Kiowa - And the Bison
Kiowa life revolved around the bison. The herds were the key to life on the open plains, and no other animal commanded as much respect from the tribe as the bison. The tribe’s food, shelter, weapons, tools, clothes, and medicines were all made from bison. They were also the focus of religious and social practices. The tribe was absolutely dependent on the bison, such that the future of the bison dictated the future of the tribe.
The plains were covered in grass or scrub brush, and so the tribe’s subsistence came from hunting. Hunts were sometimes carried out by individuals but were often a collective endeavor. Collective hunting involved all the men of a village or band. A large group of men ran at a herd, making loud noises to scare the herd over or against a cliff, making them easier to kill. Sometimes the hunters would burn the prairie grasses in a circle around a grazing herd. The bison would trample one another in a panic or would suffocate in the smoke. Another technique involved slowly sneaking up on a herd while wearing a wolf pelt and shooting the bison with arrows or stabbing them with lances. Once horses were acquired, hunting was a less dangerous activity for the hunters. With the aid of horses, it was easy for a group of mounted Kiowa to target and separate an individual from a herd and kill it from the safety of horseback.
Find more information about the Kiowa people:
- Kiowa
- Kiowa - Nomadic Hunters and the Horse
- Kiowa - And the Bison
- Kiowa - Social and Political Structure
- Kiowa - Dog Soldiers and Warrior Societies
- Kiowa - Religious Societies
- Kiowa - Medicine
- Kiowa - Sun Dance
- Kiowa - Painters of the Plains
- Kiowa - Women's Work
- Kiowa - Early History and the First Divide
- Kiowa - Fight for the Black Hills and the Great Division
- Kiowa - Northern Struggle for the Black Hills
- Kiowa - Southern Alliance with the Comanche
- Kiowa - Reunion
- Kiowa - Massacre
- Kiowa - Early Relations with the United States
- Kiowa - Suffering of the 1840s
- Kiowa - Diplomacy in the 1850s
- Kiowa - Intrusions and Era of Extermination
- Kiowa - Medicine Lodge Treaty
- Kiowa - Resistance and Bloodshed
- Kiowa - Reluctant Surrender
- Kiowa - Forced Assimilation
- Kiowa - Dancing Memory
- Kiowa - Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock
- Kiowa - Early 20th Century
- Kiowa - Peyote and the Native American Church
- Kiowa - The Six
- Kiowa - Roosevelt Administration and Federal Policy Changes
- Kiowa - Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act
- Kiowa - Political Divide and Escaping a New Threat
- Kiowa - Litigation and the Indian Claims Commission
- Kiowa - Late 20th Century
- Kiowa - Influence on the Future
Entry: Kiowa - And the Bison
Author: Kansas Historical Society
Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history.
Date Created: September 2015
Date Modified: December 2017
The author of this article is solely responsible for its content.
