The Koitsenko was a group of the ten greatest warriors of the

Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and e ...

tribe as a whole, from all bands. One was

Satank Satank (Set-angya or Set-ankeah, translated as chief Topinabee A quiet Sitting Bear) was a prestigious Kiowa warrior and medicine man. He was born about 1800, probably in Kansas, and killed June 8, 1871. An able warrior, he became part of the Ko ...

who died while being taken to trial for the Warren Wagon Train Raid. The Koitsenko were elected out of the various military societies of the Kiowa, the "Dog Soldiers." They were elected by all the members of all the warrior societies of the entire tribe.

Warrior societies among the Kiowa

There were six warrior societies in the Kiowa Tribe during the plains nomad years.Boyd, 71 Five were for grown warriors, the sixth for boys. The military societies were called "

Dog Soldiers The Dog Soldiers or Dog Men (Cheyenne: ''Hotamétaneo'o'') are historically one of six Cheyenne military societies. Beginning in the late 1830s, this society evolved into a separate, militaristic band that played a dominant role in Cheyenne res ...

" because of visions and dreams of dogs. The Koitsenko were known as the "Real Dogs." All young boys were enrolled in the Rabbit Warrior Society, the sixth recognized warrior society. The other five could be joined as the boys grew up. The O-Ho-Mah Warrior Society, Kiowa Black Leggings Warrior Society and Kiowa Gourd Dance Clan are warrior societies. The most skilled members and elite of all the warriors out of all the societies of every branch of the Kiowa were the Koitsenko. The Koitsenko was an honorary group of ten greatest warriors who were elected from the five adult warrior societies. The soldier societies policed the campsite and went on hunts and into war. In the Keah-ko

Winter count Winter counts (Lakota: ''waníyetu wówapi'' or ''waníyetu iyáwapi'') are pictorial calendars or histories in which tribal records and events were recorded by Native Americans in North America. The Blackfeet, Mandan, Kiowa, Lakota, and other Pla ...

, White Bear is represented as passing on the leadership of the Koitsenko to White Bear in 1874.Boyd, 38

How a warrior advanced

When a young man had distinguished himself enough to be considered an adult and warrior, he might be taken in by one of the five warrior societies. Members of this group of warrior societies were the protectors of the tribe. Referred to by other tribes as "dog soldiers," these men were willing to lay down their lives in defense of the Kiowa people. The Koitsenko were the height to which all warriors and members of warrior societies strove. To be named by all the members of all the warrior societies as one of the ten greatest warriors living was the ultimate honor for a Kiowa warrior.

Emblems of the warrior societies

Sashes were worn by the ten members of the society. Black, red and spotted antelope for the leader. You can see the spotted antelope sash being worn in the picture of 'Satank'. (The leadership sash of the Ten).

Still existing today

Three of the six warrior societies still exist among the Kiowa. Their traditions, dances, stories, were remembered sufficiently to keep alive the warrior tradition that made their people unique. The "Kiowa Gourd Dance Clan", "O-Ho-Mah Warrior Society", and "Kiowa Black Leggings Warrior Society" still exist for adults. Kiowa's two youth societies still exist but not the Koitsenko.

Notable Koitsenko members

* Tohausen *

Guipahgo Guipago (Gui-pah-gho, or ''Lone Wolf he Elder' '' Alone among the Wolves '') (c. 1820 – July 1879) was the last Principal Chief of the Kiowa tribe. He was a member of the Koitsenko, the Kiowa warrior elite, and was a signer of the Little Arka ...

( Old Chief Lonewolf) *

( Sitting Bear) *

Satanta Satanta can refer to: * Satanta (Kiowa leader), a leader of the Kiowa people * Satanta, Kansas Satanta is a city in Haskell County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 1,092. Every year there is a ce ...

( White Bear) * Ko-Et-Hai (No Retreat) * Gool-hay-yee (Everything Red)

Notes

References

*Boyd, Maurice
''Kiowa Voices: Ceremonial Dance, Ritual, and Song.''
Fort Worth: Texas Christian University, 1981. {{ISBN, 978-0-912646-67-1. *Meadows, William C. (1999) Kiowa Apache and Comanche Military Societies. University of Texas Press, Austin. *____ (2010) Kiowa Military Societies: Ethnohistory and Ritual. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman. Kiowa Native American organizations