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83-584: The Tula were possibly a Caddoan people, but this is not certain. Based on the descriptions of the various chroniclers, "Tula Province", or their homeland, may have been at the headwaters of the Ouachita , Caddo , Little Missouri , Saline , and Cossatot Rivers in Arkansas. They may have lived along the Arkansas River in western Arkansas. They are also thought to have lived in the northern Ouachita Mountains in

166-533: A reservation in southwest Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) in the area where most of them continue to reside today. On June 4, 1891, the affiliated tribes signed an agreement with the Cherokee Commission for individual allotments. Wichita relationships were mostly harmonious and cooperative. The Wichita were allies with the Comanche and traded with them. However, they were enemies with groups such as

249-546: A Caddo/ Delaware medicine man who spoke only Caddo , was an influential Ghost Dance leader. Practitioners believed that the dance would help them return to their traditional ways and to stop European-American intrusions into their land and culture. In 1880, Wilson became a peyote roadman . The tribe had known the Half Moon peyote ceremony, but Wilson introduced the Big Moon ceremony to them. The Caddo Nation remains very active in

332-417: A corner and allowed to exist by sufferance." Tribal governments were dismantled at this time, and Native Americans were expected to act as state and US citizens. After some period, the adverse effects of these changes were recognized. The Caddo and other Native American peoples suffered greatly from the disruption of their traditional cultures, and lost much of their lands in the decades after allotment. Under

415-637: A deeper level the security of the Caddo relied on centuries of living in dispersed settlements. French explorers in the early 18th century encountered the Natchitoche in northern Louisiana. They were followed by fur traders from French outposts along the Gulf Coast . Later Catholic missionaries from France and Spain also traveled among the people. The Europeans carried infections such as smallpox and measles , because these were endemic in their societies. As

498-449: A diet based on cultivated crops, particularly maize (corn), but also sunflower , pumpkins , and squash . These foods held cultural significance, as did wild turkeys . They hunted and gathered wild plants, as well. The Caddo Native Americans had a culture that consisted of the hunting and gathering dynamic. The men hunted year round, while the young and healthy women were responsible for the gathering of fruits, seeds, and vegetables for

581-560: A history of intermarriage and alliance with other groups. Notably, the women of the Wichita worked with the Pueblo to harvest crops and engage in trade. Pueblo women were recorded to have intermarried with Wichita people and lived together in Wichita villages. The social structure was organized by ranking of each tribe. Tribes were also led by two chiefs. The Wichita tribes call themselves Kitikiti'sh or Kirikirish (" raccoon -eyed people"), because of

664-538: A large role in the Wichita people's lifestyle. Increased access to horses in the mid 17th century caused Wichita hunting styles and seasons to become longer and more community-oriented. The Wichita economy also focused on horticulture, root-gathering, and fruits and nuts. Wichita people wore clothing from tanned hides, which the women prepared and sewed. They often decorated their dresses with elk canine teeth . Both men and women tattooed their faces and bodies with solid and dotted lines and circles. Wichita people had

747-582: A population of about 12,000. His description of the Etzanoa was similar to that of Coronado's description of Quivira. The homesteads were dispersed; the houses round, thatched with grass and surrounded by large granaries to store the corn, beans, and squash they grew in their fields. Oñate's Rayados were certainly Wichita, probably the sub-tribe later known as the Guichitas. What the Coronado and Oñate expeditions showed

830-501: A society that is defined by archaeologists as "Caddoan" had emerged. By 1200, the many villages, hamlets, and farmsteads established throughout the Caddo world had developed extensive maize agriculture, producing a surplus that allowed for greater density of settlement. In these villages, artisans and craftsmen developed specialties. The artistic skills and earthwork mound-building of the Caddoan Mississippians flourished during

913-880: A year because of the internal conflict, in October 2014 ordered a new election for all positions. In the January 2015 elections, all the top tribal positions were won by women: Tamara Michele Francis as chair, Carol D. Ross as vice chair, Jennifer Reeder as secretary, and Wildena G. Moffer as treasurer. In July 2016, Tamara M. Francis was re-elected as the Chairman of the Caddo Nation. The Council consists of Chairman Francis, Vice Chairman Carol D. Ross, Acting Secretary Philip Martin, Treasurer Marilyn McDonald, Oklahoma City Representative Jennifer Wilson, Binger Representative Marilyn Threlkeld, Fort Cobb Representative Maureen Owings. Chairman Francis

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996-1008: Is as follows. The tribe owns the Sugar Creek Casino, several restaurants, the Sugar Creek Event Center, and Hinton Travel Inn in Hinton . It owns a smoke shop, travel plaza, and historical center in Anadarko. Their annual economic impact in 2010 was $ 4.5 million. The Wichita language is one of the Caddoan languages . They are related by language and culture to the Pawnee , with whom they have close relations. The Wichita lived in settled villages with domed-shaped, grass lodges, sometimes up to 30 feet (9.1 m) in diameter. The Wichita were successful hunters, farmers, traders, and negotiators. Their historical homelands stretched from San Antonio, Texas , in

1079-551: Is associated with the Tula. The site is a Caddoan Mississippian culture mound center. Ethnographer John Reed Swanton proposed that the Tula assimilated into other Kadohadacho tribes, whose descendants would be enrolled in the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma today. Their language was unlike the Quapaw language , leading historians to believe they spoke a Caddoan language . The word "Tula"

1162-567: Is not a Caddo word. The tribe and province are also known as Tulia. Caddo Caddo Confederacy : The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma , a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma . They speak the Caddo language . The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands , who historically inhabited much of what

1245-551: Is now northeast Texas, west Louisiana , southwestern Arkansas , and southeastern Oklahoma . Prior to European contact, they were the Caddoan Mississippian culture , who constructed huge earthwork mounds at several sites in this territory, flourishing about 800 to 1400 CE. In the early 19th century, Caddo people were forced to a reservation in Texas. In 1859, they were removed to Indian Territory . The Caddo Nation of Oklahoma

1328-549: Is the daughter of the first elected female chairman, Mary Pat Francis (who was elected in the 1980s). Tamara Francis is the fourth elected female leader of the Caddo Nation. Wichita people The Wichita people, or Kitikiti'sh , are a confederation of Southern Plains Native American tribes . Historically they spoke the Wichita language and Kichai language , both Caddoan languages . They are indigenous to Oklahoma , Texas , and Kansas . Today, Wichita tribes, which include

1411-685: The Battle of the Twin Villages . The Spanish army suffered 19 dead and 14 wounded, leaving two cannons on the battlefield, although they claimed to have killed more than 100 Indians. The alliance between the Wichita, especially the Taovayas, and the Comanche began to break up in the 1770s as the Wichita sought a better relationship with the Spanish. Taovaya power in Texas declined sharply after an epidemic, probably smallpox , in 1777 and 1778 killed about one-third of

1494-631: The Brazos Reservation . White settlers increased pressure for the Brazos Reservation Indians to move north to Indian Territory. White Texans violently attacked a Caddo encampment just off the reservation on December 26, 1858. Captain Peter Garland from Erath County led this vigilante group. Choctaw Tom led the Caddo. Married to a Hasinai woman, Tom was killed in this fight, along with two other Caddos and five Anadarkos. In 1859, many of

1577-783: The Caddo River . When they first encountered Europeans and Africans, the Caddo tribes organized themselves in three confederacies: the Natchitoches , Hasinai , and Kadohadacho . They were loosely affiliated with other neighboring tribes including the Yowani Choctaw . The Natchitoches lived in now northern Louisiana, the Haisinai lived in East Texas , and the Kadohadacho lived near the border of Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The Caddo people had

1660-696: The Creek , also known as Muscogee. Tensions within their tribe resulted in near civil war among the Creek. Due to the Caddo's neutrality and their importance as a source of information for the Louisiana Territory government, the US forces left them alone. But following Congressional passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830 under President Andrew Jackson, the federal government embarked on a program of removal of tribes from

1743-642: The Kichai people , Waco , Taovaya , Tawakoni , and the Wichita proper (or Guichita), are federally recognized as the Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (Wichita, Keechi, Waco and Tawakoni) . The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes are headquartered in Anadarko, Oklahoma . Their tribal jurisdictional area is in Caddo County, Oklahoma . The Wichitas are a self-governance tribe, who operate their own housing authority and issue tribal vehicle tags . The current tribal administration

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1826-788: The Native American Church today. Congress passed the Dawes Act to promote assimilation of tribes in Indian Territory and to extinguish Indian land claims to enable admission of the territory as a state. It authorized the break up and distribution of tribal communal landholdings into 160-acre allotments for individual households in order for them to establish subsistence family farms along the European-American model. Any tribal lands remaining after such allotments were to be declared "surplus" and sold, including to non-Native Americans. At

1909-537: The Ohio River area of present-day Kentucky . The powerful Iroquois took control of hunting grounds in the area. The Osage in particular fought the Caddo, pushed them out of some former territory, and became dominant in the region of present-day Missouri , Arkansas , and eastern Kansas . These tribes had become settled in their new territory west of the Mississippi prior to mid-18th-century European contact. Most of

1992-604: The Rio Grande Valley in search of a rich land called Quivira . In Texas, probably in the Blanco River Canyon near Lubbock , Coronado met people he called Teyas who might have been related to the Wichita and the earlier Plains villagers. The Teyas, if in fact they were Wichita, were probably the ancestors of the Iscani and Waco, although they might also have been the Kichai , who spoke a different language but later joined

2075-519: The Rio Grande Valley, with whom they interacted. In the late 15th century, most of these Washita River villages were abandoned for reasons that are not known today. Numerous archaeological sites in central Kansas near the Great Bend of the Arkansas River share common traits and are collectively known as the "Great Bend aspect." Radiocarbon dates from these sites range from AD 1450 to 1700. Great Bend aspect sites are generally accepted as ancestral to

2158-587: The Washita and South Canadian Rivers in present-day Oklahoma. The women of these 10th-century communities cultivated varieties of maize, beans, and squash (known as the Three Sisters ), marsh elder ( Iva annua ), and tobacco , which was important for religious purposes. The men hunted deer, rabbits, turkey, and, primarily, bison, and caught fish and harvested mussels from the rivers. These villagers lived in rectangular, thatched-roof houses. Archaeologists describe

2241-677: The Wichita Mountains of Oklahoma although the Tawakoni and Wacos still lived in Texas and were moved onto a reservation on the upper Brazos River . They were forced out of Texas to a reservation in Oklahoma in 1859. During the Civil War, the Wichita allied with the Union side. They moved to Kansas, where they established a village at the site of present-day Wichita, Kansas . In 1867 they were relocated to

2324-514: The 12th and 13th centuries. The Spiro Mounds , near the Arkansas River in present-day southeastern Oklahoma, were some of the most elaborate mounds in the United States. They were made by Mississippian ancestors of the historic Caddo and Wichita tribes, in what is considered the westernmost area of the Mississippian culture . The Caddo were farmers and enjoyed good growing conditions most of

2407-408: The 18th and 19th centuries. These stations attracted more French and other European settlers. Among such settlements are the present-day communities of Elysian Fields and Nacogdoches, Texas , and Natchitoches, Louisiana . In the latter two towns, early explorers and settlers kept the original Caddo names of the villages. Having given way over years before the power of the former Ohio Valley tribes,

2490-422: The 20th century, Caddo leaders such as Melford Williams, Harry Guy, Hubert Halfmoon, and Vernon Hunter have helped shape the tribe. In the early 1980s, Mary Pat Francis was the first woman to be elected as tribal chair. Her daughter, Tamara Michele Francis, was elected in 2015, following a time of high divisions. She was re-elected in 2016. In a special election on June 29, 2002, the tribe adopted six amendments to

2573-710: The Anglo-Americans declared independence from Mexico and established the Republic of Texas , an independent nation. The name "Texas" is derived from the Hasinai word táysha , through the Spanish Tejas , meaning "friend". On December 29, 1845, the US admitted Texas as a state. At that time, the US federal government forced the Hasinai and the Kadohadacho, as well as remnants of allied Delaware ( Lenape ) and Yowani to relocate onto

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2656-634: The Arkansas River east of Newkirk, Oklahoma . By 1757, however, it appears that all the Wichita had migrated south to the Red River . The most prominent of the Wichita sub-tribes were the Taovayas. In the 1720s they had moved south from Kansas to the Red River establishing a large village on the north side of the River at Petersburg, Oklahoma and on the south side at Spanish Fort, Texas . They adopted many traits of

2739-430: The Caddo Nation. Chairman Tamara Francis is the daughter of the first elected female chairman, Mary Pat Francis. She was the fourth elected female leader of the Caddo Nation. As of 2021 the tribal council consists of: The tribe has several programs to invigorate Caddo culture. It sponsors a summer culture camp for children. The Hasinai Society and Caddo Culture Club both teach and perform Caddo songs and dances to keep

2822-552: The Caddo historically lived in the Piney Woods ecoregion of the United States, divided among the state regions of East Texas, southern Arkansas, western Louisiana, and southeastern Oklahoma. This region extends up to the foothills of the Ozarks . The Piney Woods are a dense forest of deciduous and pinophyta flora covering rolling hills, steep river valleys, and intermittent wetlands called " bayous ". Caddo people primarily settled near

2905-472: The Caddo peoples had no acquired immunity to such new diseases, they suffered epidemics with high fatalities that destroyed the tribal populations. Influenza and malaria were additional new diseases that caused many deaths among the Caddo. French traders built their trading posts and associated forts near Caddo villages. These were already important hubs in the Great Plains trading network well before

2988-550: The Caddo were relocated to Indian Territory north of Texas (which became as state of Oklahoma in 1907). After the Civil War , the Caddo were concentrated on a reservation located between the Washita and Canadian rivers in Indian Territory. In the late 19th century, the Caddo adopted the Ghost Dance religion, which was widespread among American Indian nations in the West. John Wilson ,

3071-655: The Caddo, since both tribes historically spoke Caddoan languages . By 800 CE, this society had begun to coalesce into the Caddoan Mississippian culture . Some villages began to gain prominence as ritual centers. Leaders directed the construction of major earthworks known as platform mounds , which served as temple mounds and platforms for residences of the elite. The flat-topped mounds were arranged around leveled, large, open plazas , which were usually kept swept clean and were often used for ceremonial occasions. As complex religious and social ideas developed, some people and family lineages gained prominence over others. By 1000 CE,

3154-477: The French in the 19th century. French traders were eager to exchange their goods with Wichita settlements as they traveled from Louisiana to Santa Fe. The Wichita had a large population in the time of Coronado and Oñate. One scholar estimates their numbers at 200,000. Villages often contained around 1,000 to 1,250 people per village. Certainly they numbered in the tens of thousands. They appeared to be much reduced by

3237-614: The Osage and Pawnee", two other neighboring Indigenous groups. Historically, 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 (buffalo) in a seasonal hunt and lived in hunting camps. Wichita people relied heavily on bison, using all parts—for clothing, food and cooking fat, winter shelter, leather supplies, sinew, medicine, and even armor. Each spring, Wichita families settled in their villages for another season of cultivating crops. Eventually, horses played

3320-542: The Panis Piqués or Panis Noirs are included into the listing of Wichita sub-tribes, but it seems that there were no known separate sub-tribe which can be identified by this name. One Pawnee splinter grouping known as Panismahas moved from what is now Nebraska to the Texas-Arkansas border regions where they lived with the Taovayas. The Wichita people had a unified language system with minor dialectical differences based on

3403-629: The Pawnee, the Missouri, and the Apache. The Apache were the Wichita's worst enemies, having driven them out of their homes before contact with Europeans. The Wichita people's relationship with the Osage is ambiguous. It is said to have been "cautiously hostile", but many Osage groups attacked them in the 18th century, eventually driving them out of the Arkansas River Basin. Due to geographical isolation, it

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3486-542: The Petit Jean and Fourche valleys. De Soto entered Tula territory on September 30, 1541, near present-day Fort Smith, Arkansas and violently clashed with the tribe multiple times during the beginning of October 1541. His secretary, Rodrigo Ranjel described the Tula as, "the best fighting people that the Christians met with." A statue was erected in the late 20th century to commemorate the Tula, but de Soto scholars suspect that

3569-449: The Southeast in order to enable European-American settlement. Land-hungry migrants pressed from the east. In 1835 the Kadohadacho , the northernmost Caddo confederacy, signed a treaty with the US to relocate to independent Mexico (which then included present-day Texas). The area for their reservation in East Texas had been lightly settled by Mexican colonists, but there was rapidly increasing immigration of European Americans here. In 1836,

3652-414: The Spanish as the Norteños (Northerners). The Wichita people and the Comanche attacked a Spanish military expedition in 1759. Afterwards, in response to the destruction by the Norteños of the San Saba Mission the Spanish and their Apache allies undertook an expedition to punish the Indians. Their 500-man army attacked the twin villages on Red River, but was defeated by the Wichita and Comanche in

3735-445: The United States. These sites are terraced around the Red River in Oklahoma and Texas, and they contain artifacts such as pottery, arrows, knives, clay figurines, and European trade goods. Extensive excavation of these sites revealed large ritualistic and burial structures common in the territory and culture of the Wichita people. After the man and woman were made they dreamed that things were made for them, and when they woke they had

3818-414: The Washita River Phase from 1250 to 1450, when local populations grew and villages of up to 20 houses were spaced every two or so miles along the rivers. These farmers may have had contact with the Panhandle culture villages in the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles , farming villages along the Canadian River. The Panhandle villagers showed signs of adopting cultural characteristics of the Pueblo peoples of

3901-420: The West and the powerful Osage on the East. European diseases would also probably be responsible for a large decline in the Wichita population in the 17th century. In 1719, French explorers visited two groups of Wichita. Bernard de la Harpe found a large village near present-day Tulsa, Oklahoma and Claude Charles Du Tisne found two villages near Neodesha, Kansas . Regarding religion, La Harpe noticed that

3984-411: The Wichita people "had little of it". He did, however, gain knowledge on the presence of a Great Spirit that the Wichita worshipped. Coronado's Quivira was abandoned early in the 18th century, probably due to Apache attacks. The Rayados of Oñate were probably still living in about the same Walnut River location. Archaeologists have located a Wichita village at the Deer Creek Site dating from the 1750s on

4067-427: The Wichita peoples described by Francisco Vásquez 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, suggests contact of these people with early Spanish explorers. Great Bend aspect peoples' subsistence economy included agriculture, hunting, gathering, and fishing. Villages were located on

4150-403: The Wichita tribe. Turning north, he found Quivira and the people later known as the Wichita near the town of Lyons, Kansas . He was disappointed in his search for gold as the Quivirans appear to have been prosperous farmers and good hunters but had no gold or silver. There were about 25 villages of up to 200 houses each in Quivira. Coronado said: "They were large people of very good build", and he

4233-513: The Yscani or Iscanis of earlier times), and Guichitas or Wichita Proper; smaller bands are listed as well: Akwits (also Akwesh, Asidahetsh, or Asidahesh, a former northern Pawnee splinter group, which joined the Wichita), Itaz, Kishkat, and Korishkitsu (the two latter names may be a Wichita name for the Kichai). The Taovaya were the most important in the 18th century. The French called the Wichita peoples Panis Piqués (Pawnee Picts) or Panis Noirs (Black Pawnees), because they practiced tattooing; sometimes

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4316-445: The advantage over the others in their houses and in growing of maize ". The Quivirans apparently called their land Tancoa (which bears a resemblance to the later sub-tribe called Tawakoni) and a neighboring province on the Smoky Hill River was called Tabas (which bears a resemblance to the sub-tribe of Taovayas). Settlements existed here until the Wichita were driven away in the 18th century. Sixty years after Coronado's expedition

4399-407: The art of tattooing to decorate their bodies. Such tattoos covered most of the body, including the face. The Caddo first encountered Europeans and Africans in 1541 when the Spanish Hernando de Soto Expedition came through their lands. De Soto's force had a violent clash with one band of Caddo Indians, the Tula people , near present-day Caddo Gap, Arkansas . This historic event has been marked by

4482-410: The constitution. Tribal enrollment is open to individuals with a documented minimum of 1/16 degree Caddo blood quantum . Sometimes, severe disagreements have developed among factions of the tribe that have not been resolved in elections. In August 2013, a group led by Philip Smith attempted to recall Brenda Shemayme Edwards, the chairman of the Tribal Council. This faction conducted a new election, but

4565-442: The culture alive and pass it on to the next generations. The Kiwat Hasinay Foundation is dedicated to preserving and increasing use of the Caddo language. The Caddo are thought to be an extension of Woodland period peoples, the Fourche Maline and Mossy Grove cultures , whose members were living in the area of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas areas between 200 BCE and 800 CE. The Wichita and Pawnee are also related to

4648-431: The federal Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 and the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act of 1936, the Caddo restored their tribal government. They adopted a written constitution and a process of electing officials. They organized in 1938 as the 'Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma.' They ratified their constitution on 17 January 1938. In 1976, they drafted a new constitution, which continues elected representative government. During

4731-447: The founder of New Mexico Juan de Oñate visited Etzanoa , the Wichita city. Oñate journeyed east from New Mexico, crossing the Great Plains and encountering two large settlements of people he called Escanjaques (possibly Yscani) and Rayados, most certainly Wichita. The Rayado city was probably on the Walnut River near Arkansas City, Kansas . Oñate described the city as containing "more than twelve hundred houses" which would indicate

4814-531: The geography of unique tribes. Derived from the Caddoan language, much of the Wichita language was indistinguishable between tribes they shared close alliances with. In 2018, the Wichita Tribes opened the Wichita Tribal History Center in Anadarko, which shares Wichita history, archaeology, visual arts, and culture with the public. The Wichita Annual Dance, a powwow , is held at the Wichita Tribal Park on US-281 , north of Anadarko, every August. Several sites spanning across different time periods are spread around

4897-488: The historic Caddo people and related Caddo-language speakers, such as the Pawnee and Wichita , who encountered the first Europeans, as well as of the modern Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. The Caddo creation story , as told in their oral history , says the tribe emerged from a cave, called Chahkanina or "the place of crying," located at the confluence of the Red River of the South and Mississippi River (in northern present-day Louisiana). Their leader, named Moon, instructed

4980-494: The historical practice of tattooing marks around their eyes. The kindred Pawnee called them Kírikuuruks or Kírikuruks (" bear -eyed people") and the Arikara referred to them as Čirikuúnux (a reference to the Wichita practice of tattoos ). The Kiowa called them Thoe-Khoot (" tattoo faces"). Wichita people have been a loose confederation of related peoples on the Southern Plains, including such bands or sub-tribes as Taovayas (Tawehash) , Tawakonis , Wacos (who appear to have been

5063-500: The later Caddo negotiated for peace with the waves of Spanish, French, and finally Anglo-American settlers. After the 1803 Louisiana Purchase , by which the United States took over the former French colonial territory west of the Mississippi River , the US government sought to ally with the Caddo peoples. During the War of 1812 , American generals such as William Henry Harrison , William Clark , and Andrew Jackson crushed pro-British uprisings among other Southeast Indians, in particular

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5146-404: The location of the statue does not correspond with the Tula's actual homeland. The Tula are thought to be the first Caddo band to encounter Europeans. The 16th-century Spanish chroniclers wrote that the Tula practiced cranial deformation and tattooed their faces. They fought with large spears. An archaeological site, Bluffton Mound site (3YE15), 35 to 40 miles southwest of the Arkansas River

5229-409: The modern town with a monument. The Spanish were considered outsiders. All Franciscan missions were set up in peripheral locations in relation to temples complexes which were the center of the Caddo's world. The Caddos didn't want to move near the missions because they would abandon their sacred fires. According to Fray Isidro Felix de Espinosa, the Caddo believed "our [Spanish] fire is different." On

5312-496: The nomadic Plains Indians and were noted for raiding, trading. They had a close alliance with the French, and in 1746 a French brokered alliance with the Comanche revived the fortunes of the Wichita. The village at Petersburg was "a lively emporium where Comanches brought Apache slaves, horses and mules to trade for French packs of powder, balls, knives, and textiles and for Taovaya-grown maize, melons, pumpkins, squash, and tobacco." The Wichita and their Comanche allies were known to

5395-465: The people not to look back. An old Caddo man carried a drum, a pipe, and fire, all of which have continued to be important religious items to the people. His wife carried corn and pumpkin seeds. As people and accompanying animals emerged, the wolf looked back. The exit from the underground closed to the remaining people and animals. The Caddo peoples moved west along the Red River, which they called Bah'hatteno in Caddo. A Caddo woman, Zacado, instructed

5478-573: The pre-Contact Plains. Several village sites contain the remains of unusual structures called "council circles," located at the center of settlements. Archaeological excavations suggest they consist of a central patio surrounded by four semi-subterranean structures. The function of the council circles is unclear. Archaeologist Waldo Wedel suggested in 1967 that 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

5561-453: The same time, tribal governments were to be ended, and Native Americans were to be accepted as US citizens, subject to state and federal laws. Numerous European Americans had already settled outside the tribal territories. The Caddo vigorously opposed allotment. Whitebread, a Caddo leader, said, "because of their peaceful lives and friendship to the white man, and through their ignorance were not consulted, and have been ignored and stuck away in

5644-430: The south to Great Bend, Kansas , in the north. A semi-sedentary people, they occupied northern Texas in the early 18th century. They traded with other Southern Plains Indians on both sides of the Red River and south to Waco . The Wichita made much of their own art, including ceramic pottery that greatly fascinated French and Spanish traders. To the untrained eye Wichita pottery was "virtually indistinguishable from

5727-448: 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 earthworks served a defensive role. One of these sites was the city Etzanoa , located in present-day Arkansas City, Kansas , near the Arkansas River , that flourished between 1450 and 1700. In 1541 Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado journeyed east from

5810-534: The things of which they had dreamed... The woman was given an ear of corn... It was to be the food of the people that should exist in the future, to be used generation after generation. —Tawakoni Jim in The Mythology of the Wichita , 1904 The Ancestral Wichita people lived in the eastern Great Plains from the Red River in Arkansas north to Nebraska for at least 2,000 years. Early Wichita people were hunters and gatherers who gradually adopted agriculture. Farming villages were developed about 900 CE on terraces above

5893-405: The time of the first French contacts with them in 1719, probably due in large part to epidemics of infectious disease to which they had no immunity . In 1790, it was estimated there were about 3,200 total Wichita. Conflict with Texans in the early 19th century and Americans in the mid 19th century led to a major decline in population, leading to the eventual merging of Wichita settlements. By 1868,

5976-477: The time. The Piney Woods , the geographic area where they lived, was affected by the Great Drought from 1276 to 1299 CE, which covered an area extending to present-day California and disrupted many Native American cultures. Archeological evidence has confirmed that the cultural continuity is unbroken from prehistory to the present among these peoples. The Caddoan Mississippian people were the direct ancestors of

6059-456: The tribe in hunting, fishing, building dwellings, and making clothing. Caddo religion focuses on Kadhi háyuh , translating to "Leader Above" or "Leader in the Sky." In early times, the people were led by priests, including a head priest, the xinesi , who could commune with spirits residing near Caddo temples. A cycle of ceremonies developed around important periods of seasonal corn cultivation. Tobacco

6142-462: The tribe. After the United States took over their territory as a result of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803 and the independence of Texas in 1836, all the related tribes were increasingly lumped together and dubbed "Wichita". That designation also included the Kichai of northern Texas, who spoke a different although a related language. The principal village of the Wichita in the 1830s was near

6225-672: The tribe. Elderly women planted and cultivated the seeds for the season's crop. Gathered items included corn , sunflowers , beans , melons , tobacco , and squash during the warm seasons. Acorns and roots were gathered and processed to provide food other than meat in the cold seasons when crops did not grow. The men used handcrafted bows and arrows to hunt animals such as wild turkey , quail , rabbits, bears, and bison during winter months. Most tools and items were made by women. They made wooden mortars , as well as pots and other utensils out of clay. These wood and clay tools were carved and molded to help with daily jobs like cooking meals for

6308-438: The tribe. These tools were viewed with such reverence that men and women were buried with the items that they had made. The Caddo also decorated their bodies. Men favored body modifications and ornamentation such as the painting of skin, jewelry, ear piercing, and hair decorations, like braids, adorned with bird feathers or animal fur. While the women of the tribe wore some jewelry and styled their hair similarly to men, most used

6391-482: The upper terraces of rivers, and crops appear to have been grown on the fertile floodplains below. Primary crops were maize , beans, squash, and sunflowers, cultivated for their seeds. Gathered foods included walnut and hickory nuts, and the fruits of plum, hackberry , and grape. Remains of animal bones in Great Aspect sites include bison , elk , deer , pronghorn , and dog, one of the few domesticated animals in

6474-481: The victor stepped down, and Edwards refused to leave office. In October 2013, Smith and his supporters broke into the Caddo Nation headquarters. They chained the front doors from the inside and blocked the entrance to the administration building. The opposition called the Bureau of Indian Affairs Police . Operation of the tribe was split between two factions. The Court of Indian Offenses, which had been overseeing issues for

6557-521: Was also cultivated, and was and is used ceremonially. Early priests drank a purifying sacrament drink made of wild olive leaves. Centuries before extensive European contact, some of the Caddo territory was invaded by migrating Dhegihan Siouan–speaking peoples: the Osage , Ponca , Omaha , Quapaw , and Kaw . They moved west beginning about 1200 CE after years of warfare with the Haudenosaunee nations in

6640-437: Was difficult for the French and Spanish to trade with the Wichita. The French traded with the Wichita primarily for their horses during the 16th century. The Wichita sensed that trading with the French would be ideal. Their migration in 1714 was partly motivated by their desire to move closer to European traders. The Wichita first gained their European commodities in the mid 18th century, inspiring them to maintain close ties with

6723-530: Was impressed with the land, which was "fat and black." Though Coronado was impressed with Wichita society, he often treated the Wichita poorly in his expedition. Even after Wichita migration, some settlements were thought to have remained in northern Quivira in 1680. It was also noted: "They eat meat raw/ jerky like the Querechos [the Apache ] and Teyas . They are enemies of one another...These people of Quivira have

6806-463: Was previously known as the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma. The tribal constitution provides for election of an eight-person council, with a chairperson. Some 6,000 people are enrolled in the nation, with 3,044 living within the state of Oklahoma. Individuals are required to document at least 1/16 Caddo ancestry in order to enroll as citizens. In July 2016, Tamara M. Francis was re-elected as the Chairman of

6889-404: Was that the Wichita people of the 16th century were numerous and widespread. They were not, however, a single tribe at this time but rather a group of several related tribes speaking a common language. The dispersed nature of their villages probably indicated that they were not seriously threatened by attack by enemies, although that would change as they would soon be squeezed between the Apache on

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