Good Evening Blogging Friends,
It was such a beautiful day in Kansas today. The thermometer display in my car read 81dgs. this afternoon, and I believe it. Tomorrow isn't going to be as nice, but still in the fifties. That will be okay, at least it isn't freezing. I checked out a book from the library at McConnell today that has an article about the Wichita Indians. It isn't very long, but it has some info that I haven't ran across until now. Before I get to the new stuff, I can't help but be amazed at all of the different ways given to identify the Wichita Indians and what the names mean. I don't have them all before me right this minute, but I will get them together and make a list of the variety. In this article which is from a book titled: The Encyclopedia of North American Indians,  Published in 1997 by Marshall Cavendish Corporation. Summary: A comprehensive reference work on the culture and history of Native Americans ISBN 0-7614-0237-3 (vol. 10), this article says that the name Wichita is a Muskogean word spelled wia-shitch, and is said to mean thatched houses or arbors. That's close to one or two of the other articles that I've read. It also says that the Wichita called themselves Kitkit'sh. I've seen that name before too. It is thought to have to do with the tattooing around the eyes and bodies of the Indians.
The Wichita's were thought to have moved to the areas of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas from the South. Perhaps from Missouri because they were pressured by the Osage and Kaw tribes to get of their reservation. The Wichita's were very good hunters and farmers and when they killed a buffalo, nothing went to waste. In their fields they grew corn, pumpkins, beans and  tobacco. After finely chopping up the tobacco leaves, the Wichita's would put into little leather bags and trade it to the Comanche's. The Wichita's were very good at trading goods for other things that they needed.
One of the more interesting things was about a Spanish conquistador named Diego Dionsio de Penalosa who fought the Wichita's in 1662 and won. After this battle is when the Indians left the Little Arkansas and moved to Oklahoma.  Later on, the French and Wichita Indians had a pretty good trading business going on. The French wanted buffalo robes and other furs and the Wichita's received tools and crops.When the Wichita's were pushed into Oklahoma territory, the French and Indians continued to trade, but eventually the French lost most of the land they had owned and were defeated in the French and Indian Wars. The Wichita's became friendly with the Comanches and they began trading with each other. The Wichita's traded what they had left of their crops to the Comanches for horses, mules and buffalo robs.
Guess what? I think this blog will be my first cliff hanger blog. I'm getting to tired to continue for tonight and I don't want to totally mess up history, so lets all get some sleep. I'll try to finish up about this book and the article tomorrow.
Cheri