Chapter I: Part 1

CALENDAR HISTORY OF THE KIOWA INDIANS

BY

JAMES MOONEY

Seventeenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1895--96, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1898, pages 129--444

CONTENTS

Page
Introduction 141
Age of aboriginal American records 141
Aboriginal American calendars 141
The Walam Olum of the Delawares 142
The Dakota calendars 142
Other tribal records 142
The Kiowa calendars 143
Annual calendars of Dohásän, Poläñ´yi-katón, Set-t'an,
and Anko 143
The Anko monthly calendar 145
Comparative importance of events recorded 145
Method of fixing dates 146
Scope of the memoir 147
Acknowledgments 147

Sketch of the Kiowa tribe 148
Tribal synonymy 148
Tribal sign 150
Linguistic affinity 150
Tribal names 152
Genesis and migration 152
Early alliance with the Crows 155
The associated Kiowa Apache 156
The historical period 156
Possession of the Black Hills 156
The extinct K'úato 157
Intercourse with the Arikara, Mandan, and Hidatsa 158
Recollections of other northern tribes 160
Acquirement of horses 160
Intercourse and war with the Comanche 161
Peace with the Comanche 162
Confederation of the two tribes 164
Neutral attitude of New Mexicans 165
Relations with other southern tribes 165
First official American notices, 1805--1807 165
Explanation of "Aliatan" and "Tetau" 167
Unsuccessful overtures of the Dakota 167
Smallpox epidemic of 1816 168
The Kiowa in 1820 168
The Osage massacre and the dragoon expedition, 1833-34 168
The treaty of 1837 169
Catlin's observations in 1834 171
Traders among the Kiowa 171
First visit to Fort Gibson 172
Smallpox epidemic of 1839-40--Peace with Cheyenne and Arapaho 172
Texan Santa Fé expedition 172
Cholera epidemic of 1849 173
Fort Atkinson treaty in 1853 173
Depredations in Mexico--Mexican captives 173
Defeat of allied tribes by Sauk and Fox, 1854 174
Hostile drift of the Kiowa 175
Defiant speech of Dohásän 175
Smallpox epidemic of 1861-62 176
Indian war on the plains, 1864 176
Vaccination among the plains tribes--Set-t'aiñte 177
The little Arkansas treaty in 1865 178
Death of Dohásän 180
Kiowa raids continued 181
The treaty of Medicine Lodge, 1867, and its results 181
Renewed hostilities 186
Battle of the Washita--Removal to the reservation 187
Further insolence of the Kiowa--Raids into Texas 188
Intertribal peace council, 1872 190
Joint delegation to Washington, 1872 190
Thomas C. Battey, first teacher among the Kiowa, 1872 193
Report of Captain Alvord 193
Release of Set-t'aiñte and Big-tree, 1873 195
Haworth's administration, 1873-78 197
First school established by Battey 198
The outbreak of 1874-75 199
Causes of the dissension 199
The Comanche medicine-man 201
Apache and Arapaho friendliness 202
Further defiance 202
Battle of Adobe Walls 203
Friendlies collected at Fort Sill 203
Fight at Anadarko, the Wichita agency 204
Set-t'aiñte 206
Progress of the campaign 210
Surrender of the Cheyenne 212
Prisoners sent to Florida 213
The Germaine family 213
Surrender of the Comanche 214
Proposition to deport hostile tribes 214
Kicking-bird 216
Changed conditions 218
Epidemics of measles and fever in 1877--First houses built 218
Agency removed to Anadarko--The last of the buffalo 218
Threatened outbreak instigated by Dátekâñ 219
Epidemic of 1882--Beginning of church work 219
Leasing of grass lands 219
Pá-iñgya, the medicine man and prophet 220
Indian court established 220
Intertribal council of 1888 221
Death of Sun-boy--The last sun dance 221
Ghost dance inaugurated--Äpiatañ's journey in 1890 221
Enlistment of Indians as soldiers 223
Measles epidemic of 1892--Grass lands leased 223
Commission for allotment of lands--Protest against decision 224
Present condition--Agents in charge of confederate tribes 225
Summary of principal events 226
Sociology of the Kiowa 227
Absence of the clan system 227
Local divisions 227
Subtribes 227
The camp circle 228
Military organization--Yä`´pähe warriors 229
Heraldic system 230
Name system 231
Marriage 231
Tribal government 233
Character 233
Population 235
Religion of the Kiowa 237
Scope of their belief 237
The sun 237
Objects of religious veneration 238
Tribal medicines of other Indians 242
The sun dance 242
The Nadíisha-dena or Kiowa Apache 245
Tribal synonymy 245
Tribal sign 246
Origin and history 246
First official American notice 251
Treaties 251
Delegation to Washington, 1872--Friendly disposition 251
Progress toward civilization--Death of Pacer, 1875 252
Recent history and present condition 252
Population 253
The annual calendars, 1833--1892 254
1832-33. Money captured from American traders 254
1833. Massacre by the Osage and capture of the
_taíme_--Pedestrian war parties--Beheading 257
1833-34. Meteoric display 260
1834. Dragoon expedition--First official intercourse--Trade
established 261
1834-35. Bull-tail killed by Mexicans 269
1835. Cat-tail rush sun dance--Capture of Bóiñ-edal and
Cynthia Parker 270
1835-36. Big-face or Wolf-hair killed in Mexico 270
1836. Wolf creek sun dance--Kiñep visit Crows--Battle with
Cheyenne 271
1836-37. K`iñähíate killed in Mexico 271
1837. Cheyenne massacred on upper Red river 271
1837-38. Head-dragging winter 272
1838. Kiowa and allies defeat Cheyenne and Arapaho 273
1838-39. Battle with the Arapaho 273
1839. Peninsula sun dance 274
1839-40. Smallpox ravages the plains tribes 274
1840. Red-bluff sun dance--Peace with Cheyenne and Arapaho 275
1840-41. Hide-quiver war expedition--Expeditions against
Mexico 276
1841. Pawnee massacred on the South Canadian 276
1841-42. Encounter with Texan Santa Fé
expedition--´dalhabä´k`ia killed 277
1842. Repeated sun dance 279
1842-43. Crow-neck died 280
1843. Nest-building sun dance--Encounter with Texans 280
1843-44. Woman stabbed--Raid into Mexico--Trading post on
South Canadian 280
1844. Dakota sun dance--Dakota visit Kiowa 281
1844-45. Great expedition against Mexico--Ä´tahá-ik`i killed 282
1845. Stone necklace sun dance 283
1845-46. Bent establishes trading post on South
Canadian.--Allison's post on the Arkansas 283
1846. Págunhéñte initiated--The Ka´itséñk`ia 283
1846-47. Mustache-shooting winter--Fight with the Pawnee 285
1847. Fight with the Santa Fé traders; Red-sleeve killed 286
1847-48. Camp on upper South Canadian 287
1848. Kâ´itséñko initiated 287
1848-49. Antelope drive on the Arkansas; the ceremonies 287
1849. Cholera on the plains--Treaty negotiations postponed 289
1849-50. Fight with the Pawnee--The scalp dance 290
1850. Chinaberry sun dance on Beaver creek 292
1850-51. Tañgíapa killed in Mexico 292
1851. Dusty sun dance--Treachery of the Pawnee 293
1851-52. Woman elopes and is frozen--"Stealing" a woman 294
1852. Allied tribes defeated by Pawnee--Iron-shirt killed 294
1852-53. Race horse stolen by Pawnee boy 295
1853. Showery sun dance--_Taíme_ sacrilege 295
1853-54. Raid into Mexico, Päñgyägíate killed 296
1854. Medicine-lodge creek sun dance--Confederated tribes
defeated by Sauk and Fox 297
1854-55. Gyaí`koaóñte killed by the Älähó 299
1855. Sitting summer; horses worn out 300
1855-56. Big-head kills an Älähó--Raid into Mexico 300
1856. Prickly-pear sun dance 301
1856-57. Tipis seized by the Cheyenne 301
1857. Forked-stick-sprouting sun dance--Expeditions against
El Paso and the Sauk--Story of the _ä´poto_ 301
1857-58. Horses stolen by the Pawnee 305
1858. Timber-circle sun dance 305
1858-59. Gúi-k`áte killed by Mexicans--Expedition against
the Ute 306
1859. Cedar-bluff sun dance 306
1859-60. Gíaká-ite abandoned to die 307
1860. Attacked by troops with Indian allies--Increasing
hostility 308
1860-61. Crazy bluff winter--Revenge upon Caddo--Raid
into Texas--The _zótă´_ or driveway 309
1861. Horse sacrificed at sun dance--Sacrilege against
_taíme_--The lost war party 310
1861-62. Smallpox--Effect of gold discovery in Colorado 311
1862. Sun dance after the smallpox 311
1862-63. Expedition against Texas--The echo in the tree
tops--The Guadagya or travel song 312
1863. Sun dance on No-arm's river 313
1863-64. Death of Big-head and Kills-with-a-gun--Anko
calendar begins 313
1864. Ragweed sun dance--Kiowa stampede horses from Fort
Larned; general war upon the plains 313
1864-65. Muddy travel winter--Kiowa repel Kit Carson 314
1865. Peninsula sun dance 317
1865-66. Death of Dohásän and Tä´nkóñkya--Smith's trading
party 318
1866. German-silver sun dance--Whitacre the trader--Trade in
silver with Mexicans 318
1866-67. Attack on Texas emigrants; Ä´pämâdalte
killed--Andres Martinez captured 319
1867. Horses stolen by the Navaho--Kâitséñko initiated 319
1867-68. Medicine Lodge treaty--Expedition against the Navaho 320
1868. Sun dance on Medicine-lodge creek--Disastrous expedition
against the Ute--The _taíme_ captured 322
1868-69. Tängúădal killed; his medicine lance--Burial
expedition 325
1869. War-bonnet sun dance--Expedition against the Ute 326
1869-70. Bugle stampede--The Cheyenne on the warpath 326
1870. Plant-growing sun dance 327
1870-71. Set-äñ´gya brings home his son's bones--Drunken
fight--Negroes killed in Texas--Death of Ansó`te 328
1871. Koñpä´te killed--Arrest of Set-t'aiñte and other
chiefs--Tragic death of Setäñgya--The Kâitséñko death
song--Set-äñgya and Set-t'aiñte 328
1871-72 (1872-73). Peace with the Pawnee; removal to Indian
Territory 333
1872. Bíako shot by whites in Kansas 335
1872-73. Visit of the Pueblos--Dohásän's tipi
burned--Kiowa heraldic system 336
1873. Sun dance on Sweetwater creek--Gui-badái's wife stolen 336
1873-74. Set-t'aiñte released--Lone-wolf's son killed 337
1874. Sun dance on North fork--Set-t´aiñte gives his medicine
lance to Ä´`to-t'aiñ 338
1874-75. Fight at Anadarko--Gi-edal killed--Prisoners sent
to Florida 339
1875. Sun dance at Love-making spring--Escorted by troops 339
1875-76. Sheep and goats issued to Indians--Stock losses by
outbreak 339
1876. Sun dance on North fork--Sun-boy's horses
stolen--Dóhéñ´te dies 340
1876-77. A`gábaí killed by her husband--Enlistment of scouts 340
1877. Sun dance on Salt fork of Red river--Ravages of measles 341
1877-78. Buffalo hunt--Fever epidemic--Houses built for chiefs 342
1878. Repeated sun dance--Buffalo hunt under soldier escort 343
1878-79. Hunting party attacked by Texans; Ä´`to-t'aiñ killed 343
1879. Horse-eating sun dance--Last of the buffalo--Boy shot 344
1879-80. "Eye-triumph winter"--Expedition against the
Navaho--The talking owl 345
1880. No sun dance--Päbóte dies--Dead names tabooed 346
1880-81. Zoñtam's (?) house built--Last visit by the Pueblos 346
1881. Hot or hemorrhage sun dance--Instances of malformation 347
1881-82. The _dó-á_ contest--The _dó-á_ game--Dátekâñ's
medicine tipi 347
1882. No sun dance because no buffalo--Stumbling-bear's
daughter dies--Dátekâñ, the prophet 349
1882-83. Bót-édalte dies--Talk of grass leases 350
1883. Nez Percés visit Kiowa--The Nez Percé war--Taimete
succeeds to the _taíme_ 351
1883-84. House built by Gákiñăte--Children taken to
Chilocco--Visited by Sioux 352
1884. No sun dance--Kiowa haul freight 352
1884-85. House building--Woman stolen 353
1885. Little Peninsula sun dance--First grass money 353
1885-86. T'ébodal's camp burned 354
1886. No sun dance--Anko a policeman--Grass payment 354
1886-87. Suicide of Peyi 354
1887. Buffalo bought for sun dance--Grass
payment--Name changes 355
1887-88. Cattle received for grass leases 355
1888. Permission for sun dance refused--Excitement caused
by the prophet Pá-iñgya 356
1888-89. Sun-boy dies--Anko splits rails 357
1889. No sun dance--Grass payment 358
1889-90. Grass payment--The _Íâm_ dance 358
1890. Last attempt at sun dance; stopped by troops 358
1890-91. Ghost dance inaugurated; Ä´piatañ's
mission--Schoolboys frozen 359
1891. P´ódaläñte killed--The Cheyenne visit the Kiowa 361
1891-92. P´ódaläñte killed--Enlistment of Indian soldiers 362
1892. Terrible ravages of measles--Large grass
payment--Delegation to Washington--Appropriation for
house building 362
Kiowa chronology 365
Terms employed 365
The seasons 366
Kiowa moons or months 367
Moons or months of other tribes 369
The Anko monthly calendar: August, 1889--July, 1892 373
T´águñótal P´a Sän (August, 1889); no event 373
T´águñótal P´a; no event 373
Gákiñăt´o P´a; woman whipped 373
Ä`gâ´nti; no event 373
Tépgañ P´a; wagon stalled 373
Gañhíña P´a (January? 1890); annuity issue 374
Ka`gúăt P´a Sän; mares foal 374
Ka`guăt P´a; split rails 374
Aideñ P´a; horses lost 374
Pai Ä`gâ´nti; visit Cheyenne 374
Pai Tépgañ P´a; visit Cheyenne again--first ghost dance 374
Pai Gañhíña P´a (July, 1890); sun dance stopped--grass
payments 375
T´águñótal P´a Sän; no event 375
T´águñótal P´a; Äpiatañ goes to the messiah 375
Gákiñăt´o P´a; Sitting-bull comes 375
Ä`gâ´nti; no event 375
Tépgañ P´a; boys frozen 376
Gañhíña P´a (January? 1891); annuity issue 376
Ka`gúăt P´a Sän (February, 1891); Ä´piatañ returns 376
Ka`gúăt P´a; wire issue 376
Aídeñ P´a; no event 376
Pai Ägâ´nti (June, 1891); Caddo and Wichita agreement 376
Pai Tépgañ P´a (July, 1891); Fourth of July races 376
Pai Gañhíña P´a; Setk`opte's wife stolen 377
T´águñótal P´a Sän; the Pueblo dance 377
T´águñótal P´a; P´odalä´ñte killed 377
Gákiñat´o P´a; made medicine--cut wood 377
A`gâ´nti (November, 1892); lunar eclipse 377
Tépgañ P´a; no event 378
Gañhíña P´a (January? 1892); annuity issue 378
Ka`gúăt P´a Sän; wire issue 378
Ka`gúăt P´a: move camp--late frost 378
Aídeñ P´a (April, 1892); emigrant to Cheyenne country 378
Pai Ä`gâ´nti: Íatäkía dies--grass payment 378
Pai Tépgañ P´a; measles epidemic--grass payment 379
Pai Gañhíña P´a (July, 1892); Fourth of July races 379
T´águñótal P´a Sän (August, 1892); visit of Cheyenne and
Arapaho 379
Military and trading posts, missions, etc 381
The Kiowa language 389
Characteristics 389
Kiowa-English glossary 391
English-Kiowa glossary 430
Authorities cited 440

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

PLATE LVII. Range of the Kiowa and neighboring tribes (map) 141

LVIII. Gui-pägo or Lone-wolf, principal chief, 1866--1874 189

LIX. Tseñ-t'aiñte or White-horse 190

LX. Gui-k`áte or Sleeping-wolf (Wolf-lying-down) and wife 192

LXI. Quanah Parker, principal chief of the Comanche 202

LXII. Inside of Set-t'aiñte's shield 208

LXIII. Outside of Set-t'aiñte's shield 210

LXIV. Set-ĭmkía or Stumbling-bear (Pushing-bear) 219

LXV. Paí-tälyí or Sun-boy 221

LXVI. Andres Martinez ("Än´dali") 236

LXVII. The Porcupine in the tree, and flight of the Sun-woman 238

LXVIII. Peyote plant and button 241

LXIX. The _taíme_ 242

LXX. Arapaho sun-dance lodge, 1893 244

LXXI. Pacer (Peso), former head-chief of the Kiowa Apache 245

LXXII. Daha, a Kiowa Apache subchief 246

LXXIII. Kiowa migration route 249

LXXIV. Goñk`oñ or Apache John, a Kiowa Apache subchief 251

LXXV. The Sét-t'an annual calendar 254

LXXVI. Bóhon-kóñkya, "Quayhamkay," Gunpäñdâmä, and "Kotsatoah" (after Catlin) 268

LXXVII. Sand mosaic of the Hopi Antelope priests 296

LXXVHI. Lawrie Tatum, with group of rescued captives 331

LXXIX. The Do-gíägyä-guat or tipi of battle pictures 337

LXXX. The Anko calendar 373

LXXXI. Anko 374

FIGURE 43. Zépko-eétte or Big-bow 151

44. Dohásän or Little-bluff, principal chief, 1833--1866 175

45. Set-t'aiñte (Satanta) or White-bear 178

46. Set-ängya (Satank) or Sitting-bear 189

47. Tseñ-t'aiñte or White-horse 191

48. Ä´do-eétte or Big-tree 192

49. "Ka-ati-wertz-ama-na--A brave man, not afraid of any Indian" 195

50. T'ené-angópte or Kicking-bird 196

51. Gui-pägo or Lone-wolf, present head-chief of the Kiowa 200

52. Ä´piatañ or Wooden-lance 222

53. H. L. Scott, Captain, Seventh, cavalry, U. S. A. 224

54. A group of Kiowa 225

55. The Kiowa camp circle 229

56. Mäñyí-tén or Woman-heart, a typical Kiowa 232

57. Gaápiatáñ (_alias_ Haitsĭki) or Feathered-lance, a typical
Kiowa 234

58. Gray-eagle, a Kiowa Apache subchief 247

59. Tsáyădítl-ti or White-man, present head-chief of the Kiowa Apache 249

60. Dävéko, "The-same-one," a Kiowa Apache subchief and
medicine-man 250

61. Sét-t'án or Little-bear 254

62. Winter 1832-33--Money captured 255

63. Summer 1833--They cut off their heads 258

64. Winter 1833-34--The stars fell 261

65. The star shower of 1833 (from the Dakota calendars) 261

66. Summer 1834--Return of Gunpä´ñdamä´ 261

67. Meeting of the dragoons and the Comanche (after Catlin) 264

68. Kĭ´tskûkătû´k, the Wichita village on North fork in 1834 267

69. Winter 1834-35--Bull-tail killed 269

70. Summer 1835--Cat-tail rush sun dance 269

71. Winter 1835-36--Big-face killed 270

72. Summer 1836--Wolf-river sun dance 271

73. Winter 1836-37--Ki´ñähíate killed 271

74. Summer 1837--Cheyenne massacred 271

75. Battle pictures (from the Dakota calendars) 272

76. Winter 1837-38--Head dragged 273

77. Summer 1838--Attacked by Cheyenne 273

78. Winter 1838-39--Battle with Arapaho 274

79. Summer 1839--Peninsula sun dance 274

80. Winter 1839-40--Smallpox 274

81. Smallpox (from the Dakota calendars) 275

82. Summer 1840--Red-bluff sun dance 275

83. Winter 1840-41--Hide-quiver war expedition 276

84. Summer 1841--Pawnee fight 276

85. Winter 1841-42--´dalhabä´k`ía killed 277

86. Summer 1842--Repeated sun dance 279

87. Winter 1842-43--Crow-neck died 280

88. Summer 1843--Nest-building sun dance 280

89. Winter 1843-44--Woman stabbed 281

90. Summer 1844--Dakota sun dance 281

91. Winter 1844-45--Ä´tahá-ik`í killed 282

92. Giving the war pipe (from the Dakota calendars) 282

93. Summer 1845--Stone-necklace sun dance 283

94. Winter 1845-46--Wrinkled-neck's trading post 283

95. Summer 1846--Hornless-bull initiated 284

96. Dog-soldier initiated (?) (from the Dakota calendars) 285

97. Winter 1846-47--Mustache shooting 286

98. Summer 1847--Red-sleeve killed 286

99. Winter 1847-48--Winter camp 287

100. Summer 1848--Initiation sun dance 287

101. Winter 1848-49--Antelope drive 287

102. Antelope drives (from the Dakota calendars) 288

103. Summer 1849--Cholera sun dance 289

104. Cholera (from the Dakota calendars) 290

105. Winter 1849-50--Dance over slain Pawnee 292

106. Summer 1850--Chinaberry sun dance 292

107. Winter 1850-51--Buck-deer killed 293

108. Summer 1851--Dusty sun dance; flag stolen 293

109. Winter 1851-52--Woman frozen 294

110. Summer 1852--Iron-shirt killed 294

111. Winter 1852-53--Gúădaltséyu stolen 295

112. Summer 1853--Showery sun dance 295

113. Rain symbols (Chinese, Hopi, and Ojibwa) 296

114. Winter 1853-54--Pä´ñgyägíate killed 296

115. Summer 1854--Black-horse killed 297

116. Winter 1854-55--Gyai`koaóñte killed 299

117. Summer 1855--Sitting summer 300

118. Winter 1855-56--Big-head kills an Ä´lähó 300

119. Summer 1856---Prickly-pear sun dance 301

120. Winter 1856-57--Tipis left 301

121. Summer 1857--Forked-stick-sprouting sun dance 302

122. Winter 1857-58--Horses stolen 305

123. Summer 1858--Timber-circle sun dance 306

124. Winter 1858-59--Gúi-k`ate killed 306

125. Summer 1859--Cedar-bluff sun dance 306

126. Winter-1859-60--Gíaká-ite died 307

127. Summer 1860--Bird-appearing killed 308

128. Winter 1860-61--Crazy-bluff winter 309

129. Summer 1861--Pinto left tied 310

130. Winter 1861-62--Smallpox 311

131. Summer 1862--Sun dance after smallpox 311

132. Winter 1862-63--Tree-top winter 312

133. Summer 1863--No-arm's-river sun dance 313

134. Winter 1863-64--Big-head dies; Hâ´ñzephó`da dies 313

135. Summer 1864--Ragweed sun dance; soldier fight 314

136. Winter 1864-65--Ute fight 315

137. Summer 1865--Peninsula sun dance 317

138. Winter 1865-66--Tän-kóñkya died; Dohásän died 318

139. Summer 1866--German-silver sun dance 319

140. Winter 1866-67--Äpämâ´dalte killed 319

141. Summer 1867--Black-ear stolen; the Kâ´itséñko 320

142. Winter 1867-68--Medicine Lodge treaty; Navaho killed 320

143. Summer 1868--Ute fight 322

144. Winter 1868-69--Tängúadal killed 325

145. Summer 1869--War-bonnet sun dance 326

146. Winter 1869-70--Bugle scare 326

147. Summer 1870--Plant-growing sun dance; dusty sun dance 327

148. Winter 1870-71--Set-ängya's bones brought home; drunken
fight; negroes killed 327

149. Summer 1871--Set-t'aiñte arrested; Kóñpäte killed 328

150. Set-taíñte in prison 330

151. Winter 1871-72(1872-73)--Pawnee visit; camp on Long-tree
creek 333

152. Summer 1872--Viejo shot 335

153. Winter 1872-73--Pueblo visit; battle tipi burned 336

154. Summer 1873--Pa-kóñkya's horses killed 337

155. Winter 1873-74--Set-t'aiñte returns; Lone-wolf's son killed 337

156. Summer 1874--The medicine lance; Bluff-end sun dance 338

157. Winter 1874-75--Gi-edal killed; Kiowa imprisoned 339

158. Summer 1875--Love-making spring sun dance 339

159. Winter 1875-76--Sheep and goats issued 339

160. Summer 1876--Horse-stealing sun dance 340

161. Winter 1876-77--A'gábaí killed; scouts enlisted 341

162. Summer 1877--Measles sun dance 341

163. Winter 1877-78--Camp at Signal mountain; hunt on Pecan creek 342

164. Summer 1878--Repeated sun dance 343

165. Winter 1878-79--Ä'to-t´áiñ killed 343

166. Summer 1879--Horse-eating sun dance; boy shot 344

167. Winter 1879-80--Eye-triumph winter 345

168. Summer 1880--No dance; Päbóte died 346

169. Winter 1880-81--House built; Pueblo visit 347

170. Summer 1881--Hemorrhage or hot sun dance 347

171. Winter 1831-82--Dó-á game; medicine tipi 348

172. Summer 1882--Buffalo medicine; Pä´tso`gáte died 349

173. Winter, 1882-83--Bot-édalte dies; grass leases; camp on
Pecan creek 350

174. Summer 1883--Nez Percé sun dance 351

175. Winter 1883-84--House built; children taken; Sioux dances 352

176. Summer 1884--No sun dance; hauled freight 352

177. Winter 1884-85--Winter camp; Tónak`a's elopement 353

178. Summer 1885--Little Peninsula sun dance; grass payment 353

179. Winter 1885-86--Camp burned 354

180. Summer 1886--No sun dance; policemen; grass payment 354

181. Winter 1886-87--Peyi commits suicide 354

182. Summer 1887--No sun dance (?); grass payment 355

183. Winter 1887-88--Cattle payment 355

184. Summer 1888--Sun dance (?); Pá-iñgya's prophecy 356

185. Winter 1888-89--Winter camp; Sun-boy died; split rails 358

186. Summer 1889--No sun dance; grass payment 358

187. Winter 1889-90--Winter camp; grass payment; _Íâm_ dance 358

188. Summer 1890--Unfinished sun dance 359

189. Winter 1890-91--Sitting-bull comes; Ä´piatañ; boys frozen 359

190. Summer 1891--P'ódalä´ñte killed; visit Cheyenne 361

191. Winter 1891-92--Soldiers enlisted; P'ódalä´ñte killed 362

192. Summer 1892--Measles; grass payment 362

193. T'águñótal P'a Sän 373

194. T'águñótal P'a 373

195. Gakíñat'o P'a--Woman-whipped 373

196. Ä`gâ´nti 373

197. Tépgañ P'a--Wagon stalled 373

198. Gañhíña P'a--Annuity issue 374

199. Ka`gúăt P'a Sän--Mares foal 374

200. Ka`gúăt P'a--Split rails 374

201. Ai-deñ P'a--Horses lost 374

202. Pai Ä`gâ´nti--Visit Cheyenne 374

203. Pai Tépgañ P'a--Ghost dance 374

204. Pai Gañhíña P'a--Sun dance stopped; grass payment 375

205. T'aguñótal P'a Sän 375

206. T'aguñótal P'a--Ä´piatañ 375

207. Gákiñăt´o P'a--Sitting-bull 375

208. Ä`gâ´nti 375

209. Tépgañ P'a--School-boys frozen 376

210. Gañhíña P'a--Annuity issue 376

211. Ka`gúăt P'a Sän--Ä´piatañ returns 376

212. Ka`gúăt P'a--Wire issue 376

213. Ai-deñ P'a 376

214. Pai Ä`gâ´nti--Treaty sale 376

215. Pai Tépgañ P'a--Races 377

216. Pai Gañhíña P'a--Woman stolen 377

217. T'aguñótal P'a Sän--Pueblo dance 377

218. T'aguñótal P'a--P'odalä´ñte killed 377

219. Gákíñat'o P'a--Made medicine; cut wood 377

220. Ä`gâ´nti--Lunar eclipse 378

221. Tépgañ P'a 378

222. Gañhíña P'a--Annuity issue 378

223. Ka`gúăt P'a Sän--Wire issue 378

224. Ka`gúăt P'a--Move camp 378

225. Ái-deñ P'a--Immigrants arrive 378

226. Pai Ä`gâ´nti--Íatäkía dies; grass payment 378

227. Pai Tépgañ P'a--Measles; grass payment 379

228. Pai Gañhíña P'a--Fourth of July races 379

229. T'águñótal P'a Sän--Cheyenne dance 379

CALENDAR HISTORY OF THE KIOWA INDIANS

By JAMES MOONEY

INTRODUCTION

AGE OF ABORIGINAL AMERICAN RECORDS

The desire to preserve to future ages the memory of past achievements is a universal human instinct, as witness the clay tablets of old Chaldea, the hieroglyphs of the obelisks, our countless thousands of manuscripts and printed volumes, and the gossiping old story-teller of the village or the backwoods cabin. The reliability of the record depends chiefly on the truthfulness of the recorder and the adequacy of the method employed. In Asia, the cradle of civilization, authentic history goes back thousands of years; in Europe the record begins much later, while in America the aboriginal narrative, which may be considered as fairly authentic, is all comprised within a thousand years.

ABORIGINAL AMERICAN CALENDARS

The peculiar and elaborate systems by means of which the more cultivated ancient nations of the south recorded their histories are too well known to students to need more than a passing notice here. It was known that our own tribes had various ways of depicting their mythology, their totems, or isolated facts in the life of the individual or nation, but it is only within a few years that it was even suspected that they could have anything like continuous historical records, even in embryo.

The fact is now established, however, that pictographic records covering periods of from sixty to perhaps two hundred years or more do, or did, exist among several tribes, and it is entirely probable that every leading mother tribe had such a record of its origin and wanderings, the pictured narrative being compiled by the priests and preserved with sacred care through all the shifting vicissitudes of savage life until lost or destroyed in the ruin that overwhelmed the native governments at the coming of the white man. Several such histories are now known, and as the aboriginal field is still but partially explored, others may yet come to light.

THE WALAM OLUM OF THE DELAWARES

East of the Mississippi the most important and best known record is the _Walam Olum_ or "red score" of the Delawares, originally discovered in 1820, and published by Dr D.G. Brinton in 1885. It consists of a series of pictographs designed to fix in memory the verses of a genesis and migration chant which begins with the mythic period and comes down to the advent of the whites about the year 1610. It appears to be genuine and ancient, although the written chant as we find it contains modern forms, having of course been reduced to writing within a comparatively recent period.

It is said that the Cherokee seventy years ago had a similar long tribal tradition which was recited by the priests on ceremonial occasions. If so, it was probably recorded in pictographs, but tradition and record alike are now lost.

THE DAKOTA CALENDARS

West of the Mississippi the first extended Indian calendar history discovered was the "Lone-dog winter count," found among the Dakota by Colonel Garrick Mallery, and first published by him in 1877. This history of the Dakota was painted on a buffalo robe by Lone-dog, of the Yanktonai tribe of that confederacy, and extends over a period of seventy-one years, beginning in 1800. Subsequent investigation by Colonel Mallery brought to light several other calendars in the same tribe, some being substantially a copy of the first, others going back, respectively, to 1786, 1775, and the mythic period.

In all these Dakota calendars there is only a single picture for each year, with nothing to mark the division of summer and winter. As they call a year a "winter," and as our year begins in the middle of winter, it is consequently impossible, without some tally date from our own records, to know in which of two consecutive years any event occurred, i.e., whether before or after New Year. In this respect the Kiowa calendars here published are much superior to those of the Dakota.

OTHER TRIBAL RECORDS

Clark, in his book on Indian sign-language, mentions incidentally that the Apache have similar picture histories, but gives no more definite information as concerns that tribe. He goes on to say that the Santee Sioux claim to have formerly kept a record of events by tying knots in a string, after the manner of the Peruvian quipu. By the peculiar method of tying and by means of certain marks they indicated battles and other important events, and even less remarkable occurrences, such as births, etc. He states that he saw among them a slender pole about 6 feet in length, the surface of which was completely covered with small notches, and the old Indian who had it assured him that it had been handed down from father to son for many generations, and that these notches represented the history of his tribe for more than a thousand years, going back, indeed, to the time when they lived near the ocean (_Clark, 1_).[1] In this case the markings must have been suggestive rather than definite in their interpretation, and were probably used in connection with a migration chant similar to that of the Walam Olurn.

[Footnote 1: See the list of authorities cited at the end of the memoir.]

THE KIOWA CALENDARS

THE ANNUAL CALENDARS OF DOHÁSÄN, POLÄÑ´YI-KATÓN, SETT'AN, AND ANKO

So far as known to the author, the Dakota calendars and the Kiowa calendars here reproduced are the only ones yet discovered among the prairie tribes. Dodge, writing in 1882, felt so confident that the Dakota calendar of Mallery was the only one ever produced by our Indians that he says, "I have therefore come to the conclusion that it is unique, that there is no other such calendar among Indians.... I now present it as a curiosity, the solitary effort to form a calendar ever made by the plains Indians" (_Dodge, 1_). Those obtained by the author among the Kiowa are three in number, viz: the Sett'an yearly calendar, beginning with 1833 and covering a period of sixty years; the Anko yearly calendar, beginning with 1864 and covering a period of twenty-nine years; and the Anko monthly calendar, covering a period of thirty-seven months. All these were obtained in 1892, and are brought up to that date. The discovery of the Anko calendars was an indirect result of having obtained the Sett'an calendar.

A fourth Kiowa calendar was obtained in the same year by Captain H. L. Scott, Seventh cavalry, while stationed at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on the Kiowa reservation, and was by him generously placed at the disposal of the author, together with all his notes bearing on the subject. This calendar was procured from Dohásän, "Little-bluff," nephew of the celebrated Dohásän who was head chief of the Kiowa tribe for more than thirty years. The nephew, who died in 1893 at an advanced age, told Captain Scott that the calendar had been kept in his family from his youth up, having originally been painted on hides, which were renewed from time to time as they wore out from age and handling. The calendar delivered by him to Scott is drawn with colored pencils on heavy manila paper, as is also the Sett'an calendar obtained by the author. In both, the pictographs are arranged in a continuous spiral, beginning in the lower right-hand corner and ending near the center, the rows of pictographs being separated from each other by a continuous spiral. In both, the winter is designated by means of an upright black bar, to indicate that vegetation was then dead, while summer is represented by means of the figure of the medicine lodge, the central object of the annual summer religious ceremony. The leading event of the season is indicated by means of a pictograph above or beside the winter mark or medicine lodge. In a few instances, in the earlier years, when the medicine dance was omitted, the event recorded for the summer is placed between the consecutive winter marks, without anything to show the season, but toward the end, when the medicine dance had been practically discontinued, the summer is indicated by the figure of a tree in foliage.

The general plan of the Anko calendar is the same, excepting that the winter pictographs are below the winter marks, with which they are connected by lines, the winter marks forming a single row across the page, with the center pole of the medicine lodge, the summer pictographs above and the winter pictographs below. This calendar was originally drawn with a black pencil in a small notebook, and afterward, by direction of the author, redrawn in colored inks on buckskin. A comparison of the three justifies the assertion that the Kiowa have a recognized system of calendar pictography. In artistic execution the Sett'an calendar ranks first.

Still another calendar, thought to have dated farther back than any of those now under consideration, was kept by an old man of the Kiowa Apache named Polä´ñyi-katón, "Rabbit-shoulder," and is supposed to have been buried with him at his death, a few years ago.

From the evidence it is probable that the first calendar within the present knowledge of the Kiowa was kept by the old chief Doha´sän, whose hereditary tipi occupied the first place in the camp circle of the tribe, and in whose family certain priestly functions in connection with the medicine dance descended in regular succession. After his death in 1866 it was continued and brought down to date by his nephew and namesake, whose last revision is now in possession of Captain Scott.

The Sett'an calendar is an inspiration, but not a copy, from the Dohásän calendar, of which it is almost an exact duplicate, but with the addition of one or two pictographs, together with greater skill and detail in execution. Sett'an stated that he had been fourteen years drawing it; i. e., that he had begun work on it fourteen years before, noting the events of the first six years from the statements of older men, and the rest from his own recollection. He knew of the Dohásän calendar, although he claimed never to have seen it, but from internal evidence and from the man's general reputation for untruthfulness it is probable that he had seen it sufficiently often to be able to reproduce it from memory.

This will be understood when it is explained that it is customary for the owners of such Indian heirlooms to bring them out at frequent intervals during the long nights in the winter camp, to be exhibited and discussed in the circle of warriors about the tipi fire. The signal for such a gathering takes the form of an invitation to the others to "come and smoke," shouted in a loud voice through the camp by the leader of the assemblage while standing in front of his tipi, or even without passing outside, his voice easily being heard through the thin walls and the smoke-hole of the lodge. At these gatherings the pipe is filled and passed around, and each man in turn recites some mythic or historic tradition, or some noted deed on the warpath, which is then discussed by the circle. Thus the history of the tribe is formulated and handed down.

Sett'an, "Little-bear," who is a cousin of the old war-chief, in whose family the author makes his home when with the tribe, voluntarily brought in and presented the calendar without demanding any payment in return, saying that he had kept it for a long time, but that he was now old and the young men were forgetting their history, and he wanted it taken to Washington and preserved there with the other things collected from the tribe, that the white people might always remember what the Kiowa had done.

THE ANKO MONTHLY CALENDAR

The original monthly calendar of Anko (abbreviated from _Ankopaá-iñgyadéte_, "In-the middle-of-many-tracks") was drawn in black pencil in a continuous spiral, covering two pages of the notebook in which his yearly calendar was recorded, and was redrawn by him in colored inks, under the inspection of the author, on the same buckskin on which the other was reproduced. It begins in the lower left-hand corner. Each moon or month is represented by a crescent, above which is a pictograph to indicate the event, or the name of the moon, and sometimes also straight tally marks to show on what day of the month the event occurred or the picture was drawn. So far this is the only monthly calendar discovered among North American tribes, but since the original was obtained, Anko has made another copy for his own use and continued it up to date. His young wife being far advanced in consumption, he spends most of his time at home with her, which accounts in a measure for his studious habit. On the later calendar he has noted with anxious care every hemorrhage or other serious incident in her illness and every occasion when he has had ceremonial prayers made for her recovery.

COMPARATIVE IMPORTANCE OF EVENTS RECORDED

An examination of the calendars affords a good idea of the comparative importance attached by the Indian and by the white man to the same event. From the white man's point of view many of the things recorded in these aboriginal histories would seem to be of the most trivial consequence, while many events which we regard as marking eras in the history of the plains tribes are entirely omitted. Thus there is nothing recorded of the Custer campaign of 1868, which resulted in the battle of the Washita and compelled the southern tribes for the first time to go on a reservation, while the outbreak of 1874, which terminated in their final subjugation, is barely noticed. On the other hand, we find noted such incidents as the stealing of a horse or the elopement of a woman. The records resemble rather the personal reminiscences of a garrulous old man than the history of a nation. They are the history of a people limited in their range of ideas and interests, such materials as make up the chronicles of the highland clans of Scotland or the annals of a medieval barony.

It must be remembered, however, that an Indian tribe is simply a large family, all the members being interrelated; this is particularly true of the Kiowa, who number only about 1,100. An event which concerns one becomes a matter of gossip and general knowledge in all the camps and is thus exalted into a subject of tribal importance. Moreover, an event, if it be of common note in the tribe, may be recorded rather for its value as a tally date than for its intrinsic importance.

On this point Mallery says, speaking of the Lone-dog calendar, that it "was not intended to be a continuous history, or even to record the most important event of each year, but to exhibit some one of special peculiarity.... It would indeed have been impossible to have graphically distinguished the many battles, treaties, horse stealings, big hunts, etc, so most of them were omitted and other events of greater individuality and better adapted for portrayal were taken for the year count, the criterion being not that they were of historic moment, but that they were of general notoriety, or perhaps of special interest to the recorders" (_Mallery, 1_).

A brief interpretation of the calendars here described was obtained from the original owners in 1892. To this was added, in the winter of 1894-95, all that could be procured from T'ébodal, Gaápiatañ, ´dalpepte, Set-ĭmkía, and other prominent old men of the tribe, together with Captain Scott's notes and the statements of pioneer frontiersmen, and all available printed sources of information, including the annual reports of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs for more than sixty years. The Dohásän calendar is still in possession of Captain Scott. The Sett'an and Anko calendars are now deposited in the Bureau of American Ethnology.

METHOD OF FIXING DATES

A few examples will show how the Kiowa keep track of their tribal and family affairs by means of these calendars. Sett'an was born in "cut-throat summer" (1833), and his earliest recollection is of the "head-dragging winter" (1837-38). Set-ĭmkía, better known as Stumbling-bear, was about a year old in "cut-throat summer" (1833). He was married in "dusty medicine dance" summer (1851). His daughter Virginia was born in the summer of "No-arm's river medicine dance" (1863), and her husband was born a little earlier, in "tree-top winter" (1862-63). Gruñsádalte, commonly known as Cat, was born in the "winter that Buffalo-tail was killed" (1835-36); his son Angópte was born in "muddy traveling winter" (1864-65), and his younger son Másép was born in "bugle scare winter" (1869-70). Paul Setk'opte first saw light among the Cheyenne the winter after the "showery medicine dance" (1853), and joined the Kiowa in the autumn after the "smallpox medicine dance" (1862).

SCOPE OF THE MEMOIR

As the Kiowa and associated Apache are two typical and extremely interesting plains tribes, about which little is known and almost nothing has been printed, the introductory tribal sketch has been made more extended than would otherwise have been the case. As they ranged within the historic period from Canada to central Mexico and from Arkansas to the borders of California, they came in contact with nearly all the tribes on this side of the Columbia river region and were visitors in peace or war at most of the military and trading posts within the same limits. For this reason whatever seemed to have important bearing on the Indian subject has been incorporated in the maps with the purpose that the work might serve as a substantial basis for any future historical study of the plains tribes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Acknowledgments are due to Captain H. L. Scott, Seventh cavalry, U. S. A., Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for much valuable material and friendly assistance; to ex-agent Lawrie Tatum, Springdale, Iowa, for photographs and manuscript information; to Thomas C. Battey, Mosk, Ohio, former Kiowa teacher, and to Mrs Elizabeth Haworth, Olathe, Kansas, widow of former agent J. M. Haworth, for photographs; to Caroline M. Brooke, Washington Grove, Maryland, for assistance in correspondence; to Philip Walker, esquire, Washington, D. C., for translations; to De Lancey W. Gill and assistants of the division of illustrations in the United States Geological Survey; to Andres Martinez and Father Isidore Ricklin, of Anadarko, Oklahoma, for efficient aid in many directions; to Timothy Peet, Anadarko, Oklahoma, to L. A. Whatley, Huntsville, Texas, and to my Kiowa assistants, Setk'opte, Setĭmkía, ´dalpepte, Tébodal, Gaápiatañ, Sett'an, Anko, and others.

SKETCH OF THE KIOWA TRIBE

TRIBAL SYNONYMY

_Be´shĭltcha_--Na-isha Apache name.

_Datŭmpa´ta_--Hidatsa name, according to old T'ebodal. Perhaps another form of _Witapähätu_ or _Witapätu_, q. v.

_Gâ´-i-gwŭ_--The proper name as used by the tribe, and also the name of one of the tribal divisions. The name may indicate a people having two halves or parts of the body or face painted in different colors (see the glossary). From this come all the various forms of Caygua and Kiowa.

_Cahiaguas_--Escudero, Noticias Nuevo Mexico, 87, 1849.

_Cahiguas_--Ibid., 83.

_Caiawas_--H. R. Rept., 44th Cong., 1st sess., I, 299, 1876.

_Caigua_--Spanish document of 1735, title in Rept. Columbian Hist. Exposition, Madrid, 323, 1895.

_Caihuas_--Document of 1828, in Soc. Geogr. Mex., 265, 1870. This form occurs also in Mayer, Mexico, II, 123, 1853.

_Caiwas_--American Pioneer, I, 257, 1842.

_Cargua_--Spanish document of 1732, title in Rept. Columbian Hist. Exp., Madrid, 323, 1895 (for Caigua).

_Cayanwa_--Lewis, Travels, 15, 1809 (for Cayauwa).

_Caycuas_--Barreiro, Ojeada Sobre Nuevo Mexico, app., 10, 1832.

_Cayguas_--Villaseñor, Teatro Americano, pt. 2, 413, 1748. This is the common Spanish form, written also Caygüa, and is nearly identical with the proper tribal name.

_Cayugas_--Bent, 1846, in California Mess. and Corresp., 193, 1850 (for Cayguas).

_Ciawis_--H. R. Rept., 44th Cong., 1st sess., I, 299, 1876.

_Gahe´wă_--Wichita name.

_Gai´wa_--Omaha and Ponka name, according to Francis La Flesche.

_Kaiawas_--Gallatin, in Trans. Am. Eth. Soc., II, 20, 1848.

_Kaí-ó-wás_--Whipple, Pacific Railroad Report, pt. I, 31, 1856.

_Kaiowan_--Hodge, MS. Pueblo notes, 1895, in Bur. Am. Eth. (Sandia name).

_Kaiowe´_--Powell _fide_ Gatschet, Sixth Ann. Rept. Bur. Eth., XXXIV, 1888.

_Kaî-wa_--Comanche name, from the proper form _Gâ´-i-gŭa_. As the Comanche is the trade language of the southern plains, this form, with slight variations, has been adopted by most of the neighboring tribes and by the whites. The same word in the Comanche language also signifies "mouse." The form _Kai-wa_ is that used by the Pueblo Indians of Cochiti, Isleta, San Felipe, and Santa Ana--Hodge, MS. Pueblo notes, 1895, in Bur. Am. Eth.

_Kai-wane´_--Hodge, MS. Pueblo notes, 1895, in Bur. Am. Eth. (Picuris name).

_Kawas_--Senate Ex. Doc. 72, 20th Cong., 104, 1829. _Kawa_--La Flesche, Omaha MS. in Bur. Am. Eth. (Omaha name).

_Kayaguas_--Bent, 1846, in House Doc. 76, 30th Cong., 1st sess., 11, 1848.

_Kayaways_--Pike, Expedition, app. III, 73, 1810.

_Kayowa_--Gatschet, Kaw MS., 1878, in Bur. Am. Eth. (K aw and Tonkawa name).

_Ka´yowe´_--Gatschet, in American Antiquarian, IV, 281, 1881.

_Kayowû_--Grayson, Creek MS. in Bur. Am. Eth., 1886 (Creek name).

_Kayuguas_--Bent, 1846, in Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, I, 244, 1851.

_Ka´yuwa_--Dorsey, Kansas MS. Voc., 1882, in Bur. Am. Eth. (Kaw name).

_Keawas_--Porter, 1829, in Schoolcraft, Indian Tribes, III, 596, 1853.

_Keaways_--Farnham, Travels, 29, 1843.

_Ki´-â-wâ_--Lewis, Report, 1805, in Mess. from the President Communicating Discoveries by Lewis and Clark, etc, 37, 1806.

_Kiaways_--Gallatin, in Trans. American Ethn. Soc., II, cvii, 1848.

_Kinawas_--Gallatin, in Trans. American Antiq. Soc., II, 133, 1836 (misprint).

_Kiniwas_--Wilkes, U. S. Exploring Exped., IV, 473, 1845 (misprint).

_Kiovas_--Möllhausen, Journey to the Pacific, I, 158, 1858 (misprint).

_Kiowas_--Rept. Comm'r Ind. Affairs, 240, 1834. This is the American official and geographic form; pronounced _Kai´-o-wa_.

_Kiowahs_--Davis, El Gringo, 17, 1857.

_Kioways_--Brackenridge, Views of Louisiana, 80, 1814.

_Kiwaa_--Kendall, Santa Fé Ex., I, 198, 1844 (given as the pronunciation of _Caygüa_).

_Kuyawas_--Sage, Scenes in the Rocky Mountains, 167, 1846.

_Kyaways_--Pike (1807), Expedition, app. II, 16, 1810.

_Riana_--Kennedy, Texas, I, 189, 1841 (double misprint).

_Ryawas_--Morse, Rept. on Ind. Aff., app., 367, 1822 (misprint).

_Ryuwas_--Brackenridge, Views of Louisiana, 85, 1814 (misprint).

_Ko´mpabi´ănta_--"Large tipi flaps," a name sometimes used by the Kiowa to designate themselves.

_Kompa´go_--An abbreviated form of _Ko´mpabi´anta_.

_Kwu´'dă´_--"Coming out" or "going out;" the most ancient name by which the Kiowa designated themselves. See _Te´pdă´_.

_Na'la´ni_--"Many aliens," or "many enemies;" the collective Navaho name for the southern plains tribes, particularly the Comanche and Kiowa.

_Nĭ´chihinĕ´na_--"Rivermen," the Arapaho name, from _nĭ´chia_ river and _hinĕ´na_ (singular _hinĕ´n_) men. The Kiowa are said to have been so called from their long residence on the upper Arkansas.

_Ni-ci´-he-nen-a_--Hayden, Ethn. and Phil. Missouri Valley, 326, 1862.

_Nitchihi_--Gatschet in American Antiquarian, IV, 281, 1881.

_Shi´sh-i-nu´-wut-tsi´t-a-ni-o_--Hayden, Ethn. and Phil. Missouri Val., 290, 1862. Improperly given as the Cheyenne name for the Kiowa and rendered "rattlesnake people." The proper form is _Shĭ´shĭnu´wut-tsĭtäni´u_, "snake [not rattlesnake] people," and is the Cheyenne name for the Comanche, not the Kiowa, whom the Cheyenne call _Witapä´tu_. The mistake arose from the fact that the Comanche and Kiowa are confederated.

_Te´pdă´_--"Coming out," "going out," "issuing" (as water from a spring, or ants from a hole); an ancient name used by the Kiowa to designate themselves, but later than _Kwu´`da_, q. v. The two names, which have the same meaning, may refer to their mythic origin or to their coming into the plains region. The name _Te´pdă´_ may have been substituted for Kwu´`da´, in accordance with a custom of the tribe, on account of the death of some person bearing a name suggestive of the earlier form.

_Tepk`i´ñägo_--"People coming out," another form of _Te´pdă´_.

_Wi´tapähä´tu_--The Dakota name, which the Dakota commonly render as people of the "island butte," from _wita_, island, and _pähä_, locative _pähäta_, a butte. They are unable to assign any satisfactory reason for such a name. See _Witapähät_.

_T'häpet'häpa´yit'he_--Arbuthnut letter in Bur. Am. Eth. (given as the Cheyenne name for the Kiowa).

_Vi´täpä´tu´i_--Name used for the Kiowa by the Sutaya division of the Cheyenne.

_Watakpahata_--Mallery in Fourth Ann. Rep. Bur. Eth., 109, 1886.

_Wate-pana-toes_--Brackenridge, Views of Louisiana, 85, 1814 (misprint).

_Watepaneto_--Drake, Book of Indians, xii, 1848 (misprint).

_Wetahato_--Lewis, Travels, 15, 1809 (misprint).

_Wetapahato_--Lewis and Clark, Expedition, Allen ed., I, 34, map, 1814.

_We-te-pâ-hâ´-to_--Lewis, Report, 1805, in Mess. from the President Communicating Discoveries by Lewis and Clark, etc, 36, 1806. (Incorrectly given as distinct from the Kiowa, but allied to them.)

_Wetopahata_--Mallery, in Fourth Ann. Rep. Bur. Eth., 109, 1886.

_Wettaphato_--Morse, Report on Indian Affairs, app., 366, 1882.

_Wi´tăpähät_, _Wităp´ätu_--Cheyenne forms, derived from the Dakota form _Witapähätu_, or vice versa. The Dakota render the name "island butte." Attempts have been made to translate it from the Cheyenne language as people with "cheeks painted red" (_wi´tapa_, red paint; _tu_, cheek bone), but there is no evidence that this habit was specially characteristic of the Kiowa. It may possibly be derived from the ancient name _Te´pdă´_, q.v.

_Wi´-ta-pa-ha_--Riggs-Dorsey, Dakota-English Dictionary, 579, 1890.

TRIBAL SIGN

To make the sign for "Kiowa" in the sign language of the plains tribes, the right hand is held close to the right cheek, with back down, fingers touching and slightly curved, and the hand moved in a rotary motion from the wrist. According to the Kiowa this sign had its origin in an old custom of their warriors, who formerly cut the hair from the right side of the head, on a line with the base of the ear, in order better to display the ear pendants, while allowing it to grow to full length on the left side, so as to be braided and wrapped with otter skin after the common fashion of the southern plains tribes. This was in addition to the ordinary small scalp-lock hanging down behind. This style of wearing the hair, although now nearly obsolete from long association with tribes of different habit, is still occasionally seen. It is shown in the picture of the chief Big-bow, taken in 1870 (figure 43).

Dodge thus correctly explains the sign: "KIOWA--The open palm, held bowl-shaped, to right of and beside the face, is passed round and round in a circle. Supposed to indicate the peculiarity of these Indians in cutting the hair of the right side of the head" (_Dodge, 2_).

The sign has no connection with the idea of "rattle-brain," "crazy head," "crazy knife," "drinking water," or "prairie people rising up," as has been variously stated; neither is the sign ever properly made on the left side. Such misconceptions have arisen from the careless making of the sign by persons ignorant of its true meaning. The Cheyenne claim that it refers to a former Kiowa custom of painting a stripe across the upper lip and cheeks. This is probably only an attempt to explain the name _Witapätu_, q.v., without any basis in fact, for, had such a custom existed, it would have been indicated by drawing the finger across the face. Moreover, in a series of forty figures painted for the author by Kiowa Indians to illustrate their ancient styles of war paint, not one is thus depicted.

LINGUISTIC AFFINITY

FIG. 43--Zépko-eétte or Big-bow]

The Gâ´igwŭ´ or Kiowa, although originating in the far north, have been known for the last sixty years as one of the principal and most predatory tribes of the southern plains. Their linguistic affinity is still uncertain, the language apparently having no connection with that of any other tribe. This uncertainty, however, is due largely to the paucity of the linguistic material thus far collected from them, and to the fact that philologists have made the comparison with the languages of the southern tribes, with whom the Kiowa were found most closely associated, rather than with that of tribes nearer the Canadian border, whence they have drifted to the south. Another thing which serves to render comparison difficult is the fact that the Kiowa have the custom of dropping from the language any word which suggests the name of a person recently deceased, and substituting for the tabooed word another which will convey the same idea. The old word may be restored after a term of years, but it frequently happens that the new one keeps its place and the original word is entirely forgotten. The change is a new combination of existing roots, or a new use of an existing word, rather than the deliberate invention of a new word, although in some instances words seem to be borrowed for this purpose from existing languages. The same custom exists to a limited degree among the Comanche, who may have adopted it in consequence of their association with the Kiowa, and perhaps among other tribes. With the Kiowa it is carried to such an extent that old men sometimes remember as many as three names which have been used in chronologic succession for the same object. Further linguistic investigation may result in establishing their affinity with the Athapascan, northern Shoshonean, or Salishan tribes.

TRIBAL NAMES

_Kiowa_, the name by which the tribe is commonly known to the whites, is from the softened Comanche form of the name by which they call themselves, Gâ´igwŭ´ (see the glossary). It is claimed by one or two old men that Gâ´igwŭ´ was not originally their proper name, but a foreign name adopted by the tribe, and untranslatable in their own language. However that may be, it is now, in its root form, _Gâi_, synonymous with Kiowa, whether applied to the individual, language, territory, or utensils of the tribe. It is also the name of one of their recognized tribal divisions. Ancient names used to designate themselves are _Kwú'dă´_ and afterward _Tépdă´_, both names signifying "coming out," perhaps in allusion to their mystic origin. These two names are known now only to their oldest men. They sometimes refer to themselves as _Kómpabíăntă_, or people of the "large tipi flaps," although, so far as observation goes, their tipis are not peculiar in this respect. Their name for Indians in general is _Gíăguádaltágâ_, "people of the red flesh." Among other tribes they are called by various names, the best known being the Dakota or Cheyenne form _Witapähätu_, of doubtful translation. The tribal sign, a quick motion of the hand past the right cheek, they explain as referring to a former custom of cutting the hair on that side on a level with the ear.

GENESIS AND MIGRATION

According to Kiowa mythology, which has close parallels among other tribes, their first ancestors emerged from a hollow cottonwood log at the bidding of a supernatural progenitor. They came out one at a time as he tapped upon the log until it came to the turn of a pregnant woman, who stuck fast in the hole and thus blocked the way for those behind her so that they were unable to follow, which accounts for the small number of the Kiowa tribe. The same being gave them the sun, made the division of day and night, exterminated a number of malevolent monsters, and rendered the most ferocious animals harmless; he also taught them their simple hunting arts and finally left them to take his place among the stars. Other wonderful things were done for them by a supernatural boy hero, whose father was the son of the Sun and whose mother was an earthly woman. This boy afterward transformed himself into two, and finally gave himself to the Kiowa in eucharistic form as a tribal "medicine," which they still retain. Unlike the neighboring Cheyenne and Arapaho, who yet remember that they once lived east of the Missouri and cultivated corn, the Kiowa have no tradition of ever having been an agricultural people or anything but a tribe of hunters.

Leaving the mythic or genesis period, the earliest historic tradition of the Kiowa locates them in or beyond the mountains at the extreme sources of the Yellowstone and the Missouri, in what is now western Montana. They describe it as a region of great cold and deep snows, and say that they had the Flatheads (_´daltoñ-ká-igihä´go_, "compressed head people") near them, and that on the other side of the mountains was a large stream flowing westward, evidently an upper branch of the Columbia. These mountains they still call _Gá´i K'op_, "Kiowa mountains." Here, they say, while on a hunting expedition on one occasion, a dispute occurred between two rival chiefs over the possession of the udder of a female antelope, a delicacy particularly prized by Indians. The dispute grew into an angry quarrel, with the result that the chief who failed to secure the coveted portion left the party and withdrew with his band toward the northwest, while the rest of the tribe moved to the southeast, crossed the Yellowstone (_Tsósá P'a_, "pipe (?) stone river"), and continued onward until they met the Crows (_Gaă-k'íägo_, "crow people"), with whom they had hitherto been unacquainted. By permission of the Crows they took up their residence east of that tribe, with which they made their first alliance. Up to this time they had no horses, but used only dogs and the travois. For a while they continued to visit the mountains, but finally drifted out into the plains, where they first procured horses and became acquainted with the Arapaho and Cheyenne, and later with the Dakota.