The Plains Apache are a small

Southern Athabaskan Southern Athabaskan (also Apachean) is a subfamily of Athabaskan languages spoken primarily in the Southwestern United States (including Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah) with two outliers in Oklahoma and Texas. The language is spoken to a ...

group who live on the

Southern Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and ...

of North America, in close association with the linguistically unrelated

Kiowa Tribe 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 ev ...

. Today, they are centered in Southwestern Oklahoma and

Northern Texas North Texas (also commonly called North Central Texas) is a term used primarily by residents of Dallas, Fort Worth, and surrounding areas to describe much of the north central portion of the U.S. state of Texas. Residents of the Dallas–Fort Wor ...

and are

federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

as the Apache Tribe of Oklahoma.

Name

The Plains Apache are also known as the Kiowa Apache, Naʼisha, or Na i sha Tindé, meaning "thieves" as the old meaning. However, in more recent times the negative meaning (thief) is beginning to be replaced by just ''Na i sha.''Pritzker, 295 They also used the term Kalth Tindé or γát dìndé meaning "cedar people" or Bá-ca-yé meaning "whetstone people". To their close allies, the much larger

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, who speak a completely unrelated language, they were known as Semat meaning "stealers." At major tribal events, the Kiowa Apache formed part of the

tribal "hoop" (ring of

tipi A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...

s). This may explain why the Kiowa named the Kiowa Apache Taugui meaning "sitting outside."

Government

Today the tribe is headquartered in

Anadarko, Oklahoma Anadarko is a city in Caddo County, Oklahoma, United States. The city is fifty miles southwest of Oklahoma City. The population was 5,745 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Caddo County. History Anadarko got its name when its post of ...

. Their tribal jurisdictional area covers parts of Caddo, Comanche,

Cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

, Greer,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

, Tillman and Harmon Counties in Oklahoma. Their current Tribal Chairman is Durell Cooper III. Tribal members must have a minimum

blood quantum Blood quantum laws or Indian blood laws are laws in the United States that define Native American status by fractions of Native American ancestry. These laws were enacted by the federal government and state governments as a way to estab ...

of 1/8 Plains Apache descent and at least 1/8 total Indian blood to enroll in the tribe.

Economic development

The Apache Tribe has previously owned and operated casinos. The Apache, "Golden Eagle Casino" and "Silver Buffalo Casino" were closed in July 2013. They also issue their own tribal license plates."Pocket Pictorial."
''Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission.'' 2010: 8. (retrieved 10 June 2010)
''Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission.'' 2010 (retrieved 11 April 2010)

History

In the early 18th century, the Plains Apache lived around the upper Missouri River and were closely connected to the Kiowa people. They were ethnically different and spoke a different language. Plains Apache entered this alliance with the Kiowa for mutual protection against hostile tribes. It is recorded that many

Kiowa Apache The Plains Apache are a small Southern Athabaskan group who live on the Southern Plains of North America, in close association with the linguistically unrelated Kiowa Tribe. Today, they are centered in Southwestern Oklahoma and Northern Texas a ...

did not learn the

Kiowa language Kiowa or Cáuijògà/Cáuijò:gyà ("language of the Cáuigù (Kiowa)") is a Tanoan language spoken by the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma in primarily Caddo, Kiowa, and Comanche counties. The Kiowa tribal center is located in Carnegie. Like most Nor ...

, preferring to communicate with their allies using the sophisticated

Plains Indian Sign Language Plains Indian Sign Language (PISL), also known as Hand Talk, Plains Sign Talk, and First Nation Sign Language, is a trade language, formerly trade pidgin, that was once the lingua franca across what is now central Canada, the central and weste ...

, at which the Kiowa were past masters (having probably devised much of the system). Even before contact with Europeans, their numbers were never large, and in 1780 their population was estimated at 400. The Kiowa Apache and Kiowa had migrated into the Southern Plains sometime around 1800. By the Treaty of Medicine Lodge in 1867 the Kiowa and Kiowa Apache settled in Western Oklahoma and Kansas. They were forced to move south of the Washita River to the Red River and Western Oklahoma with the Comanche and the Kiowa. The reservation period lasted from 1868 to 1906. The transition from the free life of Plains people to a restricted life of the reservation was more difficult for some families than others. The 1890 Census showed 1,598 Comanche at the Fort Sill reservation, which they shared with 1,140 Kiowa and 326 Kiowa Apache. Some groups of Plains Apache refused to settle on reservations and were involved in Kiowa and Comanche uprisings, most notably the

First Battle of Adobe Walls The First Battle of Adobe Walls was a battle between the United States Army and American Indians. The Kiowa, Comanche and Plains Apache (Kiowa Apache) tribes drove from the battlefield a United States Expeditionary Force that was reacting to at ...

which was the largest battle of the Indian Wars. It would be the last battle in which the Natives repelled the US Army in the Southern Plains. In 1966, the tribe organized a business committee and regained federal recognition.

Social organization

The Kiowa Apache social organization is split into numerous extended families (''kustcrae''), who camped together (for hunting, gathering) as local groups (''gonka''). The next level was the division or band, a grouping of a number of gonkas (who would come together, for mutual protection, especially in time of war). In pre-reservation times there were at least four local groups or gonkas who frequently joined together for warring neighbouring tribes and settlements.

Dismal River culture

The Apache are linked to the Dismal River culture of the western Plains,Cassells, E. Steve. (1997). ''The Archeology of Colorado'', Revised Edition. Boulder, Colorado: Johnson Books. pp. 236. . generally attributed to the Paloma and Cuartelejo Apaches. Jicarilla Apache pottery has also been found in some of the Dismal River complex sites.Gibbon, Guy E.; Ames, Kenneth M. (1998
''Archaeology of Prehistoric Native America: An Encyclopedia''.
p. 213. . Some of the people of the Dismal River culture joined the Kiowa Apache in the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

. Due to pressure from the Comanche from the west and

Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska ...

and French from the east, the Kiowa and remaining people of Dismal River culture migrated south where they later joined the

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...

and Jicarilla Apache nations.

Language

The Kiowa Apache language is a member of the

language family, a division of the

Na-Dene languages Na-Dene (; also Nadene, Na-Dené, Athabaskan–Eyak–Tlingit, Tlina–Dene) is a family of Native American languages that includes at least the Athabaskan languages, Eyak, and Tlingit languages. Haida was formerly included, but is now consider ...

. The Plains Apache language, also referred to as Kiowa Apache, was the most divergent member of the subfamily. While three people spoke the language in 2006, the last fluent speaker died in 2008.

Historical chiefs

* Gonkon (''Gonkan'' - "Stays in Tipi" or "Defends His Tipi", also known as "Apache John"). A shortened form of his full name Gon-kon-chey-has-tay-yah (Man Over His Camp). * Tsayaditl-ti (''Ta-Ka-I-Tai-Di'' or ''Da-Kana-Dit-Ta-I'' - "White Man", ca. *1830 - ca. †1900) * Koon-Ka-Zachey (''Kootz-Zah''). A shortened form of his full name Gon-kon-chey-has-tay-yah (Man Over His Camp). * Essa-queta (better known as Pacer or ''Peso'', derived from ''Pay-Sus'', ca. *? - † 1875, Pacer was the leader of the Kiowa Apace tribe. Actually, Pacer was part of the peace faction and kept the main group of Kiowa Apaches on the reservation during the Red River War of 1874-75) * Si-tah-le ("Poor Wolf") * Oh-ah-te-kah ("Poor Bear") * Ah-zaah ("Prairie Wolf")

Notable tribal members

* Vanessa Jennings, Plains Apache/Kiowa/Pima beadworker and regalia-maker

Notes

References

* Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. .

Bibliography

*Beatty, John. 1974. ''Kiowa-Apache Music and Dance.'' Occasional Publications in Anthropology: Ethnology Series. Number 31. Greeley, CO: Northern Colorado UP. *Bittle, William. 1954. “The Peyote Ritual of the Kiowa Apache.” ''Oklahoma Anthropological Society''. 2: 69-79. *______. 1962. “The Manatidie: A Focus for Kiowa Apache Tribal Identity.” ''Plains Anthropologist.'' 7(17): 152-163. *______. 1963. “Kiowa-Apache.” In ''Studies in the Athapaskan Languages''. (Ed. Hoijer, Harry). University of California Studies in Linguistics vol. 29. Berkeley: California UP. 76-101. *______. 1964. “Six Kiowa Apache Tales.” ''Oklahoma Papers in Anthropology.'' 5:8-12. *______. 1971. “A Brief History of the Kiowa Apache.” ''Oklahoma Papers in Anthropology''. 12(1): 1-34. *______. 1979. “Kiowa Apache Raiding Behavior.” ''Oklahoma Papers in Anthropology''. 20(2): 33-47. *Brant, Charles S. 1949. “The cultural position of the Kiowa-Apache.” ''Southwestern Journal of Anthropology''. 5(1): 56-61. *Brant, Charles S. 1950. “Peyotism among the Kiowa-Apache and Neighboring Tribes.” ''Southwestern Journal of Anthropology''. 6(2): 212-222. *Brant, Charles S. 1953. “Kiowa-Apache Culture History: Some Further Observations.” ''Southwestern Journal of Anthropology''. 9(2): 195-202. *Brant, Charles S. 1969. ''Jim Whitewolf: The Life of a Kiowa Apache.'' New York: Dover Publications. *Jordan, Julia A. 2008 ''Plains Apache Ethnobotany''. University of Oklahoma Press. *McAllister, J. Gilbert. 1937. “Kiowa-Apache Social Organization.” In ''Social Anthropology of North American Tribes''. (ed. Eggan, Fred). Chicago: Chicago UP.99-169. *_______.1949. “Kiowa Apache Tales.” In ''The Sky is My Tipi.'' (ed. Boatright, Mody). Dallas: SMU Press. 1-141. *_______.1970. ''Dävéko: Kiowa-Apache Medicine Man.'' Austin: Bulletin of the Texas Memorial Museum, No. 17. *Meadows, William C. 1999. Kiowa, Apache, and Comanche Military Societies. University of Texas Press, Austin. * Opler, Morris E. (1969). Western Apache and Kiowa Apache materials relating to ceremonial payment. ''Ethnology'', ''8'' (1), 122-124. * Opler, Morris E; & Bittle, William E. (1961). The death practices and eschatology of the Kiowa Apache. ''Southwestern Journal of Anthropology'', ''17'' (4), 383-394. * Schweinfurth, Kay Parker. (2002). ''Prayer on top of the earth: The spiritual universe of the Plains Apaches''. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.

External links

Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Apache Tribe of Oklahoma (Kiowa-Apache)

Kiowa Comanche Apache IT
Kiowa Comanche Apache Indian Territory Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Plains Apache Apache tribes Native American tribes in Oklahoma Federally recognized tribes in the United States