Volume 5, No. 2 (Fall 2002) -- Native American Issue

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Kaw (Kanza)

On July 4, 1804, Lewis & Clark’s Corps of Discovery was camped on the site of a Kanza (Kaw) village near the mouth of the Kansas River. They had been told of the proud warriors who inhabited this area, but did not encounter the tribe, who were hunting buffalo in the western part of present-day Kansas.

The Kaw Nation derived its name from the Siouian aca, "south wind," a reference to the tribe’s role in war ceremonials, using the power of the wind when recognizing warriors. Among the many variations of the name given by French traders and other Europeans were "Kanza" and "Kansa." By the mid-18th century, the "Wind People" were the predominant tribe in what became the state to which they gave their name. Their territory extended over most of present-day northern and eastern Kansas, with hunting grounds extending far to the west.

The Lewis and Clark expedition had a profound effect upon the Kaw. As people learned about the desirable lands along the Missouri and Kansas Rivers, the Kaws presented a formidable obstacle to westward expansion. Their warriors maintained control of the lower Kansas valley against both the white man from the east and tribes from the west. A succession of treaties sought to change the Kaw from an independent, semi-sedentary people into individual family farmers on the model of white agricultural society. The results were devastating to the tribe.

The treaty of 1825 reduced the tribe’s 20,000,000 acre domain to a thirty-mile wide 2,000,000 acre reservation beginning just west of future Topeka. Promised annuities were seldom delivered or were obligated to unscrupulous traders, while disease decimated the tribal population. When railroad, town and land speculators coveted the 1825 treaty lands, the treaty of 1846 further reduced Kaw territory to 256,000 acres at present-day Council Grove. The subsequent treaty of 1859 removed the town of Council Grove from Kaw lands and gave the tribe only 80,000 of the poorest acres, in 40-acre plots for each family. Finally, on May 27, 1872, over the strong protests of Chief Allegawaho and his people, a federal act moved the Kanza to a 100,137 acre site in northern Oklahoma.

From a population of several thousand, the Kaw declined through disease and starvation to 1,500 by 1800, to 553 by 1872, and to 194 after being moved to Oklahoma. Even here their land claim was not safe. The Kaw Allotment Act of 1902 legally obliterated the tribe until federal reorganization in 1959. Their former reservation land was inundated in the mid-1960s by the construction of Kaw Reservoir which required the relocation of the tribal Council House and cemetery.

The Kaw Nation has survived adversity and today is a federally-recognized, self-governing tribe of 2,615 members. Tribal enterprises, headquartered in Kaw City, include a travel plaza, a casino, and an experimental pecan tree farm. The tribe oversees a housing project, health clinic, wellness center, daycare center, gymnasium and multi-purpose center. Emergency assistance, social service programs and academic scholarships are available to tribal members. Tribal District and Supreme courts were created in 1992.

As the Kaw Nation progresses economically, it also seeks to recover its cultural heritage. The Kaw language, almost lost with the death of the last of the full-bloods, is being revived through lessons beginning with elementary school children and including weekly conversational lessons for adults and children at our Kaw City headquarters or on our website (below).

The site of the last Kaw village in Kansas, Little John Creek Reserve, is just south of Council Grove. It has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places and is being restored as Allegawaho Memorial Heritage Park to tell the story of the Kanza. Plans include stabilization of the existing ruins, interpretative signs and audio posts, walking trails and an eventual visitor center.

The Kaw Nation sponsors a powwow during Council Grove’s Washunga Days in June of each year. The Kaw Nation’s annual Oklahoma powwow is held the first weekend in August. Visitors are welcome at both events. For more information about tribal history, enterprise or culture, visit our website at www.kawnation.com or call 580- 269-2552.

The Pawnee Nation

The Pawnee Nation has a long and proud history going back more than 700 years. At one time, early in the 19th century, there were more than 10,000 members of the Pawnee Nation along the North Platte River in Nebraska.

The Pawnee villages consisted of dome shaped, earth covered lodges with a diameter of 25 to 60 feet with a long entrance leading toward the east. A center pit dug three to four feet in diameter served as a fireplace for the extended families that lived there.

Before the middle of the 19th century, the tribe was stricken with smallpox and cholera. Because of this great loss of life, by 1900, the tribe's membership had decreased to 600.

The Pawnees were well known for their ability to raid neighboring tribes and acquire their horses, especially from the tribes to the south and southwest. Horses gave the Pawnees the mobility that made them a name to be feared by their enemies.

Although the Pawnees never waged open war against the U.S. Government and were classified as a "friendly nation," extra privileges were not gained.

The government felt the need to placate warring tribes with gifts, which sometimes consisted of rifles to hunt buffalo. These rifles were in turn used against the Pawnees, who were not so fortunately armed.

Nevertheless, the Pawnee warriors were men of courage and great endurance. Even when outnumbered and outgunned, they fought valiantly. Some of these warrior's feats were considered legendary.

One exemplary leader, Chief Crooked Hand of the Skidi Band, arose from bed to muster the old men, women and boys and led a charge to defend their home. Although outnumbered two to one, they outfought a superior armed enemy and drove them away.

Pawnees dressed like other Plains tribes. However, the Pawnees had a special way of preparing their hair by dressing a scalp lock with buffalo fat until it stood up and curved backward like a horn.

The Pawnees unwillingly ceded their lands to the U.S. Government in 1833, 1848, 1857 and 1872. The move from Nebraska to what is now Pawnee Country in Oklahoma was completed in 1875. The Pawnee Indian Agency was established just east of the present site of the city of Pawnee in Oklahoma, and an Indian boarding school called Pawnee Industrial School was built. The school, affectionately known as "Gravy U," was closed in 1958 and the land was returned to the tribe in 1968. Many of the old "Gravy U" buildings have been renovated and are now used as tribal as tribal offices.

Today, the tribal enrollment numbers about 2,500 members, and Pawnees can be found in many walks of life in all areas of the United States as well as in other countries of the world. Pawnees take much pride in their ancestral heritage. They are noted in history for their tribal religion, rich in myth, symbolism and elaborate rites.

Prairie Band Potawatomi

Rich in cultural tradition, the Prairie Band of Potawatomi currently resides on 77,400 acres, in an 11 square mile area, in Jackson County, Kansas. Non-Indians residing within the reservation boundaries own approximately 52,486 acres, all of which are on the Jackson County tax rolls. Tribal membership in 1999 totaled more than 4,000 members with almost 500 living on the reservation, another 1,000 within state boundaries, and the remainder living elsewhere in the United States.

Over the years, the Prairie Band of Potawatomi have had many captivating stories to tell, at every bend, twist and turn of their history. The stories of old say the tribe was originally located on the eastern seaboard and slowly migrated westward over the years. So slowly did these mo movements take place that probably no single generation was conscious of the migration. The Potawatomi were once allied with the Ojibwa and Odawa tribes in the 1500s, using this coalition for mutual benefit in hunting, territorial expansion and defense against other tribes. In time, the Potawatomi formed their own tribe, and used the name "People of the Place of the Fire."

During this time, the tribe prospered as an autonomous group living on what the land could produce, such as the rich hunting and fishing resources of the Great Lakes. Additionally, the Potawatomi's cultivation of corn, pumpkin and beans produced a relatively plentiful, stable food supply, and populations and villages increased in size and number, but that changed with the expansion of the 13 colonies or "13 Fires."

Land became a central issue, and removal of Indian tribes from their original homelands became the governing policy of the U.S. government. This led to the Potawatomi people making temporary stops in Missouri's Platte Country in the mid-1830s, and the Council Bluffs area of Iowa in the 1840s. The tribe controlled up to five million acres at both locations. As a result, the Potawatomi developed an ability to adapt to new environments.

In 1846, the Potawatomi Tribe arrived in an area of Kansas known as the "Great American Desert." At that time, the reservation was 30 miles square, including part of Topeka, and was promised by treaty to be the home of the Potawatomi for all time. But the reservation had its boundaries changed again, as evidenced by the present size of the reservation, less than half its original size.

Within the last decade, the tribe has experienced a revitalization which has improved social services, education, environment, infrastructure and cultural leadership programs, due in no small part to the introduction of gaming activities.

In 1997, the tribe entered into an agreement with Harrah's Kansas Casino Corporation to assist the tribe in equipping the facility. Harrah's has been granted the exclusive right to manage the facility and to train members and other staff in its operation and maintenance. Casino gaming is subject to extensive state and local regulation. The new facility has created more than a thousand jobs, generating several million dollars in wages and revenue, as the largest employer in Jackson County.

Through this revenue, the tribe has improved the level of existing services to the reservation and its membership, and has developed new services. These include economic development, operations, enhancement of services to the elderly, youth programs, and increased employment opportunities, which not only alleviate pressure on the employment market but also develop individual self worth.

Tribal gaming has allowed members to live successful lives, provide for their families, and possess hope and pride in the future of the tribe. The Prairie Band Potawatomi can once again look optimistically to the future and to the preservation of a valued culture.

Information for this article comes from the Native American Cultures Resource Handbook of the Kansas Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Commission, Suzanne Heck, editor.

Photos courtesy of the Kansas State Historical Society.

Image 1: Last full-blodd Kaw Tribal Council, circa 1916.

Image 2: Pawnee Princess, circa 1960s.

Image 1: Potawatomi children, circa late 1800s.

Image 1: Potawatomi child today.