Plains Indian Studies - Smithsonian Institution Libraries

128 SMITHSONIAN CONTRIBUTIONS TO ANTHROPOLOGY
tooing, was thought worthy of special comment.
It is likely that Yscanis and Wichita proper were
also in the region, but their exact geographical
relationship to the Taovayas is never specified.
About 1750-1751 it was reported (M. Wedel,
1981:46) that a Wichita village, decimated a few
years previously by measles and smallpox, had
recently been totally destroyed by the Osage.
Neither its band identification nor specific location
is known, but it was surely not the Deer
Creek or Bryson-Paddock villages. The population
of these two settlements was variously estimated
as between 1500 and 2500, figures not
dissimilar to those projected for the villages Dutisne
visited. There is the likelihood, however,
that with Wichita re-grouping during 30 years,
such a comparison is unfruitful.
In the interim between 1719 and 1748, the
Tawakoni had moved into Spanish Texas. According
to members of an Osage war party who
in 1742 visited a camp of Andre Fabry de La
Bruyere on the Canadian River (M. Wedel,
1981:32), these Wichita had moved to that stream
c. 1737, soon thereafter to Red River, and then
farther south seeking protection from hostile
raids. The Osage had become determined, aggressive
enemies and were probably responsible
in part for this move. Simultaneously, however,
French officials at Natchitoches were offering
enticements to these Wichita to enter that trading
sphere.
The Osage were also keeping the more northern
Arkansas River Wichita involved in frequent hostilities
(M. Wedel, 1981:46). The pananas were
said by the deserters to be Wichita enemies, but
it is not made clear if this meant all Pawnee. In
1752, however, an alliance was reported between
Wichita, panana, Comanche, and later Ae. There
are hints this alliance was inspired by the desire
for increased intertribal trade, but cooperative
counter-action against the Osage (M. Wedel,
1981:47) may have been a consideration too.
There is almost no evidence of its effectiveness or
duration. It may have been an ephemeral arrangement.
A longer-lasting alliance had been set up between
Wichita and Comanche, circa 1746-1747,
according to the deserters. It permitted peaceful
trading activities, but these appear from slender
evidence (M. Wedel, 1981:42-44) to have been
extensive for only two or three mid-century years
before the Wichita moved from the Arkansas
River. It resulted also in at least one joint attack
upon the Osage. It made possible a safe journey
westward for those who testified in Santa Fe.
The Wichita were seen as "very warlike," with
all four deserters commenting on the continuing
custom of eating parts of enemy captives. Felipe
de Sandoval, the Spaniard, observed them receiving
Indian slaves from the Comanche. It is apparent
not all were traded on to Europeans by
Wichita traders. Frequent lack of powder and
lead for bullets restricted the use of guns. In fact,
Sandoval thought the Indians were not very
skilled in their use. Indications are, therefore, that
the gun was still not the principal weapon.
The deserters' testimonies contain no data on
the sociocultural aspects of Wichita life. The Indians
are dubbed "pagans." The typical grass
houses are again described as in 1541, 1601, and
1719, but no other objects of material culture are
mentioned.
The native economy described in the 1500s
and in 1719 had been supplemented by a French
hunting enterprise (M. Wedel, 1981:44-46),
which was headquartered in the two Wichita
villages. Here, it was reported, the Indians and
perhaps some Frenchmen now lived the year
around. Professional French hunters were seeking
meat, tallow, and bear oil to supply the domestic
trade of the lower Louisiana colony, as well as
Caribbean Island and overseas trade. They enlisted
the cooperation of the Indians in their
project: the men in providing horses and hunting
with them for bison, deer, and bear, and the
women in helping to process the animal products.
This included preparation of hides, preservation
of meat by drying and presumably salting, and
rendering of tallow and bear oil. Although, in
return, the French gave trade items to the Indians,
these villages were not functioning as trading
posts in the usual sense of the term. The
quantity of trade goods must have fluctuated
considerably since their availability to French