Since Removal from Kansas in 1873
Passage of the Curtis Act in 1898 (named after Charles Curtis - United States
Vice President under Hoover and a Kaw tribal member) put into law several
far-reaching and particularly damaging clauses. These included (a) more
authority to the Dawes Commission for the allotment of lands to individuals
without permission of tribal governments, (b) power to the Secretary of the
Interior to lease out tribal lands to whomever he saw fit, (c) ability of states
and other entities to make towns and cities on lands vacated by tribes, with
preference going to those who held land leases granted by the Secretary of the
Interior (d) loss of power of tribal governments to issue individual Indian
monies, and (e) abolition of tribal courts, with US courts assuming former
tribal jurisdiction. Then, on July 1, 1902, a bona fide Act of Congress declared
that the Kaw Tribe as a legal entity no longer existed. The 1902 Allotment
obligated the tribe to cede 160 acres to the government for a school, agency
headquarters, cemetery and an 80-acre town site named Washungah. Curtis and his
three 1/16-blood Kaw children received about 1,625 acres of land.
In 1884 a party of prominent Kaws made their way to the home of Mon-Zhon-Oka-She
situated below the hills northwest of Pawhuska where they camped. The Kaws were
Little Jim, Barkley Delano and Jim Pepper. They offered the Drum to the Osages
and it was accepted by Mon-Zhon-O-Ka-She for his son Ben Mashunkashey who was
then a small child. It has been told that the three Kaws spent the winter with
Mon-Zhon-O-Ka-She. They made a fire, made a fireplace for those three that came.
They brought their tradition, their drum, and their culture. They negotiated
what would go on and how it would go on. The Osage tribe rewarded the Kaws
handsomely for the Drum and held the first of the Íloshka dances there. The
dance is still being carried on today, called by the Osages In-Lon-Schka.
Last Full Blood Council 1916.
1925 dedication of the Monument of the Unknown Kaw Indian in Council Grove
Kansas. Kaw members returned to Council Grove, Kansas.
In the early 1970s, the Army Corps of Engineers moved the Kaw Indian cemetery.
Relocated in Newkirk, Oklahoma, the cemetery was moved to make way for Kaw Lake.
At the same time, the Corps also relocated the Kaw Council House and the
residents of the town of Washungah.
In June 1974 Robert Rankin, linguists from the University of Kansas worked with
Maudie McCauley Rowe to preserve the language. He recorded her and developed a
3,500-word dictionary of Kaw language. Ralph Pepper and Walter Kekahbah were
also interviewed.
Ralph Pepper files in court on behalf of 17 full-bloods to gain control of the
Kaw tribe. The full-bloods won their case and a tribal election was ordered by a
federal court order and held on November 22, 1974.
Maudie McCauley Rowe wanted to revive Kaw dances. The first Kaw dance was held
after many years in 1977 at Shidler, Oklahoma. The dance was held in her son
Elmer Clark's back yard.
Centennial for the Osages. The Osages gave the Iloshka Dance back to the tribe
to carry on, in 1984. A ceremony was held in Pawhuska, Oklahoma inviting the Kaw
tribe to the event. They acknowledged their district receiving the ceremonial
drum from the tribe and unveiled a plaque noting the occasion. The plaque is
located in Indian Camp at Pawhuska, Oklahoma.
Lena Sumner Lockhart, last full-blood Kaw woman, died on December 17, 1985. She
had the woman's drum and was the last woman drum keeper.
In 1992 Bill Koch named one of his yachts after the Kaw Nation. Kanza was one of
the yachts to be used in the American's Cup race. Koch won the Cup that year
racing against Dennis Conner.
In November 1994 a contract was signed with sculptor, Mark Sampsel of Council
Grove, Kansas to cast bronze busts of the last five full-bloods. The Executive
Council wanted to honor these indinviduals. They were: Edgar Pepper, Jesse
Mehojah Jr., William A. Mehojah Sr., Clyde G. Monroe and Johnnie R. McCauley.
The busts are displayed today in the Kaw Museum. The busts of five Kaw Chiefs
are also displayed in the museum.
On August 5th, 1995 the Kaw Nation honored the last four Kaw Full Bloods. They
were presented honor blankets during the dedication of the Kaw Museum. They
were: Jesse Mehojah, William A. Mehojah, Clyde G. Monroe and Johnnie R.
McCauley. An honor blanket identical to the one they received is hanging in the
Kanza Museum today with their names embroidered on it.
In 1999 the Kaw Language Project is funded and revival of the Kaw language
began.
The last Kaw full-blood, William A. Mehojah, died April 23, 2000, Easter
morning, in Omaha, Nebraska.
Over 100 bodies were discovered by the Kaw Nation's Environmental Department at
Washungah Bay. The bodies had been left during relocation of the cemetery in the
early 70s. The Corps of Engineers was contacted. The tribe relocated the
remaining bodies to the Kaw Cemetery in Newkirk, Oklahoma in October 2000.
