1095 



never shed white man's blood." Their former enemies, the prairie tribes, 

 bear witness to their bravery, and their friendship toward the whites 

 is a part of their history, but has resulted in no great advantage to 

 themselves, as they have been dispossessed from their own country and 

 are recognized only as tenants at will in their present location. 



They and the Wichita received the new doctrine from the Arapaho, 

 and were soon among its most earnest adherents, notwithstanding the 

 fact that they were regarded as the most advanced of all the tribes in 

 that part of the country. It may be that their history had led them to 

 feel a special need of a messiah. They have been hard and constant 

 dancers, at one time even dancing in winter when there was nearly a 

 foot of snow upon the ground. Their first songs were those which they 

 had heard from the Arapaho, and sang in corrupted form, with only a 

 general idea of their meaning, but they now have a number of songs 

 in their own language, some of which are singularly pleasing in melody 

 and sentiment. 



THE WICHITA, KICHAI, AND DELAWARE 



Closely associated with the Caddo on the same reservation are the 

 Wichita, with their subtribes, the Tawakoni and Waco, numbering 

 together 31G in 1803; the Delaware, numbering 94, and the Kichai 

 (Keechies), numbering only 52. Of these, all but the Delaware, who 

 are Algoncpiian, belong to the Caddoan stock. The Wichita and their 

 subtribes, although retaining in indistinct form the common Caddoan 

 tradition, claim as their proper home the Wichita mountains, near 

 which they still remain. Sixty years ago their principal village was 

 on the north side of the north fork of Red river, a short distance 

 below the mouth of Elm creek, in Oklahoma. They live in conical 

 grass houses and. like the other tribes of the stock, are agricultural. 

 They call themselves Ki'tiMti'sh — they are called Tawe'hash by the 

 Caddo and Kichai — and are known to most of their other neighbors 

 and in the sign language as the "Tattooed People' 1 (Do' hand, Coman- 

 che; Do'yu'at, Kiowa), from an old custom now nearly obsolete. For 

 the same reason and from their resemblance to the Pawnee, with whose 

 language their own has a close connection, the French called them 

 I'n ni Pique's. 



The Kichai or Keechie, or Ki'tsash, as they call themselves, are a 

 small tribe of the same stock, and claim to have moved up Red river 

 in company with the Caddo. Their language is different from that of 

 any of their neighbors, but approaches the Pawnee. 



The Delaware are a small band of the celebrated tribe of that name. 

 They removed from the east and settled with the main body in Kansas, 

 but drifted south into Texas while it was still Spanish territory. After 

 a long series of conflicts with the American settlers of Texas, before 

 and after the Mexican war, they were finally taken under the protec- 

 tion of the United States government and assigned to their present 

 reservation along' with other emigrant tribes from that state. 



