The Kiowa Tribe is a Native American group primarily found in Oklahoma and the southwestern United States. They were originally hunter-gatherers who migrated seasonally with buffalo and are known for their skilled beadwork and leather paintings. The tribe operated under a caste system, but this ended with the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty, which gave them a reservation in Oklahoma. The tribe has its own government, laws, and police, and is governed by a tribal council elected by its members.
The Kiowa Tribe is a federally recognized group of North American Indians found primarily in Oklahoma and the southwestern United States. In the early 1900s, the Kiowa Tribe numbered fewer than 200 members, but by 2010, the tribe had grown to approximately 11,500 members. The name “Kiowa” is pronounced “Kye-oh-wuh”, which is an anglicization of the tribe’s name itself, “Gaigwu”, meaning “chief people”. Most modern Kiowa speak English, but it is not uncommon for tribal members, especially elders, to also speak their native language.
The earliest members of the Kiowa tribe were hunter-gatherers who migrated seasonally with buffalo as their main source of meat. The Kiowa are thought to have migrated as a tribe from the area that is present day Montana to the southern Great Plains during the 18th century. The Kiowa tribe was sighted in the Black Hills area by famed explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark in 1805.
Known for their skilled beadwork and leather paintings, the Kiowa traded with other Plains Indians, including Mandans and Pueblos. The Kiowa communicated with other tribes using sign language. They often fought, however, with other tribes, including the Sioux and Osage.
The Kiowa operated under some sort of caste system and were separated into northern and southern divisions, with six subtribes per division. Each sub-tribe had its own leader. Tribe members might attain higher status based on their wealth and connections, but having useful skills like hunting might also elevate social status. A tribe member could lose status based on loss of skill or for dishonorable acts. Typically, males were the only ones who could raise or lower their family’s social standing, because the Kiowa tribe was a male-dominated society.
This social system ended when the Kiowa tribe was party to the 1867 Medicine Lodge Treaty, a set of three treaties with the United States government. The Kiowa and other tribes, including the Comanche, Plains Apache, Cheyenne, and Arapaho, all signed agreements to relinquish traditional tribal lands. In return, they received smaller areas of land which included provisions for houses, barns and schools as well as a promise that the US government would protect them.
The Medicine Lodge Treaty gave the Kiowa tribe a reservation in Oklahoma. Their tribal compound is located just west of Carnegie, Oklahoma. The tribe’s numbers declined significantly in 1892 as epidemics of measles and fever swept through the tribe and killed more than a quarter of the tribe. By 1905, there were only 155 Kiowa tribesmen left.
In addition to being subject to the United States government and its laws, the tribe has its own government, laws and police. For many years, the tribe has elected a chief through a tribal council. In modern times, the Kiowa are governed by a tribal council, elected by the members of the tribe.
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