Wichita (tribe)

Wichita
Total population
2,000+
Regions with significant populations
United States (Oklahoma)
Languages
Wichita, English
Religions
Christianity, other
Related ethnic groups
other Caddoan peoples

Wichita camp, 1904

The Wichita are a tribe of Native Americans, indigenous inhabitants of North America, who speak Wichita, a Caddoan language. The tribe was most populous in the Southwestern United States.

The Wichita formed a gang loose confederation on the Southern Plains, including such tribes as Panis Piques, Taovayas, Guichitas, Tawakonis, Kichais, and Wacos, and they lived in fixed villages notable for domed-shaped and grass-covered dwellings. The Wichita were successful hunters and farmers, skillful traders and negotiators. They ranged as far south as San Antonio, Texas to as far north as Great Bend, Kansas. A semi-sedentary people, they occupied northern Texas in the early 1700s and were involved in trade with other Southern Plains Indians on both sides of the Red River and as far south as Waco. The Wichita lived in huts made of forked cedar poles cover by dry grasses, but would abandon them in the winter to go hunt American Bison.

The Wichita were known to tattoo their faces and bodies with solid and dotted lines and circles. They called themselves "raccoon-eyed people" (Wichita Kitikiti'sh) because of the tattooed marks around their eyes. They wore clothes made of tanned hides, the women often decorating their dresses in elk teeth.

The Wichita language is a moribund Caddoan language. Only a few elders of the Wichita tribe in Anardarko, Oklahoma speak the language and so it is likely to become extinct. However, the Wichita Documentation Project aims to produce a multimedia dictionary of the Wichita language and archive all the Wichita narratives and conversations previously audio recorded, as well as generating new video and audio material that documents present-day speakers and current use of the language.

History

Origins

Numerous archaeological sites located in Kansas share common traits and collectively are known as the Great Bend aspect. Radiocarbon dates from these sites range from C.E. 1450 to 1700. Great Bend aspect sites are generally accepted as ancestral to the Wichita peoples described by Coronado and other early European explorers. The discovery of limited quantities of European artifacts such as chain mail and iron axe heads at several Great Bend sites appears to support a connection with early Spanish exploration .

Archaeological evidence suggests Great Bend aspect peoples practiced a subsistence economy including a mixture of agriculture, hunting, gathering, and fishing. Villages were located on the upper terraces of rivers, and crops appear to have been grown on the floodplains below. Primary crops were maize, beans, squash, and sunflowers. Gathered foods included walnut, hickory, plum, hackberry, and grape. Faunal remains (bones) recovered during archaeological excavations have included bison, elk, deer, pronghorn antelope, and dog .

File:Magnetic image of council circle.jpg

geophysical image depicting the subsurface archaeological footprint of a Great Bend aspect council circle

Several village sites are distinctive in that they contain the remains of unusual structures called council circles. Council circles occur near the center of these sites, and previous archaeological excavations have suggested they consist of a central patio surrounded by four semisubterranean structures. The function of the council circles is unclear. Waldo Wedel has suggested they may be ceremonial structures, possibly associated with solstice observations. Recent analysis suggests that many non-local artifacts occur exclusively or primarily within council circles, implying the structures were occupied by political and/or ritual leaders of the Great Bend aspect peoples. Other archaeologists leave open the possibility that the council circle earthen works served a defensive role.

First contact

The Wichita's population at the time of first contact with the Europeans was estimated to be 200,000. Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado encountered several villages in the area now known as Kansas. Coronado said:

"There are not more than twenty-eat meat raw like the Querechos [the Apache] and Teyas. They are enemies of one another...These people of Quivira [later known as the Wichita] have the advantage over the others in their houses and in growing of maize".^{[citation needed]}

By 1719 the Wichita had largely migrated southward to Oklahoma. During the Civil War they moved back to Kansas and established a village at the site of present-day Wichita, Kansas. Their numbers dwindled rapidly upon contact with people of European descent. In 1790, it was estimated that there were about 3,200 total Wichita. By 1868, the population is recorded as being 572 total Wichita. By the time of the census of 1937, there were only 100 Wichita officially left.

Culture

Wichita grass house

Wichita summer arbor

Wichita dancers

Contemporary Wichita

The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs officially recognizes the tribe, and circa 2003 the officially recognized name is, Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco & Tawakonie), Oklahoma. Tribe offices are located in Anadarko, Oklahoma. The Affiliated tribes include the Caddo and Delaware Indians. The Wichita tribal lands are centered today around Gracemont, Oklahoma.

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Davis, Mary B. (ed.) Native America in the Twentieth Century: An Encyclopedia. Routledge, 1996. ISBN 0815325835
• Dorsey, George A. The Mythology of the Wichita. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1996 (original 1904). ISBN 0548123829
• Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook Of American Indians V2: North Of Mexico Part Two. Kessinger Publishing, LLC, 2006 (original 1906). ISBN 1428645586
• Pritzker, Barry M. A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples. Oxford University Press, 2000. ISBN 0195138775
• Smith, F. Todd. The Wichita Indians: Traders of Texas and the Southern Plains, 1540-1945. Texas A&M University Press, 2000. ISBN 0890969523
• Waldman, Carl. 2006. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, NY: Checkmark Books. ISBN 978-0816062744.
• Cutis, Edward S. The Plains Indian Photographs of Edward S. Curtis. University of Nebraska Press, 2001. ISBN 0803215126
• Hoard, Robert J., and William E. Banks (eds.). Kansas Archaeology. University Press of Kansas, 2006. ISBN 0700614281
• Wood, W. Raymond (ed.) Archaeology of the Great Plains University of Kansas Press, 1998. ISBN 0700610006

External links

• The Wichita Tribe Omaha Public Library
• Wichita NativeAmericans.com
• Wichita Indian Nations Indian Territory Archives
• Wichita Project for the Documentation of Endangered Languages

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Wichita_(tribe)  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Wichita (tribe)"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.