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Beliefs and Customs
Every tribe as every person differed in their belief system, rites, and daily life. When nineteenth-century missionaries came to what would be Kansas, they expected tribes to abandon traditional practices—such as hunting, polygamy, and gambling—in favor of Christianity and were often shocked by the indifference of the tribes. Some incorporated elements of Christianity into their life but also clung to their ancestral beliefs and rites. Image: Delaware war dance by Jacob Parks
Spiritual beliefs
Kansa
"Their belief is, that the Master of life formed a man, and placed him on the earth; he was solitary and cried to the Master of life for a companion, who sent him down a woman; from the union of these two proceeded a son and daughter, who were married, and built themselves a lodge distinct from that of their parents; all the nations proceeded from them excepting the whites, whose origin they pretend not to know. . .” (p. 4). They believed in the great spirit Waucondah who spoke to them through thunder, vision quests, offerings to the morning star, rites for the first thunderstorm of spring, the sun dance, and placing the hearts of slain foes on a fire as an offering to the four winds. "Wedel, Waldo. (1946). The Kansa Indians. Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science, 49(1), pp. 1-35
"Ceremonial societies were instituted to induce some god to send the buffalo, to cure some sickness, to make the corn grow, to keep enemies off, to give success in war, and for many other purposes. Certain gentes of the Kansa had certain duties in these ceremonials. Their word for a god—and their idea of God was not like that of the Christian—was wakanda. Anything might be a wakanda. The great forces of nature were wakandas. Perhaps the sun was a wakanda—the wakanda. Anything which exerted a force which the Kansa did not understand was a wakanda. They believed there were immense horned monsters dwelling under certain bluffs along the Missouri river. The Missouri itself was a wakanda." Connelley, W. E. (1918). Notes on the early Indian occupancy of the Great Plains. Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 14,438–470.
"The winds had some mystic reference to the cross in the Kansas mind, at least in the Siouan mind. The Omaha and Ponka prayed to the wind and invoked it. In the pipe dance the ceremonial implements had drawn on them with green paint a cross, indicating the four quarters of the world—the four winds. The Kansa warriors drew out the hearts of their slain enemies and burned them as a sacrifice to these four winds. In 1882 the Kansa still sacrificed and made offerings to all their ancient wakandas, including the four winds. They began with the East Wind, then they turned to the South Wind, then to the West Wind, and then to the North Wind. In ancient times they cut pieces of flesh from their own bodies for these offerings. The idea or conception that wind was wakanda or was supernatural seems to lie at the very base of Siouan development. It may have been the first wakanda, being associated with the breath of life. In the Order of the Translucent Stone, of the Omaha tribe, the Wind or Wind Makers." Connelley, W. E. (1918). Notes on the early Indian occupancy of the Great Plains. Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 14, 438–470.
Osage
"The religious beliefs of the Osage are similar to those of the Kansa and other Siouan tribes. The term wakanda had almost the same meaning. There were seven great wakandas—Darkness, the Upper World, the Ground, the Thunder-being, the Sun, the Moon, the Morning Star. The Upper World was perhaps the greatest of the wakandas. In some of the tribes it was the supreme Wakanda. There was no set form of worship of Wakanda. Every one thought Wakanda dwelt in some secret place. It was believed that the Wakanda, or some wakanda, was ever present to hear any petition or prayer for help. There were many forms of propitiation, or these may have been sometimes in the nature of invocations, such as the elevation and lowering of the arms, the presentation of the mouthpiece of the pipe, the emission of the smoke, the burning of cedar needles in the sweat house, the application of the major terms of kinship, ceremonial waiting, sacrifice and offerings, and the cutting of the body with knives. The Osage call the sun the "Mysterious One of Day," and pray to him as "grandfather". Prayer was always made toward the sun without regard to its position in the heavens. Here is a prayer:"Ho, Mysterious Power, you who are the Sun! Here is tobacco. I wish to follow your course. Grant that it may be so. Cause me to meet whatever is good (i. e., for my advantage) and to give a wide berth to anything that may be to my injury or disadvantage. Throughout this island (the world) you regulate everything that moves, including human beings. When you decide for one that his last day on earth has come, it is so. It can not be delayed. Therefore, O Mysterious Power, I ask a favor of you." The Pleiades, the constellation of the Three Deer (Belt of Orion) the morning star, the small star, the bowl of the Dipper, are all wakandas and they are addressed as "Grandfather." "In the Osage traditions, cedar symbolizes the tree of life. When a woman is initiated into the secret society of the Osage, the officiating man of her gens gives her four sips of water, symbolizing, so they say, the river flowing by the tree of life, and then he rubs her from head to foot with cedar needles, three times in front, three times on her back, and three times on each side, twelve times in all, pronouncing the sacred name of Wakanda as he makes each pass." Connelley, W. E. (1918). Notes on the early Indian occupancy of the Great Plains. Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 14, 438–470.
Pawnee
" The religion of the Pawnee seems, in certain respects, to have reached a higher development than that of any of the other Plains tribes. In their pantheon Tirawa reigned supreme. To him the lesser gods of heaven and earth, as well as the people themselves, acknowledged authority. Tirawa ruled from his position above the clouds, and both created and governed the universe by means of commands executed by the lesser gods, who were subject to him. He was conceived of as a purely spiritual being, and was not identified with any object or natural phenomenon. Next in rank to Tirawa and his wife, the Vault of Heaven, stood the Evening Star, Tcuperikata. She maintained a garden in the west in which there were fields of ripening corn and many buffalo, and from which sprang all streams of life. Even the Sun renewed his fire nightly at her lodge. Through her four assistants, Wind, Cloud, Lightning, and Thunder, she transmitted the mandates of Tirawa to the people upon earth. From her union with the god of next rank, the Morning Star, Opirikata, sprang the first being upon earth. The Morning Star seems to have been a personification of the Male, as the Evening Star was of the female principle. He was conceived of as a warrior who drove the other stars before him from the sky. It was to him that the Skidi band offered a human sacrifice. Next in rank to the Evening and Morning Stars were the gods of the four world-quarters, who stood in the northeast, southeast, southwest, and northwest, and supported the heavens. To them Tirawa gave the task of dividing up the earth into the divisions which we find at present. Next in rank to these were the three gods of the north,—the North Star, who presided over the council of the stars, and who gave the ceremony for the creation of chiefs to men; the North Wind, who sent men the buffalo, and Hikus, who gave the breath of life. Below these in turn were the Sun and Moon, from whose union had sprung the second being on earth who, mating with the offspring of the Morning and Evening Stars, produced the human race. There were a number of minor heavenly gods,—the second Morning Star, who assisted the Morning Star, the Big-Black-Meteoric-Star, who was the special god of medicine-men, the Star of the South, who stood at the southern end of the Milky Way and received the spirits of the dead, Skiritiuhuts ("Fool-Wolf"), who felt slighted in the councils of the gods, and, who, in revenge, introduced death into the world, and several others." Linton, R. (1922). The thunder ceremony of the Pawnee (Anthropological Leaflet No. 5). Field Museum of Natural History.
Prairie Kickapoo
"While the prophet’s men farmed and remained near their village, the Prairie Kickapoos clung to their traditional customs and shunned farming and sedentary life. They also rejected Kenekuk’s religion, preferring to deal with their traditional manitous (supernatural forces that pervade the natural world). The Great Manitou, or Creator, stood at the top of their spiritual hierarchy, which also included the four winds, the sky, the moon and stars, and grandmother earth. These Indians also continued to revere their clan bundle rites and other traditional religious ceremonies." Herring, J. B. (1990). The enduring Indians of Kansas: A century and half of acculturation. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 4.
Wichita
The Wichita believed in a supreme being known as Kinnikasus (meaning "The Man Never Known on Earth" or "Not Known to Man") who created the universe and all life. His power is present in everything (animism), meaning both animate and inanimate objects possess a spirit. Led by Kinnikasus, the sky gods include the Sun (a powerful male deity) and the Morning Star. The Moon is a primary female deity associated with women. Other major figures include the Water Goddess and Mother Earth. Their beehive-shaped grass lodges had four poles extending from the peak to represent the four world quarters or specific gods.
Ceremonies
Delaware
William Tomlinson in Kansas in Eighteen Fifty-Eight. Being Chiefly a History of the Recent Troubles in the Territory, 35-37, wrote: "Imagine a large opening in the forest, in the centre of which is a huge fire, around which are a number of seats for the old and musicians of the tribe. Beyond the fire, and comprising a circuit of some twenty or thirty yards, is a ring or circle; hard-beaten as an oaken floor, and some ten or a dozen feet in width. Around and around this circle would pass the maidens and braves of the tribe, beating a sort of time to the music, which consisted of bones, hard pieces of wood, tin instruments, &c.; united with the deep, guttural voice of the musicians, about as follows:
H-ah-hum-hah, he-he-hum-haw-hum,
He-ah haw-haw-he-ah, he-ah-hum-mah,
He-ah-hee-hee-eah, he-haw-hum-hee-hee-ah
With a number of variations.
The cause of the present dance, as I learned from the old Chief who first addressed me, was the fitting out of a party from their tribe, who were to leave the next morning on a hunting and war-like expedition to the western part of the Territory. It is a singular fact in history, that the Delawares, though once the peaceful allies of Wm. Penn, have been the most adventurous and dreaded warriors that have roved the western prairies. They have made war upon remote tribes of Indians whose very names were unknown to the Fathers in Pennsylvania, for no other object than plunder, and have even sent out war-parties as far west as Oregon, and the Rocky Mountains. They have consequently declined in numbers every year; while some of the neighboring tribes who have turned their attention to husbandry, etc., have increased rather than diminished in population.
For hours I stood in the position I have described, and gazed on that strange forest scene. The Indian maidens with their fanciful adornments of beads and head-dresses; and the young Delawares tall and stately, with their all-manner of decorations, as they moved, now slow, now fast around the fire-lit circle, were components of a picture on which could scarcely weary of gazing. When, however the fires burned low, and the dancers sank exhausted with incessant action, I threw myself upon the couch of skins prepared for me in the hut of my Indian friend, and slept soundly until morning."
Pawnee
The Skidi Pawnee sacrifice of a captive girl. . .The sacrifice was performed only in years when Mars was morning star and usually originated in a dream in which the Morning Star appeared to some man and directed him to capture a suitable victim. The dreamer went to the keeper of the Morning Star bundle and received from him the warrior's costume kept in it. He then set out, accompanied by volunteers, and made a night attack upon an enemy village. As soon as a girl of suitable age was captured the attack ceased and the war party returned. The girl was dedicated to the Morning Star at the moment of her capture and was given into the care of the leader of the party who, on its return, turned her over to the chief of the Morning Star village. During the time preceding the sacrifice she was treated with kindness and respect, but it was forbidden to give her any article of clothing. Only the leader of the war party and the chief of the Morning Star village could touch her after her dedication. A man who broke this rule was thought to have offered himself in her place and if he died before the time of the sacrifice she would be released. The ceremonies preceding the sacrifice occupied four days, the victim being killed on the morning of the fifth. The rites performed during the first three days are not fully known, but apparently consisted in the singing of songs relating the exploits of the Morning Star and in the offering of smoke and dried meat to the Morning Star bundle. At the beginning of the ceremony the girl was purified with smoke, painted red, and dressed in a black costume which was kept in the Morning Star bundle between sacrifices. Her captor was also dressed in a costume from this bundle and throughout the ceremony the two seem to have personified respectively the Evening and Morning Stars. A fire of four logs laid with their points together and their ends extending toward the four directions was kept burning during the four days. About sunset of the fourth day the spectators were excluded from the lodge while the officiating priest drew four circles on the floor, one for each of the four world quarters. They were then readmitted and the priests sang a song descriptive of the journey of the Morning Star in search of the Evening Star while one of the priests danced about the lodge with a war club and obliterated the circles. The priests then began to sing a long series of songs believed to have been given by the Evening Star. As each song was finished a tally stick, taken from a bunch kept in the Morning Star bundle, was laid down, Dr. G. A. Dorsey (6) concludes that the idea underlying this part of the ritual was that the girl at first belonged to the world of human affairs but that, as each song was sung, she became farther removed from it until, when the last tally was laid down, she had been won from the people like a stake in a game and belonged to the supernatural powers. When the songs were finished, one of the priests undressed the girl, painted the right half of her body red and the left half black, and redressed her. The whole assembly then set out for the place of sacrifice. At the place of sacrifice a scaffold had been erected on the afternoon of the fourth day, the selection of the site, cutting of the timber for the scaffold, etc., being attended by special ceremonies. The scaffold consisted of two uprights and five cross-pieces, four below and one above. The two uprights symbolized night and day, the four lower bars the four directions, and the upper bar the sky. Below the scaffold was a pit lined with white feathers which symbolized the Evening Star's garden in the west, the source of all animal and plant life. Two men led the girl from the lodge to the scaffold by thongs fastened around her wrists. She was kept in ignorance of her fate as long as possible and it was thought an especially good omen if she mounted the scaffold willingly. The men leading her removed her clothing and tied her hands to the upper bar and her feet to the highest of the four lower bars. The procession was timed so that she would be left alone on the scaffold at the moment the Morning Star rose. When the Morning Star appeared, two men came from the east with flaming brands and touched her lightly in the arm pits and groins. Four other men then touched her with war clubs. The man who had captured her then ran forward with the bow from the Skull bundle and a sacred arrow and shot her through the heart while another man struck her on the head with the war club from the Morning Star bundle. The officiating priest then opened her breast with a flint knife and smeared his face with the blood while her captor caught the falling blood on dried meat. All the male members of the tribe then pressed forward and shot arrows into the body. They then circled the scaffold four times and dispersed. The priests remained. One of them pulled out the arrows and laid them in four piles about the scaffold. The body was taken down and laid on the ground with the head to the east, and the blood-soaked meat was burned under the scaffold as an offering to all the gods. Finally, songs were sung describing the eating of the body by various animals and its final turning into earth. Dorsey (4, p. 67) says: "There is reason to believe that an abbreviated form of the ceremony was held each winter in December, at which time the ritual only was sung and the smoke offering performed." Linton, R. (1922). The sacrifice to the Morning Star by the Skidi Pawnee (Leaflet No. 6). Field Museum of Natural History.
[Early] Wichita
Their key ceremony was the Deer Dance performed by medicine men to mark the arrival of the first grass, the ripening of corn, and the harvest. They also used the Calumet (Pipe) Ceremony to establish peace and truce conditions between tribes. Similar to the Siouan tribes, the Wichita placed high value on animals that appeared in dreams or visions that could become lifelong guardian spirits.
About suspected ceremonial centers, wrote Patricia O’Brien, Archaeology of Kansas, wrote: “Given the description of the fragmented and charred bone, these bones may be archeological evidence for the practice of cannibalism that observers reported among the Wichita as early as 1719; for in the 18th century, the Wichita ate slaves of both sexes and all ages captured from other Indian tribes.” O’Brien, Patricia. (1984). Archaeology of Kansas. Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas, 74.
Sacred objects
Kansa and Osage
[Waxo'-be]"The mat bundle was the most sacred object of the gens. It was made of the woven mats of rushes or the outer husks of corn, and within it were wrapped the sacred bird—usually the hawk—the pipes, and the tobacco. These mat bundles were never allowed to touch the ground and were the centers of all tribal authority." Connelley, W. E. (1918). Notes on the early Indian occupancy of the Great Plains. Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 14, 438–470.
Wichita
“A shrine bundle, a collection of sacred objects wrapped in several layers of protective coverings, usually starting with a woven reed or corn-husk mat (the "mat bundle") and finished with an outer layer of buffalo hide, was believed to contain the wakanda (spiritual power) of a specific clan or the tribe as a whole and was a tool to communicate with the Creator or spirits like the Morning Star. Typical items included the skin of a hawk or eagle (symbolizing the sky spirits), sacred pipes, tobacco, ears of corn (representing the "Bright-Shining-Woman"), and occasionally historical trophies like scalps or arrows from significant victories. Never allowed to touch the ground, they were hung on the west side of a lodge (the most sacred spot) and were only opened for specific seasonal ceremonies.” Connelley, W. E. (1918). Notes on the early Indian occupancy of the Great Plains. Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 14, 438–470.
Marriages
"If a young man takes a fancy to a girl, he goes to her father and asks for the girl, but the father refuses. Then the young man goes to a priest of the tribe, or medicine man as he is called, and asks him to go and intercede for him with the father of the girl. The priest takes a pipe to the girl's father, but perhaps he will not smoke, but turns his head away, refusing. The medicine man repeats the offer of the pipe, going perhaps several times for that object before the request is granted. When granted and a favorable answer is reported to the young man's father, the young man's parents then bring many presents to the parents of the girl—horses, household goods, kettles, guns, etc. In return, the parents of the girl select some of their oldest broken-down ponies and some trifling goods, which are presented to the bridegroom's parents. The young man then repairs to the lodge of the parents of the bride and remains there as a member of the family. He becomes the hunter of the family and nothing else. He has the use of the best horses, those perhaps presented by his parents, and performs the duty of supplying the family with game. Returning from his hunting expeditions, he gives himself up to idleness in the lodge, not even doing so much as to unload his pony of the game brought in. He is not privileged to have any communication with the parents of his wife, not being permitted to speak to them until a child is born to his wife, even if it be ten years. After he has acquired a family of two or three children, he may set up housekeeping separately. The oldest girl is always first married. Her husband marries the younger girls successively as they become old enough, he being entitled to the privilege of marrying all the daughters for the family, a privilege which is almost universally taken advantage of. If, however, a young man declines to marry all the daughters, a second son-in-law may be taken into the family. I have seen some men have six or seven wives—sisters. They never have wives that are not sisters. If there be but one daughter, her husband has but one wife." Chouteau, F. (1918). Statement made by Frederick Chouteau, at Westport, Mo., May 21, 1880. In W. E. Connelley, Notes on the early Indian occupancy of the Great Plains. Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 14, 438–470.
Osage
"These Indians when making arrangements for a wedding agree on the price in ponies the groom is to pay, and when the transfer of stock is made according to agreement, the girl belongs to her purchaser, and they are ready to go to housekeeping. It is customary among the full bloods that after the trade for a bride has been all arranged, the squaw is to pretend to back out and she says she won't have her suitor, even though she is dying for him. The families of the girl and boy meet and have a serious conclave while squatting solemnly about a fire. The squaw persists in refusing to wed the buck and then there is nothing left for him to do but strip almost stark naked, slash his breast with a knife and ride out of the village after having bid his relatives good bye. He is supposed to be heart-broken and says that he goes to hunt for the happy hunting grounds. After he has been gone several days the girl changes her mind and the relatives go out and find the buck who is told of his sweetheart’s favor, and together they return to the village and the marriage is consumated. The young buck is supposed to have fasted during his absence from camp." Wichita Weekly Journal, April 16, 1890 [Note: Horses were symbolic gifts of honor or a way to demonstrate the groom's ability to provide, rather than a literal purchase of a person.]
Pawnee
"Despite 'kin' relationship between members of each village, spouses usually belonged to the same village. Marriage to outsiders was considered a poor risk. Marriages of parents and children, brothers and sisters, and other close blood relatives were strictly prohibited. Females usually married after their fifteenth birthday, while males waited until they were eighteen. Both sexes generally married a mature spouse as their first partner. The inexperienced youths were considered incapable of performing their respective matrimonial duties adequately, thus the Pawnees felt it was desirable to have an experienced spouse from whom to learn." Carlisle, J. D. (1976). The history and culture of the Pawnee Indians.
Daily life
Kansa
"The Kaws had many games of chance. These games were played in the lodges of the chiefs. Here a policeman was on duty to watch after the welfare of the game, and to see that no cheating was done. If he happened to see an Indian taking an advantage of another, crack would go the whip, and the offender would be brought to justice without delay. All of the well-to-do Indians, those who possessed horses, robes, guns, trinkets, or other articles of any kind that could be put up as stakes in gambling, were expected to join in the games. If they did not wish to play, they were obliged to, or else lose favor with the chief, and at the same time be excluded from the chief’s house. The poor Indians, on the other hand, were allowed to enter the chief’s lodge and entertain the guests by music from their rude instruments, such as the drum, besides performing any other service which might be required of them.” Chouteau, F. (1918). Statement made by Frederick Chouteau, at Westport, Mo., May 21, 1880. In W. E. Connelley, Notes on the early Indian occupancy of the Great Plains. Collections of the Kansas State Historical Society, 14, 438–470.
Pottawatomi
"In 1849 Uniontown was the only place where the government paid annuities to the Pottawatomie Nation. The Indians would gather for payment, and these gatherings, a time for celebration, would last from ten to fifteen days. The Indians liked to indulge in gambling, drinking, and horse racing in addition to sacred tribal dancing. The government paid each Indian from $6 to $10 as part of their share of a previous land agreement, but unfortunately most of this money was spent before the Indians left town." Fitzgerald, D. (1988). Ghost towns of Kansas: A traveler's guide. University Press of Kansas.
Food
Historically, tribal groups lived in harmony with the seasons, utilizing a sophisticated cycle of hunting, farming, and foraging. They cultivated "The Three Sisters" (corn, beans, and squash) in the spring, transitioned to large-scale summer hunts for big game, and returned for the fall harvest. To survive the winter, tribes meticulously dried and preserved their crops, seeds, and foraged goods.
Pawnee
"To sustain this number of people, the Pawnee depended not only on hunting, but on gathering and planting as well. Pawnee women and girls gathered many kinds of food from plants that grew on the prairie. These included milkweed pods, sunflower seeds, wild nuts, and berries. Along streams or in marshy places they found roots of yellow lotus, cattail, wild onions, and sweet flag. They also gathered chokecherries, wild plums, wild grapes, sand cherries, wild potatoes, turnips, and turkey peas. Cultivated gardens produced much of their food. A Pawnee woman’s garden was about one acre in size. They used simple tools: a rake, a hoe made from a bison shoulder blade, and a digger, made from a fire-hardened stick. Using seeds they had saved from the previous year, they planted corn, beans, pumpkins, squash, and melons. Corn, their main food, was picked and roasted or allowed to dry on the stalk before picking. Pumpkins were cut into strips and dried. Corn and beans were dried and put into skin bags and then lowered into an underground storage pit. Some storage pits were located in the earthlodge; others were built outside the earthlodge. The outdoor food pits were ten to twelve feet deep and held food enough for several years. Small animals, as well as birds and fish, were common sources of food. Wild animals of many types provided the hunter with game. Herds of bison wandered the Plains, and their meat, next to corn, formed the main food for the Pawnee. One bison provided enough meat to feed one person for a year. Almost every part of the bison was used by the Pawnee. The horns were made into spoons; the thick hide on top of the head was used as a bowl. The heart was used as a sack to carry dried meat and berries. Sometimes the stomach would be filled with water, and then meat, herbs, and wild onions were added. When hot rocks were placed into the mixture, it would boil, so the stomach was sometimes used as a cooking pot." Nebraska Historical Society. (n.d.). Pawnee foods. https://history.nebraska.gov/publications_section/pawnee-foods/
Early Wichita [Quivira].
Horace Jones, in The Story of Early Rice County, wrote debris showed they also ate a variety of meat as evident by the skeletal remains of “quail, black duck, hooded merganser duck, pied billed grebe, crow, great horned owl, a raven that had been extinct for 50 years and scarce longer than that, catfish, turtles [ornate and painted], jackrabbit, wolf, elk, bison, dog, white tailed deer, antelope prairie dog, kangaroo rat, badger, ground squirrel, racoon, and pocket gopher.” Other finds included groundhogs, bullfrogs, leopard frog, American toad, and birds that also may have been caught for feathers (e.g., cardinal, lesser prairie chicken, bobwhite, flicker, pied-billed grebe, terns, great blue heron, turkey, golden eagle, green winged teal, goldfinch) for ornamentation or trade. Jones, Horace. (1928). The story of early Rice County. Lyons, KS: Lyons Publishing Company.
Wrote Paul Jones: “The principal agricultural products of Quivira were corn, beans, melons, gourds, pumpkins and squashes. To be gathered wild there were plums, grapes, mulberries, elderberries, succulent buffalo beans, sheep sorrel, ground cherries, wild onions, Indian turnips, walnuts, and in southeastern Kansas, pecans. The main article of diet was buffalo meat, augmented with dog, antelope, terrapin, wild turkey, prairie chicken, wild geese and ducks. Fish was taboo with the main prairie tribes. So was milk, the only part of the buffalo that was not used.” Jones, Paul. (1937). Coronado and Quivira. Lyons, KS: Lyons Publishing Company.
Buffalo hunts
The Indian and the Buffalo
Ages before the coming of the Europeans to the new world, the North American Indian had known and utilized the buffalo. While the Indians east of the Mississippi recognized him as a possible source of food and shelter, still they did not place on him the dependence shown by the Indians west of that river. The buffalo, while in moderate numbers in the east, was outranked there by other game, such as deer, bear, wild fowls, etc. But as these animals were not so plentiful on the Western plains, of course, the Indians west of the Mississippi placed almost their entire dependence on the buffalo.
As we have said before, the buffalo was pre-eminently a plains-animal. Of all the Indians dependent on the buffalo, the following twenty-two tribes seemingly needed him the most: The Sioux, Crows, Piegans, Bloods, Blackfeet, Cheyennes, Gros Ventres, Aricarees, Mandans, Bannacs, Shoshones, Nez Perces, Assinniboines, Kiowas, Comanches, Arapahoes, Apaches, Utes, Omahas, Kansas, Pawnees, Osages, and Winnebagos. To these various tribes he was the one absolute necessity of life.
As with all the other wild creatures, the Indian had a theory to explain the huge herds of the buffalo. It was supposed that on the Staked Plains of Texas there was a huge cave, out of which, every year, some beneficent spirit sent the buffalo in great numbers, as a prize for the Indian. So convinced were they of this, that even when the buffalo were near extermination, they still clung to the legend that the good spirit would not let them all be killed, but would keep sending more buffalo to take the place of the slain. Many old warriors of the different tribes told of some truthful relative who had witnessed the coming of the buffalo, and one old man told his white friends, that he, personally, had seen them coming from this cave.
The Indian habit of burning the timber away and leaving unwooded prairies was largely responsible for the pasture of the buffalo. Whether with the full knowledge of the reason for his act, or with merely the instinct to gain freed land, the Indian unerringly chose the best method for the bison and the making of his range. And the burning of the prairies in the fall was also good.
In hunting the buffalo, the different tribes took their choice of several different methods—the “Chase,” “Impounding” the “Surround,” or “Decoying.” In winter, sometimes the bison was hunted on snowshoes. The Indian, owing to his lack of the right fire-arms, seldom used the deadly “still-hunt,” beloved of the white hunter.
In “Chasing,” the hunter chose his favorite “Buffalo-horse,” took his weapon, whether gun, or bow and arrows, and rode beside the fleeing herd, picking his animals and slaying. Afterwards, the squaws came to skin and care for the fallen buffalo.
By “Impounding” was meant driving the bison into circular pens, as cowboys drive domestic cattle, and then killing them from advantageous positions on the wall of the pens. Difficult as this may sound it was a common practice among the Indians.
The “Surround” was a carefully planned affair. A herd sighted, the Indians surround them, on all sides at a distance, closing in last to the windward. At the signal the lines drew closer to the startled, confused herd, which of course tried to flee. Foiled in every direction, they were compelled to beat about in fruitless efforts to escape until killed.
In “Decoying” or driving, the herd was sent by skilful maneuvering, to plunge, head-first, over a cliff. After which it was easy to supply a camp with skins and meat. Connelley, W. E. (1919). A standard history of Kansas and Kansans. Lewis Publishing Company.