- Kiowa
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1. a member of a Plains Indian people of the southwestern U.S.2. a language that is closely related to Tanoan and is the language of the Kiowa people.
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North American Indian people living mostly in Oklahoma, U.S., on a reservation they share with Comanche and Apache.Their language is of Kiowa-Tanoan language stock. The name Kiowa may be a variant of their name for themselves, Kai-i-gwu, meaning "Principal People." The Kiowa moved southward from western Montana and adopted the lifestyle of the Plains Indians. They hunted buffalo on horseback and lived in large three-poled tepees. They had warrior societies, the members of which attained rank according to their exploits in war. They believed that dreams and visions gave them supernatural power, and they participated in the sun dance ceremony. They were also noted for their pictographic portrayals, or "calendar histories," of important tribal events. They were among the last of the Plains peoples to capitulate to the U.S. Some 8,600 peoples claimed sole Kiowa descent in the 2000 U.S. census.* * *
▪ peopleNorth American Indians of Kiowa-Tanoan linguistic stock who are believed to have migrated from what is now southwestern Montana into the southern Great Plains in the 18th century. Numbering some 3,000 at the time, they were accompanied on the migration by Kiowa Apache, a small southern Apache band that became closely associated with the Kiowa. Guided by the Crow, the Kiowa learned the technologies and customs of the Plains Indians (Plains Indian) and eventually formed a lasting peace with the Comanche, Arapaho, and Southern Cheyenne (Cheyenne). The name Kiowa may be a variant of their name for themselves, Kai-i-gwu, meaning “principal people.”The Kiowa and their confederates were among the last of the Plains tribes to capitulate to the U.S. Cavalry. Since 1868 they have shared a reservation with the Comanche between the Washita and Red rivers, centring on Anadarko, Oklahoma. Before their surrender, Kiowa culture was typical of nomadic Plains Indians (Plains Indian). After they acquired horses from the Spanish, their economy focused on equestrian bison hunting. They lived in large tepees and moved camp frequently in pursuit of game. Kiowa warriors attained rank according to their exploits in war, including killing an enemy or touching his body during combat.Traditional Kiowa religion included the belief that dreams and visions gave individuals supernatural power in war, hunting, and healing. Ten medicine bundles, believed to protect the tribe, became central in the Kiowan Sun Dance. The Kiowa and the Comanche were instrumental in spreading peyotism (Native American Church) (see Native American Church).The Kiowa were also notable for their pictographic histories of tribal events, recorded twice each year. Each summer and winter from 1832 to 1939, one or more Kiowa artists created a sketch or drawing that depicted the events of the past six months; in the early years of this practice, the drawings were made on dressed skins, while artists working later in the period drew on ledger paper. The National Anthropological Archives of the Smithsonian Institution contain a number of these extraordinary drawings.Early 21st-century population estimates indicated more than 12,000 individuals of Kiowa descent.* * *
Universalium. 2010.
