or Gaigwu, most given with the speculated meaning "Principal People." The first part of the name is the element [kɔ́j] (spelled Ǥáui-, [Gáui-, Kae-, Cáui-, Gáui-, or Gai-) which simply means 'Kiowa'. Its origin is lost. The second element -gua/gú [–gʷú] (or [–gʷúɔ̯] in older Kiowa) is a plural marker.Watkins, Laurel. 1984. A Grammar of Kiowa. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
Ancient names of the tribe were Kútd̶àu or Kwu-da () ("emerging" or "coming out rapidly") and Tépdàu: or Tep-da (), relating to the tribal origin narrative of a creator pulling people out of a hollow log until a pregnant woman got stuck. Later, they called themselves Kòmb̶àubîn̶:dàu or Kom-pa-bianta () (tipi flap+big–plural) for "people with large tipi flaps", before they met Southern Plains tribes or before they met white men.
In English, Kiowa is pronounced KI-o-wa (); KI-o-wə () is considered improper. The English name derives from how the Comanches would say /kɔ́j–gʷú/ in their language. Some older Kiowas will say Kiowa as KI-wah ().
In Plains Indian Sign Language, Kiowa is expressed by holding two straight fingers near the lower outside edge of the right eye and moving these 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 practical way to prevent their hair from getting tangled while shooting an arrow from a bowstring. George Catlin painted Kiowa warriors with this hairstyle.Catlin, George. 1861/1869. "Four Kiowa Indians." National Gallery of Art. Online, . Accessed March 1, 2022.
Language
The Kiowa language is a member of the Kiowa-Tanoan language family. The relationship was first proposed by Smithsonian linguist John P. Harrington in 1910 and was definitively established by Ken Hale in 1967. Parker McKenzie, born in 1897, was a noted authority on the Kiowa language, learning English only when he began school. He collaborated with John P. Harrington, who credited him as the first author of jointly published work at a time when Native consultants were seldom acknowledged.McKenzie, Parker P. and John P. Harrington. 1948 A Popular Account of the Kiowa Language. Santa Fe, NM: University of New Mexico Press. Later, he also worked with Laurel Watkins on the Kiowa language. He went on to discuss the etymology of words and insights into how the Kiowa language changed to incorporate new items of material culture. McKenzie's letters on pronunciation and grammar of the Kiowa language are in the National Anthropological Archives.
Kiowa () or Ǥáuiđòᵰ꞉gyà / [Gáui[dò̱:gyà ("language of the Ǥáuigú (Kiowa)") is a Tanoan language spoken by Kiowa people, primarily in Caddo, Kiowa, and Comanche counties.A Guide to the Kiowa Collections at the Smithsonian Institution by Merrill, Hansson, Greene and Reuss, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington D.C., 1997.
Additionally, Kiowa were one of the numerous nations across the U.S., Canada, and Mexico that spoke Plains Sign Talk. Originally a trade language, it became a language in its own right that remained in use across North America.Davis, Jeffrey. 2006. "A historical linguistic account of sign language among North American Indian groups." In Multilingualism and Sign Languages: From the Great Plains to Australia; Sociolinguistics of the Deaf community, C. Lucas (ed.), Vol. 12, pp. 3–35. Washington, DC: Gallaudet University Press
Government
The Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma is headquartered in Carnegie, Oklahoma. Their tribal jurisdictional area includes Caddo, Comanche, Cotton, Jackson, Kiowa, Tillman, Greer and Harmon Counties. Enrollment in the tribe requires a minimum blood quantum of one-quarter Kiowa descent.
, the current administration is: Chairman: David Sullivan Vice Chairman: Vacant Secretary: Kathie Kent Treasurer: Terri Landis 1st Council: Clint Kissee 2nd Council: Shawn Daugherty 3rd Council: Cliff Carpenter
Economic development The Kiowa tribe issues its own vehicle tags. , the tribe owns one smoke shop, the Morningstar Steakhouse and Grill, Morningstar Buffet, The Winner's Circle restaurant in Devol, Oklahoma,"Kiowa Red River Casino." 500 Nations. Retrieved 4 Jan 2011. and Kiowa Bingo near Carnegie, Oklahoma."Kiowa Bingo." 500 Nations. Retrieved 4 Jan 2011.
The tribe owns three casinos, the Kiowa Casino in Carnegie, in Verden, and the Kiowa Casino and Hotel Red River in Devol (approximately 20 minutes north of Wichita Falls, Texas).
Culture
Originally from the Northern Plains and migrating to the Southern Plains, Kiowa society follows bilateral descent, where both maternal and paternal lines are significant. They do not have clans but have a complex kinship-based system and societies based on age and gender.
Tipis, conical lodges made from hide or later canvas, provided lightweight, portable housing. They hunted and gathered wild foods and traded with neighboring agrarian tribes for produce. The Kiowa migrated seasonally with the American bison because it was their main food source. They also hunted antelope, deer, turkeys, and other wild game. Women collected varieties of wild berries and fruit and processed them with prepared meats to make pemmican. Dogs were used to pull travois and rawhide parfleche that contained camping goods for short moves. The Kiowa tended to stay in areas for long periods of time.
When they adopted horse culture after acquiring horses from Spanish rancherias south of the Rio Grande, the Kiowa revolutionized their lifeways. They had much larger ranges for their seasonal hunting, and horses could carry some of their camping goods. The Kiowa and Plains Apache established a homeland in the Southern Plains, adjacent to the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado and western Kansas and the Red River drainage of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma.
The Kiowa use Plantago virginica to make garlands or wreaths for old men to wear around their heads during ceremonial dances as a symbol of health.Vestal, Paul A. and Richard Evans Schultes, 1939, The Economic Botany of the Kiowa Indians, Cambridge, Massachusetts: Botanical Museum of Harvard University, page 51.
Cuisine
The Kiowa historically had a nomadic hunter-gatherer society. They shared a similar cuisine with their neighboring Plains tribes, such as the Comanche. The most important food source for the Kiowa and fellow plains nations was the American bison or buffalo. Before the introduction of horses, the Plains tribes hunted bison on foot. Hunting required the hunter to get as close as possible to the target before shooting with arrows or using the long lance. Occasionally, they wore the skins of wolves or coyotes to hide their approach toward the bison herds.
Hunting bison became far easier after the Kiowa acquired horses. Bison were hunted on horseback and the men used bows and arrows to take them down, as well as long lances to pierce the hearts of the animals. The women prepared bison meat in a variety of ways: roasted, boiled, and dried. Dried meat was prepared into pemmican, for sustenance while the people were on the move. Pemmican is made by grinding dried lean meat into powder, then mixing a near-equal weight of melted fat or tallow and sometimes berries. The pemmican was shaped into bars and kept in pouches until ready to eat. The Kiowa sometimes ate certain parts of the bison raw. Other animals hunted included deer, elk, pronghorn, wild mustang, wild turkey, and bears. During times of scarce game, the Kiowa would eat small animals such as lizards, waterfowl, skunks, snakes, and armadillos. They raided ranches for Longhorn cattle and horses to eat during difficult times. They also acquired horses for traveling, hunting, and fighting their enemies.
Within Kiowa society, men did most of the hunting. Women were responsible for gathering wild edibles such as berries, tubers, seeds, nuts, vegetables, and wild fruit but could choose to hunt if they wanted to. Plants important to Kiowa cuisine include pecans, prickly pear, mulberries, persimmons, acorns, plums, and wild onions. They acquired cultivated crops, such as squash, maize, and pumpkin, by trading with and raiding various Indian peoples, such as the Pawnee people, living on the western edge of the great plains. Prior to acquiring metal pots from Europeans, Kiowa cooked boiled meat and vegetables through a process of lining a pit in the earth with animal hides, filling that with water, and adding fire-heated rocks.Rollings (2004), pp. 22-28.
Sheltering in place and mobile
The main form of shelter used by the Kiowa was the tipi or skin lodge. Tipis were made from bison hides shaped and sewn together in a conical shape. Wooden poles called lodge poles from in length are used as support for the lodge. Lodge poles are harvested from red juniper and lodgepole pine.Wishart, David J. Encyclopedia of the Great Plains Indians. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2007. 89. Tipis have at least one entrance flap. Smoke flaps were placed at the top so that smoke could escape from the fire pit within. The floor of the tipi was lined with animal pelts and skins for warmth and comfort. The tipi is designed to be warm inside during the cold winter months and cool inside during the warm summer. Tipis are easily collapsed and can be raised in minutes, making it an optimal structure for nomadic people like the Kiowa and other Plains Indian nations. The poles of the tipi were used to construct a travois during times of travel. Hide paintings often adorn the outside and inside of the tipis, with special meanings attached to certain designs.