Chapter VI: Part 6

Their system of personal names is also interesting. All the names have meaning and are as much a part of the owner as his hand or his foot. Children are usually named soon after birth by one of the grandparents or other relative not the parent; the name is commonly suggested by some passing incident, but may be hereditary, or intended to commemorate the warlike deed of some ancestor. In this way a girl may bear a war name bestowed by her grandfather to preserve the recollection of his own achievement. There are no ordinal names as among the eastern Sioux, no clan names as among the Shawnee, and no names which indicate the band of the individual. Young men as they grow up usually assume dream names, in obedience to visions, and these are sometimes superseded in later life by names acquired on the warpath, the hunt, or in council. Frequently an aged warrior, who feels that his day is near its close, formally gives his name to some young man who seems to him to merit the honor; the older man then assumes a new name, or more frequently lives out his remaining years without a name, being referred to and addressed simply as "old man." Sometimes the old warrior, having outlived the need of a name and not regarding any younger man as worthy to bear it, deliberately "throws it away" and is henceforth nameless. Should he die without having bestowed his name upon a successor, the name dies with him and can not be revived. The name of the dead is never spoken in the presence of the relatives, and upon the death of any member of a family all the others take new names--a custom noted by Raleigh's colonists on Roanoke island more than three centuries ago. Moreover, all words suggesting the name of the dead person are dropped from the language for a term of years, and other words, conveying the same idea, are substituted. The same custom exists among the Comanche and perhaps among other tribes.

MARRIAGE

Marriage among the Kiowa, as among the plains tribes generally, is a simple affair, with none of the elaborate ceremonials found among the Hopi and other sedentary Indians. About all that is necessary is that the maiden of the young man's choice shall be willing, and, this having been ascertained by the lover, he sends some friend as a mediator to her parents to make an offer of ponies or other property to compensate them for the loss of their daughter. If both sides come to an agreement, the match is made, and the young couple, with the assistance of their friends, set up housekeeping on their own account. Compulsion is no more brought to bear upon the girl than in civilized communities; the brother of the girl has as much to do with the decision of the case as her parents, and continues to claim a sort of guardianship over her even after her marriage. The marriageable age is about fourteen for girls and sixteen for boys. In general the husband goes to live among his wife's people instead of taking her to his own camp. The father seems to exercise more control over his children than among tribes having the clan system and mother right. There appears to be no fixed rule of inheritance, but shield, tipi, and band name usually descend in the male line. The husband avoids the mother-in-law, but not to the same extent as among other plains tribes. Polygamy is allowed, but is not frequent, only a few of the Kiowa now having two wives, and none more than that number. In the old times it was more common, in consequence of the surplus of women resulting from the killing off of the men in their constant wars. The father of T'ebodal is famous for having had ten wives; Quanah, the present head chief of the Comanche, has six. It was common to marry sisters of the same family, and according to tribal custom, which had analogy among the ancient Hebrews, the man who married the eldest daughter had first claim upon her sisters.

Divorce is easy and without ceremony, but not so common as might be supposed, there being many couples that have lived faithfully together for nearly half a century. Adultery is punished by taking or destroying the property of the guilty man. The woman is simply "thrown away" by her husband, although in theory her life is forfeited. In former times he might kill her or cut off her nose, as was done also among the neighboring tribes, but this latter custom is now only a memory.

TRIBAL GOVERNMENT

The tribal government was formerly committed to the care of a head chief and the chiefs of the several bands, together with the war chiefs, who had control in military affairs. Women had no voice in the government. From the evidences of tradition and the statements of old men, the chiefs in former times, before tribal customs were demoralized by the advent of the conquering race, must have exercised almost despotic powers and were feared as well as respected by their people. Their last great chief was Dohásän, who died in 1866, since which time no one has had the unquestioned allegiance of the whole tribe. The present officially recognized head chief is Lone-wolf, the adopted son of the hostile leader of the same name in the last outbreak. The elder Lone-wolf formally bestowed his own name upon the younger man in 1879, thus publicly recognizing him as his successor. Camp and ceremonial regulations were enforced and their violation punished by the Yä'´pähe, acting under direction of the war chiefs. Personal grievances were avenged by the injured party or by his nearest relatives, without interference by the tribe.

CHARACTER

In character the Kiowa are below the standard. Having been intimately associated with them for some years, the author would be better pleased to make a different showing, but truth compels the statement. Tribal traits are strongly marked among Indians. The Sioux are direct and manly, the Cheyenne high-spirited and keenly sensitive, the Arapaho generous and accommodating, the Comanche practical and businesslike, but the Kiowa, with some honorable exceptions, are deficient in all these qualities. They have the savage virtue of bravery, as they have abundantly proven, but as a people they have less of honor, gratitude, and general reliability than perhaps any other tribe of the plains. The large infusion of captive blood, chiefly Mexican, must undoubtedly have influenced the tribal character, but whether for good or evil the student of heredity must determine.

The report of Captain Alvord, already quoted at length, affords a good insight into Kiowa character. Gregg in 1844 described them as "one of the most savage tribes that infest the western prairies" (_Gregg, 7_). Captain (afterward General) John Pope ten years later called them deceitful and unreliable and "absolutely destitute of most of the chivalrous characteristics which distinguish the Comanche brave." General Pope in 1870 denounced them as being altogether the worst Indians the government had to deal with, having been for twenty-five years past "the most faithless, cruel, and unreliable of all the Indians of the plains." About the same time General Sheridan expressed his lasting regret that he did not hang Set-t'aiñte and Lone-wolf and punish the whole tribe when he first met them. The Quaker Battey, a good friend of theirs, describes them as "the most fierce and desperately bloodthirsty tribe of the Indian Territory"--a people who had hitherto resisted all attempts to bring them into friendly relations with the government or to a knowledge of civilization, still continuing to commit depredations upon the white settlements, stealing horses and mules, murdering men and women and carrying their children into captivity. He says it would probably be difficult to find in the whole tribe a man whose hands had not been imbrued in blood. Clark states that in personal appearance, intelligence, and tenacity of purpose he considers them inferior to the Comanche (_Pacific, 1_; _War, 5_; _Battey, 16_; _Clark, 8_).

POPULATION

It is always difficult to estimate the population of a roving tribe, and almost invariably first reports are greatly exaggerated. This is particularly true of the Kiowa, whose restless disposition and inveterate habit of raiding made them equally at home anywhere along a frontier of a thousand miles. Excluding some extravagant early estimates, the statements of the most competent observers, and the official reports since they have been put upon the reservation, all indicate that the combined population of the confederated Kiowa and Apache was never much more than 1,600, or 1,800 at the greatest, of whom the Apache numbered nearly one-fourth. No really accurate count was ever made until after their final subjugation in 1875, and it is worth noting that their numbers, which had been reported at 2,774 and 2,302 in the preceding two years, at once fell to 1,414, and remained nearly stationary at that figure until the epidemic of 1892. Battey's estimate in 1873 (in which he probably means to include the Apache) of 1,600 to 1,650 is probably very nearly correct. In 1892 the Kiowa numbered 1,014 and the Apache 241, a total of 1,255, being a decrease from 1,476 in the previous year in consequence of the epidemic of measles. In November, 1896, they numbered: Kiowa 1,065, Apache 208, a total of 1,273. The associated Comanche at the same time numbered 1,545. In each of these tribes there is a large captive element of which, no separate account is taken, but investigation would probably show that at least one-fourth of the whole number have more or less of captive blood. The captives are chiefly Mexicans and Mexican Indians, with Indians of other tribes, and several whites taken from Texas when children, including one old man who still remembers having gone to school in Germany and having crossed the ocean with his parents (see Pope in _Pacific, 2_).

Some of the estimates are based on the number of tipis or warriors, an uncertain ratio, which varies greatly in different tribes. With the Kiowa it may be assumed to equal 2 warriors and 6 or 7 souls to a tipi. Below are given the various estimates and enumerations, beginning with the earliest, that of Lewis and Clark in 1805. The estimates of 1807, 1810, 1841--1845, and perhaps of 1850 probably include the Apache.

1805--Kiowa and Wetepahatoe, 70 tipis, 200 warriors, 700 souls (Lewis and Clark, 5).

1810--1,000 warriors, i. e., about 3,000 souls (Pike, Expedition, 1810).

1814--Wate-pana-toe and Ryuwa, 200 warriors, 900 souls (Brackenridge, Views of Louisiana, 85, 1814).

1820--Wettaphato, 1,000 souls, 900 souls (Morse, 3).

1828--140 families (i. e., about 950 souls?) (Spanish, doc. of 1828, in Societa Geog. Mex., 265, 1870).

1829--Keawas, 1,000 souls (Porter, in Schoolcraft, Ind. Tribes, III, 596, 1853).

1836--Kioways, 1,800 (estimate in Schoolcraft, III, 611).

1841-45--1,800 souls (Indian Reports for these years; for the same period the Comanche are estimated at 19,200).

1846--400 tipis, 2,000 souls (Bent, in Rept., 1846).

1849--300 warriors, 1,500 souls, a "careful estimate" (Neighbors, Report, 1849; he estimates the Comanche at 4,000 warriors and 20,000 souls).

1850--Kayuguas, 2,000 souls, not to exceed (War, 6).

1851--1,500 souls, probably not more than (Pacific, 3).

1854--2,800 souls (Agent Whitfield, Report, 1855; in the same report we find another agent estimating the Kiowa and Comanche at 20,000 in 1852).

1865--1,800 (Report, 1865); 1,500 to 1,700 souls, about 280 tipis, without Apache (Agent Leavenworth, in Report on Condition of Indian Tribes, 37, 1867).

1866--Kiowa and Comanche, without Apache, 2,800 (Report, 1866).

1867--280 tipis, 1,680 souls, without Apache (estimate in report of Medicine Lodge treaty, Indian Miscellany).

1867-68--Kiowa and Comanche, without Apache, 4,000 (Report, 1867 and 1868). The peace commission at the same time, 1867, estimates these two tribes at 14,800.

1869-70--1,896 (Reports for 1869 and 1870).

1871--1,776 (Report).

1872--1,200; 1,930 (Report).

1873--2,000 (Report); 1,600 to 1,650 at 6 to a tipi (Battey, 17).

1874--1,700 (Report; all following are from the official reports).

1875--1,070.

1876--1,090.

1877--same.

1878--1,120.

1879--1,138.

1880--1,139.

1881--1,145.

1882--1,176.

1883--1,167.

1884--1,152.

1885--1,169.

1886--1,164.

1887--1,179.

1888--1,121.

1889--1,142, "a very careful census."

1890--1,140.

1891--1,151.

1892--1,014 (decrease from epidemic).

1893--1,017.

1894--same; taken from preceding.

1895--1,037.

1896--1,065.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXV

PHOTO BY HILLERS, 1894

ANDRES MARTINEZ ("ÄN'DALI")]

RELIGION OF THE KIOWA

SCOPE OF THEIR BELIEF

In religion the Kiowa are polytheists and animists, deifying all the powers of nature and praying to each in turn, according to the occasion. Their native system has no Great Spirit, no heaven, no hell, although they are now familiar with these ideas from contact with the whites; their other world is a shadowy counterpart of this. There is an indistinct idea of transmigration, owls and other night birds being supposed to be animated by the souls of the dead, with a general belief in ghosts, witches, and various sorts of good and bad "medicine." Dreams and visions are supernatural revelations, to be trusted and obeyed implicitly.

A curious instance of the persistence of the Indian beliefs in spite of educational influences is afforded by the case of the late Kiowa interpreter, a full-blood Indian, who had been reared and educated in the east, graduated in theology, and was ordained to the ministry, married a white woman, and returned as a missionary to his people. The Indians accused him of deceiving them as to the terms of the treaty, and told him that he "could not live," and he died shortly afterward in the belief that he had been bewitched by the medicine-men as a punishment for his part in the negotiations. The fact is a matter of official record, as well as of contemporary newspaper publication.

THE SUN

The greatest of the Kiowa gods is the Sun; by him they swear, to him they make sacrifice of their own flesh, and in his honor they held the great annual _k'ado_ or sun dance. Next to the sun the buffalo and the _señi_ or peyote plant claim reverence, and these too may be reduced to the same analysis, as the buffalo bull in his strength and majesty is regarded as the animal symbol of the sun, while the peyote, with its circular disk and its bright center, surrounded by white spots or rays, is its vegetal representative. The _â'dalbeáhya_ also derives its origin from the sun. Unlike the agricultural tribes, they pay but little attention to the rain gods and seem to have no reverence for the snake. Each shield order prays to some special deity, and every man has also his own personal "medicine," somewhat like the guardian angel or patron saint of the Catholic system. There are also supernatural heroes, of whom the Sun-boy and Sindi are the greatest, with ogres, dwarfs, water people, monsters, and all the other features of the orthodox fairy book.

OBJECTS OF RELIGIOUS VENERATION

Their most sacred objects of religious veneration are the _Â'dalbeáhya_, the _Taíme_, the _Gadómbitsoñhi_, and the _señi_ or peyote. Their great tribal religious ceremony is the _k'ado_ or. sun dance. Their tribal religion is that which centers around the _â'dalbeáhya_ and the _taíme_. The worship of the peyote, although now general, excepting among the oldest men, is comparatively modern with the Kiowa, having been adopted from the more southern tribes. These two systems are compatible and auxiliary to each other. In 1890 the new religion of the ghost dance was introduced among the Kiowa. It is essentially different from the older Indian systems and antagonistic to them, being based on the doctrine of one God, although it preaches a return to the old Indian life.

The _Â'dalbeáhya_ (the word has some connection with _âdal_, "hair," and scalp) is the eucharistic body of their supernatural hero teacher, the Sun-boy, and has been known among them almost from the beginning of their existence as a people. According to the myth, which has close parallels in other tribes, a girl was one day playing with some companions when she discovered a porcupine in the branches of a tree. She climbed up to capture it, but as she climbed the tree grew, carrying her with it, until it pierced the arch of the sky into the upper world; here the porcupine took on his proper form as the Son of the Sun; they were married and had a son. Her husband had warned her that, in her excursions in search of berries and roots, she must never go near the plant called _äzón_ (pomme blanche, _Psoralea esculenta_) if its top had been bitten off by a buffalo. Like Eve, or Pandora, she longed to test the prohibition, so one day while digging food plants she took hold of a pomme blanche which a buffalo had already cropped and pulled it up by the root, leaving a hole through which she saw far below the earth, which she had forgotten since the day that she had climbed the tree after the porcupine. Old memories awakened, and full of an intense longing for her former home she took her child and fastening a rope above the hole began letting herself down to the earth. Her husband, returning from the hunt, discovered her absence and the method of her escape, and throwing a stone after her through the hole, before she had reached the end of the rope, struck her upon the head and she fell to the ground dead. The child was uninjured, and after staying some time beside the body of his mother he was found and cared for by Spider Woman, who became a second mother to him. One day in playing he threw upward a gaming wheel, which came down upon his head and cut through his body without killing him, so that instead of one boy there were now twin brothers. After many adventures, in the course of which they rid the world of several destructive monsters, one of the brothers walked into a lake and disappeared forever under its waters, after which the other transformed himself into this "medicine," and gave himself in that shape to the Kiowa, who still preserve it as the pledge and guardian of their national existence. This _â´dalbeáhya_, or, as it is sometimes called, the _tä´lyí-dá-i_, "boy-medicine," is in ten portions, in the keeping of as many priests. Its chief priest is T'ébodal, the oldest man of the tribe, with whom the author once had the opportunity of seeing the pouch in which it is carried, for no man, unless possibly the priest himself, has ever been permitted to open it and look upon the contents. It is kept in a small pouch fringed with numerous scalps, in a special tipi appointed for its residence; it is brought out for use in connection with a sweat-house ceremony as individuals may desire to sacrifice to it, and not, like the _taíme_, at tribal gatherings. It is briefly mentioned by Clark in his work on the sign language (_Clark, 7_).

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXVII

THE PORCUPINE IN THE TREE, AND FLIGHT OF THE SUN WOMAN (FROM THE NATIVE DRAWING.)]

The _Gadómbítsoñhi_, "Old-woman-under-the-ground," belonged to the Kiñep band of the Kiowa. It was a small image, less than a foot high, representing a woman with flowing hair. It was exposed in front of the _taíme_ at the great sun-dance ceremony, and by some unexplained jugglery the priest in charge of it caused it to rise out of the ground, dance in the sight of the people, and then again sink into the earth. A few years ago it was stolen by a crazy Indian from the priest who guarded it and has never since been recovered, although there are stories in the tribe of hunters belated in the mountains, or beside unfrequented streams, who have caught glimpses of a wailing dwarf with disheveled hair who vanished as soon as discovered, and is believed to have been the lost _gadómbítsoñhi_.

The _Señi_, "prickly fruit," the peyote or mescal plant, is a small species of cactus of the genus _Lophophora_ (Coulter), which grows in the stony hill country along the Mexican border. On account of its medical properties and its wonderful effect upon the imagination, it is regarded by the Indians as the vegetal incarnation of a deity, and a whole system of myth and ritual has grown up in connection with its use. The rite originated among the more southern tribes, and has come through the Mescalero and Comanche to the Kiowa within about fifty years. The ceremony was first brought to public notice by the author and may be the subject of a more extended monograph at some future time.

Another ritual, pertaining more particularly to women, was dedicated to the Star Girls, or Pleiades (_Dä´-mä´tán_). Its last priestess died a few years ago.

The great, central figure of the _k`adó_, or sun dance, ceremony is the _taíme_. This is a small image, less than 2 feet in length, representing a human figure dressed in a robe of white feathers, with a headdress consisting of a single upright feather and pendants of ermine skin, with numerous strands of blue beads around its neck, and painted upon the face, breast, and back with designs symbolic of the sun and moon. The image itself is of dark-green stone, in form rudely resembling a human head and bust, probably shaped by art like the stone fetishes of the Pueblo tribes. It is preserved in a rawhide box in charge of the hereditary keeper, and is never under any circumstances exposed to view except at the annual sun dance, when it is fastened to a short upright stick planted within the medicine lodge, near the western side. It was last exposed in 1888 (see the calendar). The ancient _taíme_ image was of buckskin, with a stalk of Indian tobacco for a headdress. This buckskin image was left in the medicine lodge, with all the other adornments and sacrificial offerings, at the close of each ceremony. The present _taíme_ is one of three, two of which came originally from the Crows, through an Arapaho who married into the Kiowa tribe, while the third came by capture from the Blackfeet.

The tobacco upon the head of the ancient _taíme_ is another evidence of the northern origin of the Kiowa, as the Kutenai, Blackfoot, and other tribes living near and across the Canadian border are noted for their cultivation of tobacco, and have a special tobacco dance and ceremonies. The more remote tribes along the northwest coast are equally celebrated for their carving in stone, the material used being commonly a black slate, and the original stone _taímes_ may have come from that region.

According to the legend, which is told with the exactness of an historical tradition, an Arapaho, who was without horses or other wealth, attended with his tribe the sun dance of the Crows and danced long and earnestly before the "medicine," in hope that it would pity him and make him prosperous. The chief priest of the Crows rewarded him by giving him the _taíme_ image, notwithstanding the protests of the Crows, who were angry at seeing such favor shown to a stranger. Fortune now smiled upon the Arapaho; he stole many horses and won new blessings for himself by tying numerous ponies to the medicine lodge as a sacrifice to the _taíme_, until at last his herd was of the largest. Being now grown wealthy, when next his own people visited the Crows he collected his horses and started back with them, but the jealous Crows followed secretly, untied the _taíme_ bag from the pole in front of his tipi and stole it, as Rachel stole her father's gods. On discovering his loss the Arapaho made duplicates, which he took back with him to his own people. He afterward married a Kiowa woman and went to live with her tribe, bringing with him the _taíme_, which thus became the medicine of the Kiowa. Since that time the _taíme_ has been handed down in his family, the keeper being consequently always of part Arapaho blood.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXVIII

PEYOTE PLANT AND BUTTON]

The present guardian is a woman, Émaä, who succeeded to the office on the death of Taíméte, "_Taíme_-man," in 1894; she is the ninth successive guardian, the Arapaho being the first. The fifth keeper, Ánsogíani, "Long Foot," or Ánso'te, held it forty years--from before the Osage massacre until his death in the winter of 1870-71. Assuming that the combined terms of the first four guardians equaled in time the combined terms of the last four--i. e., about sixty or sixty-five years, or from about 1830 to 1894--we would have 1770 as the approximate date when the Kiowa obtained the present _taíme_ image. As previously stated, they already had the ceremony and an equivalent image of buckskin. Of the two _taíme_ images, both of which were of the same shape and material, one, the "man," was small, only a few inches in length, while the other, the "woman," was much larger. It is believed among the Kiowa that the Crows still have the originals which they stole from the Arapaho.

Long afterward, after the Kiowa had confederated with the Comanche, the latter had a fight with the Blackfeet, in which they killed a warrior and captured his medicine. The Comanche captor, so the story goes, kept the medicine one night in his tipi, but it kept up a strange noise, which so frightened him that the next day he gave it to a Kiowa, who pulled off a long "tooth" attached to it, and thenceforth it was silent. Learning afterward that it was a part of the _taíme_ medicine, he gave it to the _taíme_ keeper, who put it with the other images. It is said to have been nearly similar in appearance to the smaller image.

The complete _taíme_ medicine thus consisted of three decorated stone images, a large one or "woman," a smaller one called a "man," and a third one closely resembling the second. They were kept in a rawhide case known as the _taíme-bíĭmkâ´i_, shaped somewhat like a kidney (see figure, summer 1835), and painted with _taíme_ symbols, the large image being in one end of the case and the two smaller ones at the other; some say that the third image was kept in a separate box by a relative of the _taíme_ priest. The smaller images, like the ark of the covenant, were sometimes carried to war, the box being slung from the shoulders of the man who carried it, and consequently were finally captured by the Ute. The large image, the "woman" _taíme_, was never taken from the main home camp.

The _taíme_ has been twice captured by enemies, first by the Osage in 1833, and again by the Ute in 1868. In the first instance the Osage surprised the Kiowa camp and captured all the images with the bag, killing the wife of the _taíme_ priest as she was trying to loosen it from its fastenings, but returned it two years later, after peace had been made between the two tribes (see the calendar, 1833 and 1835). In the other case the Kiowa had taken the two smaller images, as a palladium of victory, upon a war expedition, when they were met by a war party of Ute, who defeated them, killed the bearer of the medicine, and carried off the images, which have never since been recovered. The larger image is still with the tribe (see the calendar, 1868; also plate LXIX).

TRIBAL MEDICINES OF OTHER INDIANS

Nearly every important tribe, excepting perhaps those aboriginal skeptics, the Comanche, has or did have a tribal "medicine" equivalent to the _taíme_, around which centers the tribal mythology and ceremonial with which the prosperity and fate of the tribe is bound up. With the Cheyenne this is a bundle of sacred arrows, now in the keeping of one of the southern bands near Cantonment, Oklahoma. With the Arapaho it consists of a pipe, a turtle, and an ear of corn, all of stone, wrapped in skins, and kept by the hereditary priest with the northern branch of the tribe in Wyoming. Among the Omaha it was a large shell, now preserved in the Peabody Museum at Cambridge, Massachusetts. With the Creeks it is a set of graven metal tablets, possibly relics of De Soto's disastrous expedition through the gulf states, religiously guarded by the priest of the Wind clan of the nation in Indian Territory.

THE SUN DANCE

The great tribal ceremony of the Kiowa was the _k`adó_, or sun dance, which was commonly celebrated annually when the down appeared on the cottonwoods, i. e., about the middle of June. In their calendar system the summers are counted by _k`adós_, the winters being designated as "cold seasons." On this occasion the whole tribe encamped in a circle, each band in its appropriate place, with the _k`adó_ or medicine lodge in the center. Within the medicine lodge the _taíme_ was exposed during the continuance of the ceremony, which lasted four days, although the preliminary buffalo hunt and other necessary arrangements occupied much more time. Space forbids a detailed account of the ceremony, which was common to most of the prairie tribes, and has been described with more or less accuracy by various writers. The Kiowa sun dance resembled that of the Dakota, Cheyenne, and other tribes in its general features--the search for the buffalo, the arrangement of the camp circle, the procession of the women to cut down the tree for the center pole of the medicine lodge, the sham battle for possession of the pole, the building of the medicine lodge, and the four days' dance without eating, drinking, or sleeping. It differed radically, however, in the entire absence of those voluntary self tortures which have made the sun dance among other tribes a synonym for savage horrors. With the Kiowa even the accidental shedding of blood on such an occasion was considered an evil omen, and was the signal for abandoning the dance; voluntary laceration by way of sacrifice was practiced at other times, but not at the _k'ado_. Among the Kiowa the center pole must always be cut down by a captive woman. On account of the dread in which the _taíme_ is held, by reason of the many taboos connected with it, they have also a captive, taken from Mexico when a boy and given to the _taíme_ for this special purpose, to unwrap it and set it in place at the ceremonial exposure, so that should any regulation be inadvertently violated, the punishment would fall upon the captive and not upon the tribe. It is hardly necessary to state that this Mexican captive has as perfect faith in the _taíme_ as the priestly keeper himself.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXIX

THE TAIME]

In the Sett'an calendar the summer is always designated by a rude figure of the medicine lodge. On the Anko calendar the distinction is made by the decorated center-pole of the lodge. Medicine-lodge creek, where the famous treaty was negotiated, derives its name from several medicine lodges formerly standing on its banks near the southern Kansas line, this being a favorite spot for the sun dance with both the Kiowa and Cheyenne. The following description of the medicine lodge is from Battey's account of the Kiowa sun dance witnessed by him in 1873, to which account the reader is referred (_Battey, 15_):

The medicine house is situated nearly in the center of the
encampment, is circular in form, and about 60 feet in diameter,
having its entrance toward the east. It is built by erecting a
forked post, 20 feet high, perhaps, for a central support; around
this, and at nearly equal distances, are 17 other forked posts,
forming the circumference of the building. These are from 12 to 15
feet in height, and all of cottonwood. Small cottonwood trees are
tied on the outside of these, in a horizontal position, with ropes
of rawhide, having limbs and leaves on them. Outside of these small
cottonwood trees are placed in an upright position, thus forming a
wall of green trees and leaves several feet in thickness, in the
midst of which many hundred spectators afterwards found a cool
retreat, where they could observe what was going on without making
themselves conspicuous. Long cottonwood poles extend from each of
the posts in the circumference to the central post, and then limbs
of the same are laid across these, forming a shady roof one-third
of the way to the center.

The central post is ornamented near the ground with the robes of
buffalo calves, their heads up, as if in the act of climbing it.
Each of the branches above the fork is ornamented in a similar
manner, with the addition of shawls, calico, scarfs, etc., and
covered at the top with black muslin. Attached to the fork is a
bundle of cottonwood and willow limbs, firmly bound together and
covered with a buffalo robe, with head and horns, so as to form a
rude image of a buffalo, to which were hung strips of new calico,
muslin, strouding, both blue and scarlet, feathers, shawls, etc.,
of various lengths and qualities. The longer and more showy
articles were placed near the ends. This image was so placed as to
face the east. The lodges of the encampment are arranged in circles
around the medicine house, having their entrances toward it, the
nearest circle being some 10 rods distant....

The ground inside the inclosure had been carefully cleared of
grass, sticks, and roots, and covered several inches deep with
clean white sand. A screen had been constructed on the side
opposite the entrance by sticking small cottonwoods and cedars deep
into the ground, so as to preserve them fresh as long as possible.
A space was left, 2 or 3 feet wide, between it and the inclosing
wall, in which the dancers prepared themselves for the dance, and
in front of which was the medicine. This consisted of an image
lying on the ground, but so concealed from view in the screen as to
render its form indistinguishable; above it was a large fan made
of eagle quills, with the quill part lengthened out nearly a foot
by inserting a stick into it and securing it there. These were held
in a spread form by means of a willow rod or wire bent in a
circular form; above this was a mass of feathers, concealing an
image, on each side of which were several shields highly decorated
with feathers and paint. Various other paraphernalia of heathen
worship were suspended in the screen, among these shields or over
them, impossible for me to describe so as to be comprehended. A
mound had also been thrown up around the central post of the
building, 2 feet high and perhaps 5 feet in diameter.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXX

ARAPAHO SUN-DANCE LODGE, 1893]

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXI

PHOTO BY JACKSON, 1872

PACER (PESO), FORMER HEAD-CHIEF OF THE KIOWA APACHE]

THE NADIISHA-DENA OR KIOWA APACHE

TRIBAL SYNONYMY

_Apaches_--Agent Thomas Fitzpatrick, Ind. Report, 52, 1850. This has been their official popular name for the last fifty years.

_Apaches of Arkansas river_--Agent J. W. Whitfield, Report, 255, 1855.

_Apaches of the Plains_--Pope, 1854, in Pacific Railroad Survey, 17, 1855.

_Kiowa Apaches_--Clark, Indian Sign Language, 33, 1885.

_Ésikwíta_--Properly the name of the Mescalero Apache, but in various forms--Essequeta, etc--has sometimes been incorrectly applied to the Kiowa Apache.

_Gáta`ka_--Mooney, Misc. Ind. MS. So called by the Pawnee.

_Ca´takâ_--Lewis, Report, 1805, in Mess. from the President communicating discoveries by Lewis and Clark, etc, 38, 1806.

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

_Cattako_--Lewis and Clark, Discoveries, 23, 1806.

_Cuttako_--American State Papers, IV, 710, 1832.

_Gataea_ (for Gataca)--La Salle, 1682, in Margry, Découvertes, II, 168, 1877.

_Gataka_--Harris, Coll. Voy. and Travels, I, map, 685, 1705.

_Gattacka_--La Salle, 1682, in Margry, Découvertes, II. 201, 1877.

_Gû´ta`k_--La Flesche, Omaha and Ponca name, probably derived from the Pawnee.

_Ka-ta-ka_--Kioway, Kataka, and Towakaro treaty; ratified 1838.

_Kattekas_--French, Hist. Colls. of Louisiana, new series, I, 153, note, 1869.

_Quataquois_--La Harpe, 1719, in Margry, Découvertes, VI, 289.

_Quataquon_--Beaurain, 1719, ibid.

_Tha`ká-hinĕ´na_} Mooney, Misc. Ind. MS. Arapaho names, derived from_ _Tha`ká-itän_ } _Gáta`ka_ and _hinĕ´na_, "people," or _itâ´n_, "tribe."

_Gĭnä's_--Mooney, Misc. Ind. MS. Wichita name.

_Kántsi_--Mooney, Misc. Ind. MS. Caddo collective name for the Apache tribes, signifying "liars;" hence Cancy, etc.

_K`á-pätop_--A generic Kiowa name for several tribes cognate with the Apache, including Apache proper, Mescalero, Lipan, and Kiowa Apache. It signifies "knife-whetters," or "whetstone people." The name became obsolete about six years ago in consequence of the death of a Kiowa chief named _K`á-pä'te_.

_Kĭsínăhĭs_--Mooney, Misc. Ind. MS. Kichai name.

_Mûtsiănă-täníu_--Cheyenne name, signifying "whetstone people."

_Nadíisha-déna_--The name used by themselves, signifying "our people" or "people of our kind;" singular, _Ná-isha_. _Déna_, "people," is the word which, in the various dialectal forms of _dina_, _tĭné_, _dĭ'nĕ_, _tûne_, _nde_, etc, enters into so many tribal names of the Athapascan stock.

_Prairie Apache_--Whitfield in Rept. Comr. of Ind. Aff., 297, 1854.

_Sádalsómte-k`íägo_--Another Kiowa name for the Kiowa Apache, signifying "weasel people."

_Semät_--The name by which the Kiowa call them, signifying "thieves;" the name which designates this tribe alone, superseded a few years ago the more general term _K á-pä´top_.

_Tagúi_--The old Kiowa name for the Apache tribes generally, superseded for a time by _K á-pä´top_, but now again in use. Cf _T'a`ká-i_, "white man."

_Tâ´gugála_--Hodge, Pueblo MS. Notes, 1895. The Jemez name for the Apache tribes, including the Kiowa Apache.

_Tágukerésh_--Hodge, Pueblo MS. Notes, 1895. The Pecos name for the Apache tribes, including the Kiowa Apache.

_Tashĭn_--Mooney, Misc. Ind. MS. Comanche generic name for the Apache tribes.

TRIBAL SIGN

Right index finger rubbed briskly up and down along the back of left index finger. This is the generic sign for all tribes of Apache connection, including Apache proper, Navaho, Mescalero, Lipan, and Kiowa Apache. It is commonly interpreted to mean "knife whetters" or "whetstone people," and this is also the meaning of the generic term for Apache in most of the plains languages. It is possible, however, that this is a misconception of the original purpose of the sign, which may have had reference to a peculiar musical instrument found in various forms among the Pueblo and other Indians of the southwest. Clark says:

I have heard two distinct conceptions for this gesture, the
Cheyenne claiming that the sign came from a peculiar musical
instrument made from an elk horn, which produced weird-like sounds
by rubbing it backward and forward with a stick, and the second (I
do not remember what tribe gave me the conception) from a specially
good whetstone which the Apaches made and used (_Clark, 9_).

In a personal letter to the author Grinnell states, on Cheyenne authority, that the sign "is not _whetting a knife_, which would be performed by one open flat hand on back of other flat hand, and not _poor_, which would be passing right forefinger down over back of left forefinger held vertically. The sign is said by the Cheyenne to refer to a musical instrument used in old times by the Apache. This instrument was played by passing the forefinger back and forth over the flat surface of the instrument, from which surface a tongue protruded, which, when struck, vibrated and made the sound, somewhat after the manner of the Jew's-harp."

ORIGIN AND HISTORY

The Kiowa Apache are a small tribe of Athapascan stock, numbering now about two hundred and twenty-five, associated with the Kiowa from the earliest traditional period and forming a component part of the Kiowa tribal circle, although reserving their distinct language; they call themselves _Nadíisha-dena_, "our people." In the early French records of the seventeenth century, in Lewis and Clark's narrative, and in their first treaty, in 1837, they are called by various forms of the name _Gáta`ka_, the name by which they are known to the Pawnee, although this does not necessarily imply that the word is of Pawnee origin. They are possibly the Kaskaia or "Bad-hearts" of Long in 1820. The Kiowa call them by the contemptuous title of _Semät_, "thieves," a recent substitute for the older generic term _Tagúi_, applied also to other tribes of the same stock. They are now commonly known as Kiowa Apache, under a mistaken impression, arising from the fact of their Athapascan affinity, that they are a detached band of the Apache nation of Arizona. On the contrary, they have never had any political connection with the Apache proper and were probably unaware of their existence until about one hundred years ago. A few Mescalero Apache from New Mexico are now living with them, and individuals of the two tribes frequently exchange visits, but this friendly intimacy is a matter of only sixty or eighty years' standing, resulting from the peace between the Kiowa and Comanche, as already recorded.

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXII

PHOTOS BY JACKSON, 1872

DAHA, A KIOWA APACHE SUBCHIEF]

FIG. 58--Gray-eagle, a Kiowa Apache subchief]

They have not migrated from the southwest into the plains country, but have come with the Kiowa from the extreme north, where they lay the scene of their oldest traditions, including their great medicine story. Their association with the Kiowa antedates the first removal of the latter from the mountains, as both tribes say they have no memory of a time when they were not together. It is probable that the Kiowa Apache, like the cognate Sarsi, have come down along the eastern base of the Rocky mountains from the great Athapascan hive of the Mackenzie river region instead of along the chain of the Sierras, the line followed by the kindred Tototin, Wailaki, Navaho, and Apache proper, and that, finding themselves too weak to stand alone, they took refuge with the Kiowa, as the Sarsi have done with the Blackfeet.

In regard to this northern origin and early association Clark says, in his valuable work on the sign language: "Tradition locates the Kiowas near and to the southwest of the Black Hills, Dakota, and without doubt they had previous to that time lived near the Missouri river. The Apaches with whom they are now associated were at this time with them." In another place he states that an old Apache told him, about 1881, that he was then about seventy years of age and had been born near Missouri river, northeast of the Black Hills (_Clark, 10_). Keim chooses to call them Lipan, in which he is mistaken, the Lipan being still another Athapascan tribe living farther south, and states that "these people are improperly known as Apaches and so called in the official documents of the government. They say of themselves that they are not Apaches, that the Apaches live away to the west." He says that they have a tradition of having formerly lived in the Bad-lands of Dakota, whence they drifted to the south, but adds somewhat naively that there is no other authority for this than their own story (_Keim, 4_).

As the Apache are practically a part of the Kiowa in everything but language, they need no extended separate notice. Curiously enough their authentic history begins nearly seventy years earlier than that of the dominant tribe with which they are associated. They are first mentioned by the French explorer La Salle, in an undated letter of 1681 or 1682, under the name of Gattacka. Writing from a post in what is now Illinois, he says that the Pana (Pawnee) live more than 200 leagues to the west, on one of the tributaries of the Mississippi, and are "neighbors and allies of the Gattacka and Manrhoet, who are south of their villages, and who sell to them horses, which they probably steal from the Spaniards of New Mexico." In another fragmentary letter of 1682, written from the same place, he proposes to make an overland journey by means of horses, "which may easily be had, as there are many with the savages called Pana, Pancassa, Manrhout, Gataea, Panimaha, and Pasos, who lie somewhat remote, it is true, but yet communication with them is very easy by means of the river of the Missourites, which flows into the river Colbert" (_Margry, 1_). In modern terms Pana, Pancassa (or Paneassa), Gataea (for Gataca), Panimaha, Missourites, and Colbert are respectively Pawnee, Ponca (?), Kiowa Apache, Pawnee-Maha or ----, Missouri, and Mississippi. Paso is problematic, and Manrhoet or Maurhout, which in both letters is mentioned in connection with the Kiowa Apache, may possibly be some obsolete name for the Kiowa themselves.

From these references it is plain that the Kiowa Apache--and presumably also the Kiowa--ranged even at this early period in the same general region where they were known more than a hundred years later, namely, between the Platte and the frontiers of New Mexico, and that they already had herds of horses taken from the Spanish settlements. It appears also that they were then in friendship with the Pawnee. From the fact that they traded horses to the other tribes, and that La Salle proposed to supply himself from them or their neighbors, it is not impossible that they sometimes visited the French fort on Peoria lake. On a map in Harris' Collection of Voyages and Travels, published in 1705, we find the "Gataka" marked--probably on the authority of early French documents--on the west side of the Missouri, above the Quapaw (see the Kiowa Apache synonymy, page 245). In 1719 La Harpe found them ("Quataquois") living in connection with the Tawákoni and other affiliated tribes in a village which has been identified by Philip Walker, Esquire, of Washington, as situated on the south bank of the Cimarron, near its junction with the Arkansas, in what is now the Creek nation of Indian Territory (_Margry, 2_).

SEVENTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT PL. LXXIV

PHOTOS BY HILLERS, 1894

GOÑKOÑ OR APACHE JOHN, A KIOWA APACHE SUBCHIEF]

FIRST OFFICIAL AMERICAN NOTICE

The official history of the Apache begins nearly a hundred years later. In 1805 the explorers Lewis and Clark describe the "Ca´takâ," whom they apparently did not meet, as living between the heads of the two forks of Cheyenne river, in the Black Hills region of northeastern Wyoming, and numbering twenty-five tipis, seventy-five warriors, and three hundred souls. This appears to be a singularly close estimate. The Kiowa lived near them, on the North Platte, and both tribes had the same alliances and general customs. They were rich in horses, which they sold to the Arikara and Mandan, but had no trader among them, and the mouth of Cheyenne river was suggested as a suitable place for the establishment of a trading post for them both (_Lewis and Clark, 6_).

TREATIES

In 1837, in connection with the Kiowa and Tawákoni, they made their first treaty with the government, as has already been described at length in treating of the Kiowa. They are called Kataka in the treaty, this being apparently the last official use of that name, and thenceforth they have been known as Apache. Their subsequent history is that of the Kiowa. In 1853 they are mentioned as a warlike band ranging the waters of Canadian river, in the same great plains occupied by the Comanche, with whom they often joined in raiding expeditions (_Report, 67_).

By the treaty of the Little Arkansas, in 1865, they were officially detached from the Kiowa and attached to the Cheyenne and Arapaho. This was done at the request of the Apache themselves, in consequence of the unfriendly attitude of the Kiowa toward the whites. But the arrangement had no practical force, and by the treaty of Medicine Lodge, in 1867, they were formally reunited to the Kiowa. This latter treaty was signed by six chiefs on behalf of the Apache, Gúañtekána, "Poor-bear," being then their principal chief (see the treaty, _ante_). A part of the Apache continued to live with the Cheyenne and Arapaho until after the readjustment at the close of the outbreak of 1874-75. In keeping with the general conduct of the tribe, they remained peaceable and friendly throughout the trouble (_Report, 68_).

DELEGATION TO WASHINGTON, 1872--FRIENDLY DISPOSITION

They participated with the Kiowa and others in the joint delegation which visited Washington in October, 1872, being represented on that occasion by Pacer the principal chief, Daho, and Gray-eagle. In his official report Captain Alvord, chairman of the commission which had charge of the delegation, says of the Apache:

The Apache who are in the Indian Territory number about five
hundred, are recognized by the supplemental treaty of 1867 as
confederated with the Kiowa and Comanche, and have generally been
controlled by and acted with the Kiowa. More or less of them have
constantly participated in the marauding of the others, but as a
tribe or band it is believed that they are better disposed than
their associates, and that the professions of friendship which are
made by their three principal chiefs, now in Washington, are in
good faith, and may be received accordingly. I think that if they
can be removed from the evil influences of the Kiowa and Comanche,
they will do well (_Report, 69_).

PROGRESS TOWARD CIVILIZATION--DEATH OF PACER, 1875

On the return of the delegation the Apache in good faith commenced to learn the ways of civilization and to earn their own living. Their agent reports:

The Apache were very attentive, working themselves with the hoe.
Apache John, a chief, is especially deserving of mention. He worked
hard, had all the weeds hoed out, and in addition, to his corn has
a fine crop of watermelons, some of which he brought me as a
present. It was a very nice sight to see one who a few months ago
was regarded as a wild and dangerous man drive up in his wagon (I
had given him one) and unload from it a number of fine melons of
his own cultivation and raising (_Report, 70_).

The next year, 1874, started out with even more encouraging prospects. The Apache chiefs worked in their own fields as an example to their people, and at the request of Pacer a school was established among them by A. J. Standing, who, like Battey and Haworth, was a Quaker. All went well until summer, when the Cheyenne, Comanche, and a part of the Kiowa took up arms in defense of their hunting grounds, as already narrated, more or less involving the other tribes, and putting a complete stop to the work of civilization. By direction of the agent the Apache, at the beginning of the trouble, repaired to the friendly camp at Fort Sill, where during all the disturbance they maintained their loyalty and kept the peace, and afterward used their good offices to bring about the surrender of the hostiles, as they had done previously in 1869 (_Report, 71_).

Pacer, head chief of the Apache, died in the summer of 1875. He was a man of considerable ability and is frequently mentioned in the official reports of the period, as well as by Battey. He had been the consistent advocate of friendly relations with the whites, and on his death was given a civilized burial, at the request of his people, as had been done in the case of Kicking-bird, the Kiowa chief, who died shortly before (_Report, 72_).

RECENT HISTORY AND PRESENT CONDITION

The Apache participate with the Kiowa and Comanche in the benefits of the leases of grass lands. They suffered terribly in the epidemic of 1892, losing more than one-fourth of their number. They joined in the protest against the late unratified agreement and were represented in the joint delegation of 1894 by Goñkoñ, "Stays-in-tipi," or Apache John. In dress, customs, and general characteristics they resemble the Kiowa, but are much more agreeable and reliable in disposition. They join with them in the sun dance and the peyote rite, and have no distinct tribal ceremony of their own, although they have a "horse medicine" of considerable repute. In 1896 they numbered two hundred and eight, under the head chieftainship of White-man, and resided chiefly on Apache creek and in the vicinity of the Kichai hills.

POPULATION

Below is given the population of the Apache at different periods, all but the first estimate (_Lewis and Clark, 6_) being taken from the annual Indian reports. They have probably never numbered much over three hundred and fifty:

1805--Ca´takâ, 25 tipis, 75 warriors, 300 souls.

1850--50 lodges (=325 souls?).

1854--40 lodges (Fitzpatrick); 320 (Whitfield, Report of 1855).

1865--500 (Report), 40 lodges, with 4 or 5 to a lodge (Leavenworth, in Report on Condition of Indian Tribes, 37, 1867).

1867--800 (?), 70 tipis, 420 souls (estimate in report of Medicine Lodge treaty--Indian Miscel.).

1868--Same.

1869--300 (Report of 1870).

1870--Same.

1871--378.

1872--380^a; 517^b.

1873--774 (?).

1874--602 (?).

1875--344.

1876--325.

1877--343.

1878--344.

1879--315.

1880--334.

1881--337.

1882--340.

1883--337.

1884--308.

1885--319.

1886--332.

1887--Same.

1888--348.

1889--349; "a very careful census."

1890--326.

1891--325.

1892--241 (decrease from epidemic).

1893--224.

1894--Same, taken from preceding.

1895--226.

1896--208.

THE ANNUAL CALENDARS, 1833--1892

WINTER 1832-33

_Â'dal-hâ´ñgya Ähágyä-de Sai_, "Winter that they captured the money." The first event recorded occurred about New Near, in the winter of 1832-33, being an encounter with a small party of Americans, resulting in the death of Gúi-kóñgya, "Black-wolf," and the capture of a large quantity of silver coin. The winter is indicated according to the regular system by a black bar below the principal figure, which is that of a man with the picture of a black wolf over his head and joined to it by a line. The breechcloth shows the figure to be that of a man, the black wolf connected by a line expresses his name, while the red spot with blood gushing from it between the shoulders shows that he was shot through the body. Beside it is a very good picture of a silver dollar to indicate the money captured. This last does not appear on the Dohásän calendar, although the capture gives name to the winter.