History

• The first European to contact the Wichita Indians was Francisco Vasquez de Coronado in the 16th century. At that time, Coronado estimated that the Wichita Indians numbered about 250,000 in well-planned, semi-permanent communities. They were rivals and enemies of the Apache and Jumano tribes and were often at war with them. By the 1700's, their numbers had been greatly reduced by disease to about 3,000, and have been steadily declining ever since.
  
  

Geography

• Because the Wichita created semi-permanent villages along the rivers of Kansas and Texas, their houses needed to be of sturdy construction. Though sheathed in grass, the skeleton of their average house was made of cedar. Cedar is strong enough to bear weight easily and is resistant to rot and insect damage. The construction of the dome-shaped Wichita houses took at least a week, and was usually assembled by women.
  
  

Types

• Wichita Indians were considered some of the most sophisticated manufacturers of weapons on the Plains. Wichita bows, for example, were highly prized among other American Indian tribes for their flexibility, quality, and power. Similarly, Wichita arrowheads sometimes were so precisely sharpened that the points were thinner and sharper than any of their neighbors' (paper thin in some rare cases) and is typically triangular in shape. The Wichita may have also used these arrowheads as a trade commodity.Wichita Indians made sophisticated lances and knives out of stone.
  
  

Features

• Part of what made the Wichita Indians so successful was their mastery of agriculture. Their main crops were typical American Indian foodstuff such as beans, maize, and squash. The Wichita had the advantage of living near rivers, so the soil was rich, which in turn allowed for excellent harvests. The abundance of food allowed the Wichita to devote much of their time to trade, war, and other industries such as weapon-making and lumberjacking. Several types of drills, for example, were made by Wichita Indians and used in weapon manufacture, house construction and making clothing.
  
  

Effects

• Wichita Indians used a variety of materials, and variations of materials, to create their artifacts. In archeological digs in Nebraska, archeologists have uncovered several types of agate, flint, and even sandstone implements which were used in a variety of different aspects of Wichita culture. Sandstone, for example, was crafted into mauls (a type of sledgehammer) and were exquisitely crafted, being as well-balanced and proportioned as a modern sledgehammer. Obsidian was rarely used in the manufacture of tools or weapons, instead seeming to have been reserved for ceremonial objects, such as the beads inside rattles. The presence of obsidian, which is not native to the Plains, speaks to the extent of the Wichita's trade network.
  
  

Identification

• Wichita Indians, like many of their Plains neighbors, hunted American bison and elk. The hides from these animals were used to make a variety of different items, including buffalo robes, which were highly-prized trading commodities to the Europeans. Elk teeth were also crafted into jewelry to decorate women's dresses. Both of these products required labor-intensive crafting, especially the robes as they were cured in such a way to preserve the fur on the outside with an interior as soft as cloth. The Wichita also developed a method of tattooing themselves, and men would often would darken their eyes in a raccoon-type mask to intimidate their opponents and to ease the strain on their eyes from hunting on the sunny Plains. Women and men alike were tattooed with circles of various size.
  
  

Theories/Speculation

• Disease and wars, particularly the Civil War, took a toll on the Wichita Indians and many of their advancements have been lost or forgotten. Forced out of Texas in the 1850's, the Wichita were forced to move several times as their territories shrunk over the next few decades. After Oklahoma became a state, the Wichita were forced to live on a reservation in that state. Archeologists and tribes members are attempting to recover some of the lost technology which made the Wichita a powerful tribe on the American Plains. Discoveries of their innovations are still being made.