Wichita

Wichita

Total population
2,392
Regions with significant populations
Oklahoma,  United States
Languages
English, Caddoan, Wichita
Religion
Native American Church, Christianity, traditional tribal religion
Related ethnic groups
Arikara, Caddo, Hidatsa, Keechi, Mandan, Pawnee

The Wichita are a tribe of Native Americans, indigenous inhabitants of North America, who speak Wichita, a Caddoan language. The tribe is indigenous to Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.

Origins

Numerous archaeological sites in Kansas share common traits and are collectively known as the "Great Bend aspect". Radiocarbon dates from these sites range from A.D. 1450 to 1700. Great Bend aspect sites are generally accepted as ancestral to the Wichita peoples described by Francisco Vasquez de 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 ^[1].

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

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.^[2]

Several village sites are distinctive as they contain the remains of unusual structures called council circles. Council circles occur near the center of these sites. 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^[3] 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.^[4] Other archaeologists leave open the possibility that the council circle earthworks served a defensive role.^[5]

Background

The Wichita formed a loose confederation on the Southern Plains, including such bands as Panis Piques, Taovayas, Guichitas, Tawakonis, Kichais, and Wacos. They lived in fixed villages notable for their large, domed-shaped, grass-covered dwellings, sometimes up to 30 feet in diameter. The Wichita were successful hunters and farmers, skillful traders and negotiators. They ranged from San Antonio, Texas in the south to as far north as Great Bend, Kansas. A semi-sedentary people, they occupied northern Texas in the early 1700s. They traded with other Southern Plains Indians on both sides of the Red River and as far south as Waco. For much of the year, the Wichita lived in huts made of forked cedar poles covered by dry grasses. In the winter, they followed American Bison in a seasonal hunt and left their villages behind. All parts of the bison were used for clothing, food and cooking fat, winter shelter, leather supplies, and medicine. They returned in the spring to their villages for another season of cultivating crops.

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, which the women prepared and sewed. They often decorated their dresses in elk teeth.

First European contact

Wichita camp, 1904

The Wichita's population at the time of first contact with the Europeans was estimated to be 200,000.^{[citation needed]} In 1541 Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado encountered several villages in the area now known as Kansas. Coronado said:

"There are not more than twenty-... They 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".^[6]

By 1719 the Wichita had largely migrated southward to Oklahoma. During the Civil War they allied with the Union side. They moved back to Kansas, where they established a village at the site of present-day Wichita, Kansas.^[7] Their numbers dwindled rapidly upon contact with people of European descent, likely due to epidemics of infectious disease to which they had no immunity. In 1790, it was estimated 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.

U.S. Recognition

The United States Bureau of Indian Affairs officially recognizes the tribe. Circa 2003 the officially recognized name is, Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco and Tawakonie), Oklahoma. There are nearly 2400 members. Tribal offices are located in Anadarko, Oklahoma. The Wichita tribal jurisdictional area is in Caddo and Grady Counties. Leslie Standing is the current President, serving a four-year term.^[8]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Wichita

External links

• Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, official website
• Wichita, article in the Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture