Who Are the Wichita?
The Wichita and Affiliated Tribes (federally recognized) include the Wichita, Waco, Taovaya, Tawakoni, and Kichai peoples, with approximately 3,000 enrolled members in Oklahoma. Their Caddoan name "Kitikiti'sh" means "Raccoon Eyes"—referring to traditional tattooing around the eyes. They speak Wichita, a Caddoan language that became extinct as a first language in 2016 with the death of the last fluent speaker. The Wichita were distinctive grass-house dwellers on the southern Plains, building large thatched structures unlike either the hide tipis of nomads or the earth lodges of Missouri River peoples. Coronado encountered them in 1541.
Grass House Culture
Wichita grass houses were engineering marvels—conical structures up to 40 feet tall built of wooden frames thatched with thick grass. These substantial buildings housed extended families and could last decades with maintenance. Villages of grass houses, surrounded by extensive cornfields, lined the rivers of present-day Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. Women controlled agriculture; men hunted buffalo on seasonal expeditions. Wichita villages served as trading centers, connecting Plains bison products with Pueblo goods from the southwest. This prosperous agricultural life made the Wichita targets for horse-riding raiders as the colonial era progressed.
Decline and Survival
Epidemic diseases, Osage and Comanche raids, and colonial disruption devastated the Wichita in the 18th and 19th centuries. Population declined from perhaps 15,000 to fewer than 500 by 1900. Survivors consolidated into a single community, eventually settled in Oklahoma. The Civil War brought additional destruction—Union and Confederate forces fought in Wichita territory, and the Wichita were displaced to Kansas before returning. This near-extinction experience—common to many southern Plains peoples—left the Wichita with a small population struggling to maintain distinct identity.
Contemporary Wichita
Modern Wichita face the challenge of maintaining identity with a small population and no living speakers of their language. The last fluent Wichita speaker, Doris Lamar-McLemore, died in 2016 despite years of documentation efforts. Language preservation now works with archival recordings and second-language learners. The tribe operates small gaming facilities and provides services from headquarters near Anadarko. Cultural programs maintain what traditions survive. The Wichita Tribal Dance (Green Corn Dance) continues. How this small nation preserves cultural heritage after language death shapes their future in a world that nearly eliminated them.
References
- Newcomb, W. W. (1976). The People Called Wichita
- Vehik, S. C. (1992). \"Wichita Culture History\" (Plains Anthropologist)
- Rood, D. S. (1996). \"Sketch of Wichita, a Caddoan Language\"