Despite the fact that Kanza history does not begin in 1492, a great
deal of the post-contact period of the tribe has been documented.
These pages will offer a glimpse at how Kaw (Kanza) life has changed in the past
few hundred years. It provides a mosaic perspective of some sources of the
changes.
History of the Kaw (Kanza)
On July 4, 1804, Lewis and 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 Siouan aca, “Southwind”.
Among the many variations of the name given by French traders and other
Europeans were “Kanza” or “Kansa”. By the mid-eighteenth century, the “People
of the Southwind” 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 Kaw’s 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 alien 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, KS. 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,
sub-divided into forty-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 Kay County, Oklahoma.
From a population of several thousand, the Kaw had declined through
disease and starvation to 1,500 by 1800, to 553 by 1872, and to 194 within
sixteen years of the move to Oklahoma’s Indian Territory. 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 1960’s by the construction of Kaw Reservoir. This
required the relocation of the tribal Council House and tribal cemetery.
The Kaw Nation has survived adversity and today is a federally-recognized
self-governing tribe of 3,039 members. Administrative
headquarters are in a four-building complex in Kaw City, Oklahoma. Tribal
enterprises include; Kanza Travel Plaza at Braman, Oklahoma, located on
Interstate 35 and Highway 177, Kaw Nation (Southwind Casino) near Newkirk, two
discount tobacco shops at Ponca City, and Newkirk, Oklahoma. Recently Kaw
Enterprises has two new additions, Tobacco Row Inc. and Southwind Energy. The
tribe also oversees the Kaw Housing Project, Kanza Health Clinic and Wellness
Center, Kanza Daycare Center, and is a member of the Chilocco Development
Authority. Emergency assistance, social service programs, and academic
scholarships are available to tribal members. Tribal District and Supreme
Courts were established in 1992.
As the Kaw Nation progresses economically, it also seeks to recover its
cultural heritage. During a long and very devastating period in the history of
the tribe, usage of the language began to taper off dramatically. This trend
continued on into the twentieth century, until only a handful of the
full-bloods in the 1970s could speak the language fluently. Today, all these
elders are gone. The Kaw (Kanza) people today speak English as a first
language, but many can still understand and use Kaw (Kanza) words and phrases.
The Kaw Nation is interested both in preserving the language and more
importantly in reviving it. The Kanza Language Project is a special department
of the tribal operation devoted to this task. For a wealth of information
about Kaw (Kanza) and a wide range of user friendly language resources, please
visit
WebKanza, the homepage for the Kanza Language Project.
The site of the last Kaw village in Kansas, Little John Creek Reserve, is
three and one half miles south of Council Grove, KS. 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, audio posts, and
two miles of walking trails.
Kaw Nation co-sponsors the Washunga Days Powwow held each June at Council
Grove, Kansas. Please visit www.kshs.org for more information on this
event.
The Kaw Nation’s annual Oklahoma Powwow is held at Washunga Bay Powwow
grounds, the first weekend in August each year. Visitors are welcome at both
events. For more information about Kaw Nation’s tribal history, enterprise,
culture, or programs and services, please visit our website at
www.kawnation.com.
You may call (580) 269-2552, or use our Toll Free number
1-866-404-5297.
