Originally from the Northern Plains and migrating to the Southern Plains, Kiowa society follows
bilateral descent, where both maternal and paternal lines are significant. They do not have clans but have a complex kinship-based system and societies based on age and gender.
Tipis, conical lodges made from hide or later canvas, provided lightweight, portable housing. They hunted and gathered wild foods and traded with neighboring agrarian tribes for produce. The Kiowa migrated seasonally with the American bison because it was their main food source. They also hunted antelope, deer, turkeys, and other wild game. Women collected varieties of wild berries and fruit and processed them with prepared meats to make
pemmican. Dogs were used to pull
travois and rawhide
parfleche that contained camping goods for short moves. The Kiowa tended to stay in areas for long periods of time. When they adopted
horse culture after acquiring horses from Spanish rancherias south of the Rio Grande, the Kiowa revolutionized their lifeways. They had much larger ranges for their seasonal hunting, and horses could carry some of their camping goods. The Kiowa and
Plains Apache established a homeland in the
Southern Plains, adjacent to the
Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado and western Kansas and the
Red River drainage of the Texas Panhandle and western Oklahoma.
Cuisine antelope with bows and lance, c.1875–1877. on horseback, c. 1875–1877 in Texas. The Kiowa historically had a nomadic hunter-gatherer society. They shared a similar cuisine with their neighboring Plains tribes, such as the Comanche. The most important food source for the Kiowa and fellow plains nations was the
American bison or buffalo. Before the introduction of horses, the Plains tribes hunted bison on foot. Hunting required the hunter to get as close as possible to the target before shooting with arrows or using the long lance. Occasionally, they wore the skins of wolves or
coyotes to hide their approach toward the bison herds. Hunting bison became far easier after the Kiowa acquired horses. Bison were hunted on horseback and the men used bows and arrows to take them down, as well as long lances to pierce the hearts of the animals. The women prepared bison meat in a variety of ways: roasted, boiled, and dried. Dried meat was prepared into
pemmican, for sustenance while the people were on the move. Pemmican is made by grinding dried lean meat into powder, then mixing a near-equal weight of melted fat or tallow and sometimes berries. The pemmican was shaped into bars and kept in pouches until ready to eat. The Kiowa sometimes ate certain parts of the bison raw. Other animals hunted included deer,
elk,
pronghorn, wild
mustang,
wild turkey, and bears. During times of scarce game, the Kiowa would eat small animals such as lizards, waterfowl, skunks, snakes, and armadillos. They raided ranches for
Longhorn cattle and horses to eat during difficult times. They also acquired horses for traveling, hunting, and fighting their enemies. Within Kiowa society, men did most of the hunting. Women were responsible for gathering wild edibles such as berries, tubers, seeds, nuts, vegetables, and wild fruit but could choose to hunt if they wanted to. Plants important to Kiowa cuisine include
pecans,
prickly pear,
mulberries,
persimmons, acorns, plums, and wild onions. They acquired cultivated crops, such as squash,
maize, and
pumpkin, by trading with and raiding various Indian peoples, such as the
Pawnee people, living on the western edge of the great plains. Prior to acquiring metal pots from Europeans, Kiowa cooked boiled meat and vegetables through a process of lining a pit in the earth with animal hides, filling that with water, and adding fire-heated rocks.
Sheltering in place and mobile The main form of shelter used by the Kiowa was the
tipi or skin lodge. Tipis were made from bison hides shaped and sewn together in a conical shape. Wooden poles called lodge poles from in length are used as support for the lodge. Lodge poles are harvested from
red juniper and
lodgepole pine. Tipis have at least one entrance flap. Smoke flaps were placed at the top so that smoke could escape from the fire pit within. The floor of the tipi was lined with animal pelts and skins for warmth and comfort. The tipi is designed to be warm inside during the cold winter months and cool inside during the warm summer. Tipis are easily collapsed and can be raised in minutes, making it an optimal structure for nomadic people like the Kiowa and other Plains Indian nations. The poles of the tipi were used to construct a
travois during times of travel. Hide paintings often adorn the outside and inside of the tipis, with special meanings attached to certain designs. Before the introduction of the horse to North America, the Kiowa and other plains peoples used domestic dogs to carry and pull their belongings. Tipis and belongings, as well as small children, were carried on travois, a frame structure using the tipi poles and pulled by dogs and later horses. The introduction of the horse to Kiowa society revolutionized their way of life. They acquired horses by raiding rancheros south of the Rio Grande into Mexico, as well as by raiding other Indian peoples who already had horses, such as the Navajo and the various Pueblo people. With the horse, they could transport larger loads, hunt more game over a wider range and more easily, and travel longer and farther. 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. A man's wealth was measured primarily by the size of his horse herd, with particularly wealthy individuals having herds numbering in the hundreds. Horses were targets of capture during raids. The Kiowa considered it an honor to steal horses from enemies, and such raids often served as a rite of passage for young warriors. They adorned their horses with body paint from the
medicine man for ritual and spiritual purposes, such as good fortune and protection during battle. Kiowa horses were also often decorated with beaded masks (sometimes with bison horns attached to the sides) and feathers in their manes. Mules and donkeys were also used as means of transportation and wealth; however, they were not as esteemed.
Sociopolitical organization The Kiowa had a well structured tribal government like most tribes on the Northern Plains. They had a yearly Sun Dance gathering and an elected head-chief who was considered to be a symbolic leader of the entire nation. Warrior societies and religious societies were important to Kiowa society and carried out specific roles. Chiefs were chosen based on bravery and courage shown in battle as well as intelligence, generosity, experience, communication skills, and kindness to others. The Kiowa believed that the young fearless warrior was ideal. The entire tribe was structured around this individual. The warrior was the ideal to which young men aspired. Because of these factors, the Kiowa was of utmost importance in the history of the Southern Plains. The women gain prestige through the achievements of their husbands, sons, and fathers, or through their own achievements in the arts. Kiowa women tanned, skin-sewed, painted geometric designs on parfleche and later beaded and quilled hides. The Kiowa women took care of the camp while the men were away. They gathered and prepared food for winter months, and participated in key ritual events. Kiowa men lived in the families of their wives' extended families. Local groups (
d̶o:b̶àud̶o:gáu or
d̶ó:dáu) were led by the
d̶ò:b̶àud̶ó:k’ì: or
chief. The Kiowa had two political subdivisions (particularly with regard to their relationship with the
Comanche): •
T’ó:k’yàñhyòp, Kiowa bands within the
tipi ring during the annual
Sun Dance (called
K’áu:d̶ó): Like other Plains Indians, the Kiowa had specific warrior societies. Young men who proved their bravery, skill, or displayed their worth in battle were often invited to one of the warrior societies. In addition to warfare, the societies worked to keep peace within the camps and tribe as a whole. There were six warrior societies among the Kiowa. The Po-Lanh-Yope (Little Rabbits) was for boys; all young Kiowa boys were enrolled. The group mostly served social and education purposes, involving no violence or combat. The Adle-Tdow-Yope (Young Sheep), Tsain-Tanmo (Horse Headdresses), Tdien-Pei-Gah (Gourd Society), and Ton-Kon-Gah (Black Legs or Leggings) were adult warrior societies. The
Koitsenko (Qkoie-Tsain-Gah, Principal Dogs or Real Dogs) 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. Shields were made from tough bison hide stretched over a wooden frame, or they were made from the skull of bison, which made a small, strong shield. Shields and weapons were adorned with feathers, furs, and animal parts, such as eagle claws for ceremonial purposes.
Kiowa calendars The 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. Mooney also worked with two other calendar keepers,
Settan (Little Bear) and
Ankopaaingyadete (In the Middle of Many Tracks), commonly known as
Anko. Other Plains tribes kept pictorial records, known as "winter counts". The Kiowa calendar system is unique: they recorded two events each year, offering a finer-grained record and twice as many entries for any given period. Silver Horn (1860–1940), or
Haungooah, was the most highly esteemed artist of the Kiowa tribe in the 19th and 20th centuries. He kept a calendar and was a respected religious leader in his later years.
Funeral practices In Kiowa tradition, death had strong associations with dark spirits and negative forces, which meant that the death of an individual was seen as a traumatic experience. Fear of ghosts in Kiowa communities stemmed from the belief that spirits commonly resisted the end of their physical life. The spirits were thought to remain around the corpse or its burial place, as well as haunt former living spaces and possessions. Lingering spirits were also believed to help encourage the dying to cross from the physical world to the afterlife. The fear of ghosts can be seen in the way skulls were treated, which was believed to be a source of negative spiritual contamination that invited danger to the living. Due to the fears and risks associated with death, the community's reactions were instantaneous and vicious. Families and relatives were expected to demonstrate grief through reactions such as wailing, ripping off clothes and shaving of the head. There have also been accounts of self-induced body lacerations and finger joints being cut. In the process of grief, women and the widowed spouse were expected to be more expressive in their mourning. The body of the deceased must be washed before burial. The washer, historically a woman, also combs the hair and paints the face of the dead. Once the body has been treated, a burial occurs promptly. When possible, the burial takes place on the same day, unless the death occurs at night. In this case the dead is buried the following morning. A quick burial was believed to reduce the risk of spirits remaining around the burial site. After the burial, most of the belongings of the dead were burned along with their tipi. If their tipi or house was shared with family, the surviving relatives moved into a new house. ==History==