284 CALENDAR lUSTOUY OF THE KIOWA [eth.axn.17 



seuts a mail with the feather headdress and paiut of The Ka'itsei"iko. 

 the chief order of the warrior society. There is nothing to indicate 

 the name of the individual, which is carried in the meiuiny of the artist. 

 This dance was hehl on a small tributary of the North Canadian, a 

 short distance alwve Kiowa Medicine-lodjre creek. 



The Yii' p;"ihe or military organization of the Kiowa has been already 

 noted. The highest order was the Ka itscuko, or •• Keal dogs [ *.)." a 

 select boiiy of ten of the bravest warriors, who were pletiged to lea<l 

 every desperate charge and to keep their place in the front of battle 

 until they won \"ictory m- death. With this purpose in view, their 

 leader carried a ceremonial arrow, with which he anchored himself to 

 the ground by means of a broad sash of elk-skin, which encircled his 

 neck like a collar and hung down at his right side to the earth: at the 

 lower end, where it trailed upon the gi-onnd, there was a hole, and when 

 forming line for the charge it was his duty to dismount in front of his 

 warriors, and. by thrusting the arrow through this hole, to tix himself 

 in this position, there to remain until his party was victorious, or until, 



seeing that all was lost, they gave him lib- 

 erty to retreat by pulling out the arrow from 

 the ground. Should they forget this in the 

 ■j^yv ^\ CT^f^^/ / 1 hurry of their flight, he must remain and die 

 ^C? ^|^|-|m_— I at his post. During the action, also, he was 

 "*^ ^ ^^B obliged to remain stationary, without en- 

 deavoring in any way to avoid the danger. 

 ^E^ ^^^^^^^^m ^^^^enever a leader died or was killed 

 {^K another was selected from among the 



l\ Ka itsehko to carry the arrow. As the regn 



Fio. 95— Glimmer i*»6— Honii»ssi>u]i hitious governing it were adhered to very 



strictly, if can readily be understood that 

 on the oce;\siou of an election the otttce usually sought the man. As 

 the Kiowa or other tribes, however, had no desii-e to sacrifice their 

 bravest men needlessly, the cei^emonial arrt>w or its equivalent was 

 carried only when the expedition meant war to the bitter end against 

 the enemy. In the absence of this emblem of his rank the owner took 

 his i>lace as an ordinary wanior. He might even lend it to a warrior 

 wlio wished to distinguish himself iu a war party while the owner 

 remaiuetl at home: but should he do this when any serious expedition 

 was in preparation, he was considered to be a cowai'd and was degratied 

 from his rank. The leaders of the Toukoiiko, "Black legs." another 

 warrior order, carried a lance somewhat resembling a shepherd's crook 

 and ealletl a palxht. which had nearly the same purpose as the arrow 

 of the K:Vits^nko. The noted chief Set-angya, who was killeii at Fort 

 Sill in 1S71. was the leader of rhe Ka itscuko at that time, and delib- 

 erately invitetl death in acconlance with the obligation of his ofhce. 



The Ka'itseuko initiatioiis took place only on the occasion of a son 

 dance and were not of fre«inent occurrence, so that the event was 



