the tipis and much of the other property of T'ébodal's and Â'dal-pepte's
camps, northwest of Mount Scott, while most of the tribe had gone to the
agency for rations. The Set-t'an calendar indicates the event by means
of the picture of a tipi, streaked with red for the fire, above the
winter mark. The Anko calendar has below the winter mark a peculiar
symbol, which he explains to mean the rising flames.
[Illustration: FIG. 180--Summer 1886--No sun dance; Policemen; Grass
payment.]
SUMMER 1886
There was no dance this summer, owing to the failure to find a buffalo
for the purpose, consequently everybody remained at home--indicated on
the Set-t'an calendar by the figure of a leafy tree, for summer, above
an inclosure, intended to represent a field.
As there was no dance, the Anko calendar for this summer lacks the
medicine pole, while by means of a star and several circles he records
the fact that he enlisted in the agency police force, and also that
there was another payment of grass money by the cattlemen, this time to
the Kiowa, being the first they had received.
[Illustration: FIG. 181--Winter 1886-87--Peyi commits suicide.]
WINTER 1886-87
For this winter both calendars note the suicide of Peyi,
"Son-of-the-sand," nephew of the great chief Sun-boy. Having taken a
horse without the owner's permission, he was reproved for it, which so
hurt his feelings that, saying, "I have no father, mother, or brother,
and no one cares for me," he went out and shot himself with a revolver.
Indians are very sensitive to reproof or ridicule, and suicides among
them from this cause are more frequent than is generally supposed.
The Set-t'an calendar has above the winter mark the figure of a man
holding a pistol, and with a wound in his side, the blood gushing from
his mouth. The Anko calendar has a pistol below the winter mark. Two
circles (dollars) above the winter mark have evidently been placed there
inadvertently.
[Illustration: FIG. 182--Summer 1887--No sun dance(?); Grass payment.]
SUMMER 1887
_K`adóliä P'a K`ádó_, "Oak creek sun dance." According to the Set-t'an
calendar, there was no sun dance this summer and everybody remained at
home--indicated as before by the figure of a leafy tree above a square
inclosure. This, however, is a mistake. The agent states that "the
Kiowas held this year a sun dance with my permission, but with a
distinct understanding that it should be the last, and (it) was not of a
barbarous nature" (_Report, 109_). The dance was held near the mouth of
_K adóliä P'a_, "Oak creek," a small southern tributary of the Washita
above Rainy-mountain creek, and takes its name from the stream on which
it was held. As the wild buffalo had now been exterminated, the animal
for this occasion was bought from a ranchman named Charles Goodnight,
who had a small herd of domesticated buffalo in northern Texas.
The Anko calendar has several circles, for dollars, below the medicine
pole, to indicate another payment of grass money, of which again there
is no official record.
The name of the creek on which the dance was held was originally
_Do`gótä P'a_, "Oak creek," but in consequence of the death of a woman
named _Do`gótä_ about 1891, the name was tabooed according to tribal
custom, and the stream is now known as _K adóliä P'a_, from an old word
which conveys the same idea.
WINTER 1887-88
[Illustration: FIG. 183--Winter 1887-88--Cattle payment.]
This winter the Indians received a large number of cattle from the
stockmen in part payment for their grass leases; the remainder was paid
in money. These were the first cattle received from that source. A
number of the Indians refused to accept them and insisted on money,
while quite a large number refused to have any part in the leases,
believing it to be a plot to deprive them of their lands. The event is
indicated on both calendars by the figure of a cow's head in connection
with the winter mark.
SUMMER 1888
By a mistake Set-t'an depicts a medicine lodge for this summer instead
of for the one preceding. No sun dance was held this year, owing to the
opposition of the new agent. In his official report he states that early
in May the chiefs and head men of the Kiowa had called to request
permission for the holding of the dance at the regular season, but that
on investigation he became convinced that it should not be allowed and
so informed the Department, which instructed him to prevent it, even by
calling on the military if necessary. He says:
On receipt of this information I at once communicated the fact to
the Indians, but could not get them to promise to abandon it. I
informed them that on the slightest intimation that any preparation
was being made for the celebration of the dance I would be
compelled to call on the military and cause the arrest of every
Indian who expressed a determination to participate in the same.
Many of the young men, belonging to the worst element, privately
declared their intention of holding the dance, but as yet nothing
has been done in that direction. I am firmly of the opinion I will
be able to prevent it without the aid of the troops (_Report,
110_).
The Anko calendar records for this summer the preaching of the prophet
Pá-iñgya. It is indicated by a figure intended to represent a flying
bullet, referring to his claim of invulnerability.
[Illustration: FIG. 184--Summer 1888--Sun dance (?); Pá-iñgya's
prophecy.]
Pá-iñgya, "In-the-middle," had commenced preaching during the previous
winter, reviving the doctrine of the return of the buffalo, which had
been taught by Pa-tepte several years before (see summer 1882). He
continued to preach and make medicine for several months, adding to his
predecessor's prophecies another of the invulnerability of his followers
and the speedy destruction of the whites, so that for a while the
excitement assumed a dangerous form. In the official report for 1887 the
agent briefly notes that--
The Kiowas were troublesome in the early spring, owing to the bad
advice of their medicine-men and chief Lone-wolf, and refused to
plant their seed and took their children from school. Later on they
went to work, but would have made a much better showing in their
crops had they planted earlier (_Report, 111_).
According to Pá-iñgya's pretensions, he was the legitimate successor of
Pa-tepte, with all of his predecessor's powers and considerably more of
his own. He predicted the near approach of a mighty whirlwind, which
would blow away the whites and all Indians living among them or
following their customs. After the whirlwind would come a great prairie
fire, which would burn for four days and consume the agency buildings,
schools, and all that the white man had established in the country,
together with any whites left by the whirlwind. Having thus cleared the
way, he would then restore the buffalo and game, with all the old Indian
life. His followers were commanded to resume at once their aboriginal
dress and weapons, with all the old habits. He made a sacred new fire
with the block and stick, according to the primitive Indian method, and
gave the fire thus made to all his disciples to be used instead of that
procured from matches or flint and steel; he refused to give any of this
sacred fire to those chiefs and others who were regarded as being on the
white man's side, including Stumbling-bear and Sun-boy. He established
his headquarters on upper Elk creek, near Lone-wolf's camp, in the
western part of the reservation, to which he commanded all the faithful
to repair in order to escape the destruction which was to come upon the
whites and their renegade supporters, and appointed ten assistant
priests, to whom he delegated a share of his powers and duties. To quiet
any fear of interference by the authorities, he claimed to have a
medicine which would render his followers invulnerable, while he himself
was not only invulnerable but could kill soldiers or other enemies by
his mere glance, as by a lightning stroke, as far as he could see them.
His preaching roused great excitement among the Kiowa, nearly all of
whom--excepting those of Stumbling-bear's and Sun-boy's bands--abandoned
their homes and repaired to the appointed place on Elk creek, the
parents taking their children from the schools in order that they might
not be involved in the general conflagration and destruction. In the
summer the prophet's son died, and he promised to raise him from the
dead in the fall, but when the time came his medicine unaccountably
failed.
The unrest among the Indians, for which no apparent cause could be
assigned, greatly alarmed the whites, who feared that the Indians
meditated an outbreak. As a precaution, the agent, Captain Hall,
summoned a detachment of troops, and taking with him a small escort,
went to the neighborhood of the prophet's camp and sent Stumbling-bear
and Sun-boy to him to bring him and some of the prominent chiefs in
order to discuss the matter. The result was that the Kiowa agreed to go
home and await developments. As the time fixed for the fulfillment of
the prophecy came and passed without event, they became convinced that
they had been deceived and the excitement died out. In the meantime
Pá-iñgya, who had before been poor and obscure, had become rich by the
horses and blankets which he had received from the faithful; there were
even those who were so uncharitable as to say that it was for this he
had been working. Nothing was done to punish the prophet, who still
lives, and when the news of the messiah came a few years later, he
claimed it as the fulfillment of his prophecy. He has more recently
assisted to revive the ghost dance at his home on the Washita.
WINTER 1888-89
The Set-t'an calendar records that the Kiowa were encamped during
this winter on the Washita, near the house of Ä´tä lä´te,
"Feather-headdress", indicated by the figure of a tipi near a house
above the winter mark.
The Anko calendar notes the death of the chief Paí-tälyí, "Sun-boy,"
shown by the figure of a man in a coffin, with a circle for the sun upon
his breast. He died at Eoñte's camp, northwest of Mount Scott. Anko
records also the fact that he split rails for himself this winter, shown
by the figure of an ax immediately below the winter mark.
[Illustration: FIG. 185--Winter 1888-89--Winter camp; Sun-boy died;
Split rails.]
SUMMER 1889
This summer there was no sun dance and everybody remained at home on his
farm, the fact being indicated as before on the Set-t'an calendar by
means of the figure of a leafy tree above a square inclosure intended to
represent a field.
[Illustration: FIG. 186--Summer 1889--No sun dance; Grass payment.]
Anko records a receipt of grass money, indicated by several circles
intended for dollars where the medicine pole is usually shown; also the
death of a son of Stumbling-bear, indicated by the figure of a man
wearing an eagle feather in his hair.
WINTER 1889-90
For this winter the Set-t'an calendar has only the figure of a tipi
above the winter mark, to show that the Kiowa spent the season in their
winter camp on the Washita.
The Anko calendar notes another grass payment, indicated by the circles
representing dollars, and also a visit by the Kiowa to the Comanche to
perform the _Íâm_, dance, indicated by the feathered dance-staff below
the winter mark.
The name of this dance, _Íâm Guan_, is derived from i, "child or
offspring," and _âm_, the root of the verb "to make," for the reason
that one of its main features is the formal adoption, by the visiting
dancers, of a child of the other tribe. The performance and dress
somewhat resemble those of the Omaha dance, but only two men dance,
while the rest sit around as spectators. There is an exchange of horses
by the visited tribe for presents placed on the ground by the visitors,
and at the end of the ceremony the boy adopted is formally restored to
his people. This dance is found also among the Wichita and Pawnee and
perhaps other tribes.
[Illustration: FIG. 187--Winter 1889-90--Winter camp; Grass payment;
_Íâm_ dance.]
SUMMER 1890
_Ä´poto Etódă-de K`ádó_, "Sun dance when the forked poles were left
standing." This summer the Kiowa were preparing to hold the sun dance,
when it was stopped by agent Adams, backed by military force. It has not
been held since in the tribe. Both calendars tell the same story in the
figure of the medicine pole standing outside the completed medicine
lodge and decorations. Set-t'an has also the square inclosure to
indicate that he remained at home, while Anko, by means of a row of
circles, notes the occurrence of another grass payment.
The Kiowa had decided to celebrate their usual annual sun dance at the
_Piho_ or bend in the Washita, where they had already held it twice
before, when the agent determined to prevent it. They were not disposed
to yield, and had assembled in their great tribal circle of tipis, with
the center pole of the medicine lodge already erected, having an old
buffalo robe in lieu of a buffalo head and skin at the top, when word
came that the troops were on their way to stop the dance, having been
sent from Fort Sill for that purpose by request of the agent. The news
was brought to Stumbling-bear, who had remained at home on account of
the death of his son, by Quanah, chief of the Comanche, who advised him
to send word to the Kiowa to stop, as the soldiers would kill them and
their horses if they persisted. Stumbling-bear thereupon sent two young
men to the sun dance camp to tell the Kiowa to disperse and go home,
which, after considerable heated discussion, they finally did, leaving
the unfinished medicine lodge standing. In the meantime the troops had
arrived at the agency, but the Indians having gone home, they returned
to their post.
[Illustration: FIG. 188--Summer 1890--Unfinished sun dance.]
Concerning this affair the agent says in his annual report:
There has been nothing of special note during the year, with the
exception of the excitement raised in connection with the proposed
sun dance. That matter having been fully laid before the
department, it is hardly necessary to say more (_Report, 113_).
[Illustration: FIG. 189--Winter 1890-91--Sitting-bull comes; Ä´piatañ;
Boys frozen.]
On the same subject the report of the Secretary of War says:
The commanding officer at Fort Sill reported July 19 that the
Indian agent had notified him of the intention of the Indians to
hold a medicine dance, and had asked for troops to prevent them
from doing this. He was directed to be guided by instructions of
last year on the subject, and consequently three troops of cavalry
proceeded to Anadarko, Indian Territory, on July 20,... but the
Indians having abandoned the plan of holding their dance upon the
arrival of the troops, the latter, after remaining at the point for
a few days, were withdrawn (_War, 7_).
WINTER 1890-91
_Pá-ä´ngya Tsän-de Sai_, "Winter that Sitting-bull came." This refers to
the first coming among the Kiowa of Sitting-bull, the Arapaho prophet of
the ghost dance, in the fall of 1890. The human figure above the winter
mark is intended for Sitting-bull. The first Kiowa ghost dance was held
on this occasion on the Washita at the mouth of Rainy-mountain creek,
and was attended by nearly the whole tribe. Even the progressive chief
Stumbling-bear attended and encouraged the dance, in the hope and faith,
as he says, that by so doing his youth would be renewed. About the same
time the Kiowa sent Ä´piatañ, "Wooden-lance," to visit the northern
tribes and the messiah himself for the purpose of investigating the
truth of the reports. The event is recorded on the Anko calendar by
means of the figure of a man wearing a head feather and a shell
breastplate, as Ä´piatañ did when he started on his journey. He returned
in February, 1891.
As the whole subject of the ghost dance has been exhaustively treated by
the author in his report on "The ghost-dance religion" in the Fourteenth
Annual Report, it is unnecessary to give here more than the reference by
the agent in his report for 1891:
_Ghost dance._--This has been a disturbing occurrence throughout
most of the year. This form of dancing has been indulged in mostly
by the tribes north of the river. The Kiowas sent some of their
number to the north to investigate the matter. Ah-pe-ah-tone, the
leader in this journey, returned in the early spring and brought
such a report with him as thoroughly convinced the Kiowas of the
falsity of the so-called messiah. They have danced little or none
since his return. The Wichitas and Caddos have clung to the
superstition and danced until spring. They were led to greater
excess by the visit of Sitting-bull, the Arapaho prophet from the
north, who is becoming rich in stock through the gifts of his
followers. He has been absent in the north, but has now returned to
the Cheyenne and Arapaho agency and will probably repeat his
performances of last year. Our Wichitas have already commenced to
dance again and the Comanches seem to be feeling the craze, and
unless decided measures are taken, we will probably have a
repetition of last year's scenes (_Report, 113_).
For the same winter, but above instead of below the winter mark, the
Anko calendar records the death of three schoolboys, indicated by the
picture of a boy in civilized dress holding a book. Their names were
_Sétä_, "Small-cow-intestines;" _Ká-ikonhódal_, "Dragonfly," and
_Mótsä-tsé_, from the Spanish _muchacho_, "boy," his mother being a
Mexican captive. They were attending the government Kiowa school, and
one of them had been whipped by a teacher, in consequence of which the
little fellow, with the two others, ran away from school and attempted
to reach their homes, some 30 miles out in the mountains. The same night
a terrible blizzard came on, and after they had struggled painfully
along nearly the entire distance they sank in the snow, exhausted by
fatigue, cold, and hunger, and all were found a few days later lying
together, frozen stiff, on the bleak slope of a mountain, by a search
party of Indians. This occurrence nearly precipitated an outbreak, and
for a time it was thought that troops would be necessary to quell the
disturbance, but through the judicious management of Captain H. L.
Scott, who was sent from Fort Sill to investigate and report on the
situation, the Indians were quieted without resort to force.
In his official report, Captain Scott says:
It was learned that three Kiowa boys had run away from the Kiowa
school on the 9th [of January, 1891], on account of a whipping the
eldest one had received from one of the teachers, Mr Wherrit. They
had been overtaken by a snowstorm, the most severe this country has
seen for years, and had been frozen to death. The body of the
eldest, "Sailor" [from Setä?], about 14 years old, had been found,
and they were still searching for the other two. They had been
trying to reach the Kiowa camp on Stinking creek. The talk about
the threatening attitude of the Kiowas being inquired into, it was
resolved into this, that some of the school children had said that
"Mother Goodeye," a one-eyed Kiowa woman, related to one of the
dead children, had said that if she caught Mr Wherrit she would
stick a knife into him. This, coupled with the fact that the woman
afterwards denied having said it, would not seem to demand the
presence of two troops of cavalry. It was said that Mr Wherrit had
hid himself the day before, and had fled the agency during the
night to escape the coming wrath (_From report of Captain H. L.
Scott to Post Adjutant, January 18, 1891; copy in Indian Office,
5070--1891_).
On the same subject the agent says:
The loss of the three boys who ran away from the Kiowa school and
were frozen to death in the snow, was an occurrence which might
have been productive of most serious results. It speaks well for
the Kiowa Indians that it not only was passed without such
consequences, but seems to have left no prejudice against the
school. It has been most gratifying to me on several occasions
during the year to note the growing spirit of self-control among
these people, and their desire to stand by lawful authority
(_Report, 114_).
SUMMER, 1891
[Illustration: FIG. 190--Summer 1891--P'ódalä´ñte killed; Visit
Cheyenne.]
There was no sun dance, and consequently, instead of the medicine lodge,
the Set-t'an calendar has the square inclosure to show that he stayed at
home.
The event of the summer was the killing of P'ódalä´ñte (abbreviated
_P'olä´ñte_], "Coming-snake," in Greer county, Oklahoma. He was shot by
a young white man in self-defense, as it was claimed, while endeavoring
to recover a horse which he said had been stolen from him; he had sent a
boy after the animal, but the holders had refused to give it up except
to the owner. P'ódalä´ñte himself then went after it and a dispute
followed, resulting in his death. It is said he was shot as he was
loosening his gun from its scabbard at the saddle. The Kiowa claim not
to know the particulars, as no other Indian was with him at the time,
but say that he was notoriously quarrelsome and rough in his manner. The
shooting occurred opposite the mouth of Elk creek. It is indicated on
the Set-t'an calendar by means of a human figure, with blood flowing
from a wound in the side, standing above the square inclosure, with a
snake behind it to show the name. Anko records it for the following
winter, q.v.
The Anko calendar records for this summer a visit made by the Kiowa
to the Cheyenne, indicated in the usual place for the medicine lodge by
the figure of a tipi (i. e., camp), connected with which is a line with
several cross marks, intended as a pictorial presentment of the tribal
sign for "Cheyenne," made by drawing the right index finger several
times across the left.
WINTER 1891-92
The Anko calendar records here the killing of P'ódalä´ñte, as just
described for the preceding summer, the discrepancy arising perhaps from
the fact that it occurred after the middle of summer. It is indicated
below the winter mark by means of the figure of a man, with a bullet
wound in his side, lying in a coffin or grave, and with a snake above
the winter mark to show his name.
The Set-t'an calendar records the enlistment of the Indian troop at Fort
Sill in the spring and summer of 1891. It was composed chiefly of Kiowa,
and was organized as troop L of the Seventh cavalry, under command of
Lieutenant (now Captain) H. L. Scott. It is indicated by the figure of a
soldier above the winter mark.
[Illustration: FIG. 191--Winter 1891-92--Soldiers enlisted; P'ódalä´ñte
killed.]
SUMMER 1892
The event of this summer was the measles epidemic. The Set-t'an calendar
indicates it by means of a human figure covered with red spots, and
beside it the leafy tree and square inclosure to show that it occurred
in the summer, when there was no dance and everybody remained at home.
The Anko calendar has a similar red-spotted figure.
The epidemic broke out early in spring and continued through the summer;
it began in the Kiowa school, and its terribly fatal consequences were
due largely to the course pursued by the superintendent, who insisted on
sending the sick children back to the camp, where it was impossible for
them to receive necessary attention, instead of caring for them in the
school. The result was that the infection spread throughout the Kiowa
and Apache tribes, and as the Indians, in their ignorance, endeavored to
_wash out the blotches_ by drenching the children in cold water, nearly
every case was fatal. Watching and anxiety brought fevers and other
sickness to the parents, so that there was not a family in the two
tribes that did not suffer the loss of a near relative. The feeling
already existing among the Kiowa against the superintendent, on account
of the death of the schoolboys the year before, was now so intensified
that he was obliged to leave the country.
[Illustration: FIG. 192--Summer 1892--Measles; Grass payment.]