KIOWA TRIBAL SYNONYMY
Be′shĭltchă—Kiowa Apache name, meaning unknown.
Caygua—Spanish form, from their proper name, Kaigwu.
Gahe′wa—Wichita and Kichai name; another form of Kiowa.
Kâ′igwŭ—“real or principal people,” proper tribal name.
Kai-wă—Comanche and Caddo name; from their proper name, Kaigwu.
Kiowa—popular name, a corruption of the name used by themselves.
Kwŭ’da—“going out;” old name formerly used by the Kiowa for themselves.
Ñĭ′chihinĕ′na—“river men,” Arapaho name; so called because they formerly lived on upper Arkansas river, from which the Arapaho claim to have driven them.
Tepda—“coming out,” “issuing;” another old name formerly used by the Kiowa for themselves.
Witapä′hat or Witapä′tu—Cheyenne name, from their Sioux name, Witapähä′tu.
Wi′tapähä′tu—“island butte people” (?), Sioux name.
KIOWA TRIBAL SIGN
The Kiowa tribal sign indicates “hair cut off at right ear,” in allusion to a former custom of the warriors. From a careless habit in making this sign it has sometimes been wrongly interpreted to mean “foolish,” or “rattle-brain.”
SKETCH OF THE KIOWA
So far as present knowledge goes, the Kiowa constitute a distinct linguistic stock; but it is probable that more material will enable us to prove their connection with some tribes farther north, from which direction they came. They are noticed in the Spanish records as early at least as 1732. Their oldest tradition, which agrees with the concurrent testimony of the Shoshoni and Arapaho, locates them about the junction of Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin forks, at the extreme head of Missouri river, in the neighborhood of the present Virginia City, Montana. They afterward moved down from the mountains and formed an alliance with the Crow, with whom they have since continued on friendly terms. From here they drifted southward along the base of the mountains, driven by the Cheyenne and Arapaho. About 1840 they made peace with the latter tribes, with which they have since commonly acted in concert. The Sioux claim to have driven them out of the Black hills, and in 1805 they were reported as living upon the North Platte. According to the Kiowa account, when they first reached Arkansas river they found their passage opposed by the Comanche, who claimed all the country to the south. A war followed, but peace was finally concluded, when the Kiowa crossed over to the south side of the Arkansas and formed a confederation with the Comanche, which continues to the present day. In connection with the Comanche they carried on a constant war upon the frontier settlements of Mexico and Texas, extending their incursions as far south at least as Durango. Among all the prairie tribes they were noted as the most predatory and bloodthirsty, and have probably killed more white men in proportion to their numbers than any of the others. They made their first treaty with the government in 1837, and were put upon their present reservation jointly with the Comanche and Apache in 1868. Their last outbreak was in 1874–75, in connection with the Comanche, Apache, and Cheyenne. While probably never very numerous, they have been greatly reduced by war and disease. Their last terrible blow came in the spring of 1892, when the measles destroyed over 300 of the three confederated tribes. Their present chief is Gu′i-pä′go, Lone Wolf. They occupy the same reservation with the Comanche and Apache, between Washita and Red rivers, in southwestern Oklahoma, and numbered 1,017 in 1893.
The Kiowa do not have the gentile system, and there is no restriction as to intermarriage among the divisions. They have six tribal divisions, including the Apache associated with them, who form a component part of the Kiowa camping circle. A seventh division, the K̔uăto, is now extinct. The tribal divisions in the order of the camping circle are:
1. K̔a′ta—“biters,” i. e., Arikara or Ree; so called, not because of Arikara origin, but because they were more intimate with that tribe in trade and otherwise when the Kiowa lived in the north.
2. Ko′‛gu′i—“elks.”
3. Kâ′igwŭ—“Kiowa proper.” This is the oldest division, to which belongs the keeping of the medicine tipi, in which is the grand medicine of the tribe.