Calendar history of the Kiowa Indians. (1898 N 17 / 1895-1896 (pages 129-444))Mooney, James
History
Calendar history of the Kiowa Indians. (1898 N 17 / 1895-1896 (pages 129-444))
Mooney, James
Kiowa Indians; Kiowa language -- Glossaries, vocabularies, etc.
_Ká-i Sabíña Dam Sai_, "Hide-quiver war expedition winter." The figure
of a quiver is above the winter mark. This winter is so called on
account of a notable war expedition made by the old men into Mexico,
they equipping themselves with old bows and quivers of buffalo skin, as
all the younger warriors had already gone against Mexico, carrying all
the more efficient weapons and ornate quivers. The latter were usually
of panther skin or Mexican leather, but never of deer, antelope, or
buffalo skin if it could be avoided.
[Illustration: FIG. 83--Winter 1840-41--Hide-quiver war expedition.]
SUMMER 1841
As the Kiowa were constantly moving about this summer, no sun dance was
held. The Arapaho met and attacked a party of Pawnee at _T'aíñ Dóhá_,
"White bluff," on the upper South Canadian, near the line of New Mexico,
and killed all of them. The Pawnee threw up breastworks, but, according
to the Kiowa account, an Arapaho medicine-man who knew the proper
medicine song sat down facing the breastworks and sang the song, moving
his hands as in the hand game, and thus "drove them out," when they were
killed in line one after another as they ran. The Kiowa were not present
at the fight, but met and joined the Arapaho just afterward, when a
final treaty of peace was concluded between the two tribes.
Stumbling-bear visited the spot some years afterward and saw the
skeletons of the dead Pawnee warriors still lying as they fell.
[Illustration: FIG. 84--Summer 1841--Pawnee fight.]
The figure represents the bluff with the Pawnee below it, the tribe
being indicated by the peculiar Pawnee scalplock and headdress (see
winters 1849-50 and 1852-53, and summer 1851). The breastwork is
omitted, perhaps through oversight. As there was no sun dance this
summer, the medicine lodge is not represented. It will be noted that the
"white bluff" is drawn only in outline, i. e. white, while the figure of
the "red bluff" (summer 1840) is filled in with red.
WINTER 1841--1842
_´dalhabä´-k`ia Ehótal-de Sai_ "Winter that ´dalhabä´k`ia was killed."
_´dal-habä´_ or _âdl-habä´_, "sloping, or one-sided hair," is the name
applied to a style of wearing the hair shaved close over the right side
of the head, so as to display the ear pendants, and at full length on
the left. The hair is not braided, but is sometimes tied, and the
scalplock is worn as usual. The man killed, who was a noted war chief,
wore his hair in this fashion, hence his name. The picture is intended
to represent the style of hair dress, with the mark of a wound on the
body to show where he was shot. The bird on top of his head is intended
to represent an ornament of red woodpecker feathers, which he wore on
the left side of his head. Another Kiowa chief present on this occasion
was K'adógyä´`tó, "Old-man-of-the-sun-dance," so called because
consecrated to the _taíme_, the sacred image of the sun dance.
[Illustration: FIG. 85--Winter 1841-42--´dalhabä´k`ia killed.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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