43 Facts About Kiowa

Kiowa people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States.

In 1867, the Kiowa were moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma.

In Plains Indian Sign Language, Kiowa is expressed by holding two straight fingers near the lower outside edge of the right eye and moving these fingers back past the ear.

Kiowa language is a member of the Kiowa-Tanoan language family.

Parker McKenzie, born 1897, was a noted authority on the Kiowa language, learning English only when he began school.

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Kiowa worked with John P Harrington, who gave him first-author credit on a co-published work, in an era when Native consultants were rarely credited at all Later he worked with Laurel Watkins on the Kiowa language.

Kiowa went on to discuss the etymology of words and insights of how the Kiowa language changed to incorporate new items of material culture.

Additionally, Kiowa were one of the numerous nations across the US, Canada and Mexico that spoke Plains Sign Talk.

Originally from the Northern Plains and migrating to the Southern Plains, Kiowa society follows bilateral descent, that is, both maternal and paternal lines are significant.

The Kiowa migrated seasonally with the American bison because it was their main food source.

Plants important to Kiowa cuisine includes pecans, prickly pear, mulberries, persimmons, acorns, plums, and wild onions.

The Kiowa became powerful and skilled mounted warriors who conducted long-distance raids against enemies.

The Kiowa were considered among the finest horsemen on the Plains.

The Kiowa considered it an honor to steal horses from enemies, and such raids often served as a rite of passage for young warriors.

Kiowa horses were often decorated with beaded masks and feathers in their manes.

Kiowa had a well structured tribal government like most tribes on the Northern Plains.

The Kiowa believed that the young fearless warrior was ideal.

The Kiowa women took care of the camp while the men were away.

Kiowa men lived in the families of their wives' extended families.

The Kiowa were notable even among plains Indians for their long-distance raids, including raids far south into Mexico and north onto the northern plains.

Enemies of the Kiowa include the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Navajo, Ute, and occasionally Lakota to the north and west of Kiowa territory.

The Kiowa came into conflict with Indian nations from the American south and east displaced to Indian Territory during the Indian Removal period including the Cherokee, Choctaw, Muskogee, and Chickasaw.

The Po-Lanh-Yope was for boys; all young Kiowa boys were enrolled and the group served mostly social and education purposes, involving no violence or combat.

The Koitsenko consisted of the ten most elite warriors of all the Kiowa, who were elected by the members of the other four adult warrior societies.

Kiowa warriors used a combination of traditional and nontraditional weapons, including long lances, bows and arrows, tomahawks, knives, and war-clubs, as well as the later acquired rifles, shotguns, revolvers, and cavalry swords.

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Kiowa people told ethnologist James Mooney that the first calendar keeper in their tribe was Little Bluff, or Tohausan, who was the principal chief of the tribe from 1833 to 1866.

Kiowa was a respected religious leader in his later years.

Fear of ghosts in Kiowa communities stemmed from the belief that spirits commonly resisted the end of their physical life.

The Kiowa had a complex ceremonial life and developed the 'Winter counts' as calendars.

Kiowa signed several treaties with the United States, including the Fort Atkinson Treaty of July 27, 1852, and the Little Arkansas Treaty of 1865.

Kiowa emerged as a distinct people in their original homeland of the northern Missouri River Basin.

The Kiowa were pushed south by the invading Cheyenne who were then pushed westward out of the Black Hills by the Sioux.

The Kiowa were unable to perform the Sun Dance until the return of the Tai-me in 1835.

Kiowa traded with the Wichita south along Red River and with Mescalero Apache and New Mexicans to the southwest.

From 1821 until 1870 the Kiowa joined the Comanche in raids, primarily to obtain livestock, that extended deep into Mexico and caused the death of thousands of people.

Kiowa agreed to settle on a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma.

Since 1968, the Kiowa have been governed by the Kiowa Tribal Council, which presides over business related to health, education, and economic and industrial development programs.

The "Kiowa Six" were some of the earliest Native Americans to receive international recognition for their work in the fine art world.

The Kiowa Six gained international recognition as fine artists by exhibiting their work in the 1928 International Art Congress in Czechoslovakia and then participated in the Venice Biennale in 1932.

Contemporary Kiowa musicians include Cornel Pewewardy, Tom Mauchahty-Ware, and Terry Tsotigh.

Early Kiowa photographers include Parker McKenzie and his wife Nettie Odlety, whose photographs from 1913 are in the collection of the Oklahoma History Center.

Kiowa documented the Kiowa people living near his community in Mountain View, Oklahoma, beginning the 1920s.

Kiowa's legacy is continued today by his grandson, Thomas Poolaw, a prominent Kiowa photographer and digital artist.