ETZANOA KANSAS THE GREAT SETTLEMENT
SEARCHED FOR AS ONE OF CORONADO’S LOST CITIES OF GOLD. WAS THE LEGENDARY METROPOLIS FINALLY LOCATED AFTER 450 YEARS? CLUSTERS OF LODGES WERE LOCATED AMID FIELDS OF MAIZE, BEANS AND SQUASH. ALWAYS CLOSE TO WATER AND FOREST.
Grouping of 15-30 family lodges in a closely related pod. Pods connected to become clusters according to extended family groups. Clans affiliations of the same tribe would cluster to form small villages. Many villages clustered along waterways like pearls on a necklace. DWELLINGS WERE CONSTRUCTED OF WOODEN FRAMES COVERED IN WOVEN GRASS BUNDLES. • Interlocked framework of willow saplings tied together with elm bark twine. • Top four poles faced in each cardinal direction. Door to the South. • Thatched bundles of woven prairie grasses provided a waterproof home. • Fire pit vent hole always off center due to design constraints. • Each lodge housed from 10-30 people depending on its size. AN INSIDE VIEW OF A WICHITA LODGE. IT WOULD BE FILLED WITH BASKETS, GOURDS, ROBES, SKINS AND A MYRIAD OF OTHER USEFUL ITEMS.
Beds were arranged around the perimeter with robes being hung on partition rods affording some privacy.
Beds were placed knee high on braces and covered in comfortable deerskin blankets or buffalo robes. ARBORS WERE USED TO DRY FOOD AND AS A SHADY RETREAT FROM THE PRAIRIE SUN.
• Located close to bell shape storage pits which stored and protected food. • Arbors were used to dry meat, corn, pumpkins, etc. • Used in the Summer as recreational space to avoid the blistering Kansas heat. • Also housed isolated single young females. • This lodge is a later design having a wood door rather than a hinged grass flap.
THE WIDESPREAD ADOPTION OF MAIZE CHANGED SOCIETY FOREVER. IT WAS ONE OF THE TRIAD OF FOOD STAPLES CALLED THE THREE SISTERS, THE OTHERS BEING 4-5 KINDS OF BEANS, AND A WIDE VARIETY OF GOURDS AND PUMPKINS. MOST OF THE CITIZENS LEFT ETZANOA EACH FALL FOR THE YEARLY BISON HUNT, LIVING THE LIFE OF A NOMAD. BEFORE THE COMING OF THE HORSE, THE HUNT REQUIRED MUCH MORE STEALTH AND PLANNING. IT WAS ALSO MUCH MORE DANGEROUS. LITTLE OF THE BISON WAS WASTED. EVEN THE DUNG WAS READILY SOUGHT AFTER AS A FUEL.
At the time of the height of Etzanoa, there were roughly 60,000,000 bison roaming freely on the plains. By 1900 less than a few hundred remained, mainly in collections, zoos and on reserves. Forever gone was the staple food for the plains Indians. THE ONLY SPECIES THAT CROSSED INTO NORTH AMERICA WAS THE DOMESTIC DOG.
• What is thought an average large native dog would look like.
• Used as work animals and occasionally as food.
• Were often revered and cherished as lifelong companions.
• Not selectively bred but culling did occur.
• Each lodge would have up to 30 dogs. THE TRAVOIS WAS UTILIZED TO CARRY LOADS OVER LONG DISTANCES USING DOGS AS THE PULLING POWER.
Before the arrival of the horse, dogs carried all the supplies for the Fall hunt. The poles that formed the teepee frame were used as the travois frame. On the trip back the dogs carried dried meat, hides and other necessities. THESE STRANGE NEW LANDS WERE RUMORED TO BE INHABITED BY WIERD AND POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS CREATURES, OR AT THE VERY LEAST, BLOOD THIRSTY CANNIBALS. THERE MIGHT BE GOLD HOWEVER SO THE RISK WAS WORTH IT. FIRST CONTACT, CORONADO ENTRADA OF 1541. • After much plunder and barbarity, Coronado discovers the settlements of the Quivira, a Wichita subgroup in North Central Kansas. THE ROUTE OF THE CORONADO EXPEDITION OF 1540-1542 THAT REACHED CENTRAL KANSAS. • Numerous artifacts contemporaneous with the time period found. ONATE’S VISIT OF CONQUEST, 1601 • A map of the area drawn by a slave familiar with the locations of various villages, who accompanied the expedition. • It clearly shows a number of cities, rivers and other features. • Next contact was by Le Harpe in 1719 at which point the Wichita were a mere shadow of their former glory. ORIGINAL SITE OF THE GREAT CITY ETZANOA, NOW THE TOWN OF ARKANSAS CITY.
• The Southern end of Etzanoa was along the East and West banks of the Walnut river, a few kilometers North of the confluence with the Arkansas river.
• The modern town of Arkansas city lies to the South and West.
• Only the lower part of the city was explored by the Spanish. THE HEART OF ETZANOA AND THE PEOPLE WAS ALWAYS THE WATER.
• A bend in the Walnut river about 1 kilometer from its confluence with the Arkansas. This beach would have been a prime bathing spot close to the center of the great city. WICHITA WOMEN WERE VERY FASTIDIOUS ABOUT MAINTAINING THEIR APPEARANCE.
• They bathed every day, even in the dead of Winter.
• Tattoos on the face, arms and chest identify tribal affiliation.
• Adorned themselves and clothing with shells, beads and metal.
• Wore finely made deer skin blouses and buffalo moccasins. THE WICHITA WERE A MATRIARCHAL SOCIETY AND WOMEN ENJOYED MANY RIGHTS UNHEARD OF BY EUROPEAN FEMALES. • Women had a say in important societal matters.
• Had a right to divorce. Most Wichita women were married at least twice.
• Owned property. THERE WAS THE WOMEN’S SOCIETY AND THE CEREMONY OFTHE THE MEN’S, WHICH RARELY MIXED. CRADLE BOARD, AND WOMEN WOULD ALWAYS HELP THE NAMING EACH OTHER AND FORMED LIFE OF NEW CHILD LONG BONDS. WERE OF GREAT IMPORTANCE TO A WICHITA PARENT. IT WAS BELIEVED THE CHILD’S ENTIRE FUTURE DEPENDED ON IT. YOUNG WOMEN AND GIRLS WERE VALUABLE COMMODITIES IN THE SLAVE TRADE WITH THE WHITES. HOMOSEXUALITY WAS PRACTICED BY BOTH WICHITA MALES AND FEMALES.
They were called “Berdache”, or those of two spirits. Were held in some esteem by the tribe and generally looked on favorably. The highest compliment that could be paid to a Wichita woman was for her handiwork to be called as good as that made by a berdache. A WICHITA MALE WAS THE PROVIDER OF MEAT FOR THE FAMILY AS WELL AS A FIERCE PROTECTOR AND WARRIOR.
A man was judged by his hunting prowess and ability as a warrior. Could advance according to his accomplishments. LIFE FOR A WICHITA CHILD WAS IDYLLIC.
• Wichita children were rarely punished. • Raised by an extended family of aunts and uncles.
• Young girls were separated from the boys and taught the ways of a Wichita woman by other females.
• On their first kill, usually a bird, boys would get a star tattoo signifying their entry into the World of men. GAMES AND WAGERING WERE POPULAR PASTIMES.
Both males and females would participate in foot races and various team sports.
Gambling was encouraged if not obligatory. SOPHORA SECUNDIFLORA (MESCAL BEAN) & UNGNADIA SPECIOSA. TWO ANCIENT ENTHEOGENS THAT PRECEDED THE PEYOTE CULT. PEYOTE. THE DIVINE CACTUS.
• Peyote use has been traced back as far as 9000 years.
• Integral in the Ghost dance of the 1880’s. IN THE EARLY YEARS OF AMERICAN SLAVERY, MORE INDIANS WERE SOLD THAN NEGROES.• In 1680 more Indians were traded as slaves than negroes in Charleston.
• Indians made poor slaves often fleeing.
• Finally sent to the West Indies or the silver mines of Mexico where escape was nearly impossible. RELIGION
• In the 16th century, prior to the time of despair, the Wichita practiced a rich and elaborate belief system mediated by Shaman and oral tradition.
• After being devastated by disease, the Wichita lost faith with the old ways and turned to a much simpler system of religion, itself short lived before being corrupted by the Christian death cult. HUMAN SACRIFICE, TORTURE AND CANNIBALISM WERE BOTH PRACTICED BY THE WICHITA. SMALLPOX, ONE OF MANS WORST MALADIES.
• Disease wiped out up to 95% of certain tribes. • Smallpox, yellow fever, malaria, measles, bubonic plague and typhus claimed untold thousands of lives.
• Virgin soil infections are pathogens that have access to a new and unimmune population, carrying the potential for great harm. SMALLPOX VICTIMS COULD DIE THE SAME DAY THAT THE FIRST SYMPTOMS APPEARED.
• 50%-95% lethality rate. • Lifelong health after effects.
• Can relapse every generation.
• Entire village sick at the same time. No one to care for sick or dispose of the dead.
• Too weak to plant, hunt or harvest. Survivors starved.
THE DARK TIMES DESCEND ON THE PEOPLE. DISEASE, DEATH AND FAMINE WERE THE NORM. • Life could be hard. There was always death from disease, famine, war or accident. Nothing could have prepared the people for the wholesale death that was to befall them. Around the late 1660’s the scourge of smallpox made its way into the great city via trade routes from the Southwest, where their populations had already been devastated. THE WICHITA TRIBE SURVIVED AND IS HEADQUARTERED IN ANARKANA OKLAHOMA.
The last native Wichita speaker died in 2016. Few full blooded Wichita remain.