Plains Indian Studies - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

NUMBER 30 125
ita) trader (M. Wedel, 1972-1973:162), possibly
a touacaro, in an Osage village when Dutisne was
there. On the other hand, this Frenchman reported
that the Osage stole horses from the Wichita.
The Apache, called kinne.s by the Wichita
(Rood, pers. comm.), a term spelled cancy by La
Harpe, were the most hated foes. Dutisne commented
(Benard de La Harpe, 1718-1720, folio
21 verso) that the two Indian groups "waged a
cruel war, even eating each other." This La Harpe
also learned when a Wichita chief explained regretfully
that they had eaten 17 Apache at a
public ceremony a month before, so that only one
remained as a gift for the Frenchman. Padouca
may have been the name used by Benard de La
Harpe (1718-1720, folios 19 verso-20) to indicate
the Comanche. By 1719 they had appeared on
the western horizon of the Wichita and were
considered enemies, but meetings seem to have
been sporadic. Evidently the Escanjaques were no
longer a menace. The Kansa are not mentioned.
The Caddo on Red River south of the Ouachita
Mountains were said to know little of the
Wichita. The few Canicons just down the Arkansas
from the Tawakoni were friendly neighbors.
To judge from the preceding information, the
Wichita were still in control of a large segment of
the Middle Arkansas River in 1719. They were,
however, more on the defensive than a century
before, due evidently to hostile Missouri-Platte
River Indians, such as the Skiri and Missouri.
Even with the move of some bands southward,
all of these Wichita remained in the same physiographic
province they occupied in the 1500s,
where the same wild food plants, birds, and animals
were available.
It is somewhat surprising that tattooing was
not mentioned by either Frenchman. Since in
later years, and as we have seen in former ones,
this feature of their appearance was considered
notable, it must have been something already
familiar to both men. The Indians who assembled
at the Tawakoni village were said to speak different
languages, indicating probably different band
dialects.
By this time most hamlets had consolidated
into villages or towns. The houses were like those
described by the Spaniards—tall, dome-shaped,
characterized by their cover of straw and reeds.
La Harpe observed (Boimare, 1831:214) that
"Above his door, each chief of a nation [Wichita
subdivision] has his coat-of-arms painted on a
circular piece of hide [evidently miscopied
"copper" in the 1718-1720 journal, folio 20],
some representing the sun, some the moon, or the
stars, or some others different animals." Arbors
such as those used by the Caddo proper (M.
Wedel, 1978, fig. 2) were adjacent to the houses.
The only population figures available for 1719
are those provided by Dutisne when he estimated
there were 200 to 250 warriors in each oi the panis
villages he described. Using a multiplier of 5, this
would indicate 1000 to 1250 people in each village.
This agrees with the projections of 1040 to
1300 people, derived from a calculation using
Dutisne's estimate of about 130 dwellings per
village, and the figure of 8 to 10 people per house
given by Onate and Marcy (U.S. Congress,
1854:77). If these were Taovayas, they constituted,
according to Benard de La Harpe (1718-1720,
folio 19 verso) the largest Wichita band.
Wichita economy was still based on a combination
of hunting and horticulture, along with
root-gathering and use of wild fruits and nuts. A
semi-sedentary living pattern was described by
Benard de La Harpe when he wrote (1718-1720,
folio 20) that the Indians "leave all their villages
in the month of October to go on the hunt from
which they do not return until the month of
March in order to sow their corn, beans and
calabashes (squash?) which they eat in the summer."
Had he known of a corresponding summer
village hunt, it would be expected he would have
mentioned it, since it would have had significance
for traders. However, because he did not, one still
cannot confidently assume there was none. In
1541, Coronado had found most of the Quivirans
in their villages when he arrived unexpectedly in
early July.
There is no reference in 1719 to elevated granaries.
Perhaps they were too vulnerable to enemy
raids when villages were deserted during hunts of
several months.