Kicking Bird
Kicking Bird, also known as T’è:néáungopd̶e, "The Kicking Bird", "Eagle Who Strikes with his Talons", or "Striking Eagle" was a High Chief of the Kiowa in the 1870s. It is said that he was given his name for the way he fought his enemies. He was a Kiowa, though his grandfather had been a Crow captive who was adopted by the Kiowa. His mysterious death at Fort Sill on May 3, 1875, is the subject of much debate and speculation.
Though he was a great warrior who participated in and led many battles and raids during the 1860s and 1870s, he is mostly known as an advocate for peace and education among his people. He enjoyed close relationships with whites, most notably the Quaker teacher Thomas Battey and Indian Agent James M. Haworth. The close relationships he enjoyed with whites engendered animosity among many of the Kiowas, making him a controversial figure. He would become the most prominent peace chief of the Kiowas, following the lead of a previous head chief, Dohasan. Kicking Bird was diplomatically active and signed the Little Arkansas Treaty of 1865 and the Medicine Lodge Treaty of 1867 and was instrumental in moving his people to reservations.
Early life (1835–65)
At the time of Kicking Bird's birth in about 1835, the Kiowas inhabited the Texas Panhandle, western Oklahoma, and southwestern Kansas. Not much is known of his early life, but he participated in the Kiowa warrior tradition and was a renowned warrior and hunter. His early success qualified him as an "onde," or Kiowa warrior supreme, granting him first-rank social status in his tribe. In addition to an outstanding war-record, to be an "onde" required that a man be wealthy, generous, aristocratic in demeanor, and an imposing presence on horseback – all qualities possessed by Kicking Bird.He fought against the Utes of Colorado, Pawnees of Nebraska, Navajos of New Mexico, and in raids along the Santa Fe Trail where he may have been shot in 1864. On November 25, 1864, Kicking Bird, then a member of Dohasan's band of Kiowas, fought alongside Kiowas, Comanches, Apaches, and Arapahoes as Colonel Christopher "Kit" Carson's regular troops collided with the Indian forces in the Battle of Adobe Walls.
As Kicking Bird matured, he recognized the futility of the raiding that dominated Plains Indian societies during the 19th century and adopted a conciliatory leadership approach that focused on cultivating friendly relationships with whites. He rose to prominence in his late 20s and was acknowledged as a promising young Kiowa in 1859 by James Brice, who wrote "Kicking Bird was said to be a good Indian by white men that knew him and would some day become influential with his people and the government." Kicking Bird was noticeably absent from Kiowa peace treaties of the late 1850s and early 1860s, most likely because he had yet to earn his status as a Kiowa chief. It was not until 1865, around the age of 30, that Kicking Bird would become a Kiowa sub-chief.
A series of clashes between the Plains tribes and white settlers, such as the Sand Creek Massacre, induced peace talks in 1865. It is during this period of diplomacy between whites and Indians that Kicking Bird began to make his mark in a peaceful leadership position. He first emerged into public consciousness when he signed the Little Arkansas Treaty in 1865. He was especially active in returning white captives as evidence of good intentions while the terms of the Little Arkansas Treaty were being discussed.
The Little Arkansas Treaty moved the major Plains Indians Tribes to reservations which were never entirely established, and which were later reduced in size by the Treaty of Medicine Lodge; also, promised annuities were never distributed. These two issues would have long-lasting implications that Kicking Bird and other Kiowa chiefs would wrestle with in the following years.
Later life (1865–75)
Political involvement
After Dohasan's death in 1866, Satanta, Guipago, and Kicking Bird became locked in an intense rivalry for leadership of the Kiowa. War leaders Guipago and Satanta were the clear favorites over the younger Kicking Bird, but it was apparent that Kicking Bird, together with medicine-man No Mocassins, was the foremost advocate for peace, taking up Dohasan's role as peace leader of the Kiowas. His calm and conciliatory demeanor facilitated an open relationship with whites, who admired him for his skills as an orator and diplomat. At Fort Dodge in 1866, commanding officer Henry Douglas stated that "Kicking Bird was the most reliable of all the Indians."Kicking Bird's first actions as sub-chief were for peace, but he was primarily concerned with the annuity situation. When the Kiowa had moved onto the reservations, they had been promised annuity payments for buying food and supplies; however, the annuities were not always paid as promised, and were being handled by a corrupt agent who hampered the promised flow of goods. The Kiowa faced immense hardship as a result. Kicking Bird recognized that most of the bad feelings in his tribe stemmed from the annuity situation. Because of this, Kicking Bird was placed in a delicate position between warriors who wanted to go on the warpath and those that wanted peace with the whites. His close relationship with whites and peace-talks belittled his leadership position in the eyes of many Kiowa. As a result, after the head chief Guipago, Satanta emerged in a prominent leadership role among his people, and his reputation as a war-maker made him the dominant Kiowa figure to be reckoned with in the eyes of whites and other Indians.
Indian-white friction resurfaced following the Little Arkansas Treaty, and Kicking Bird was influential in maintaining peace, proving himself receptive to both Indian and white demands. The terms of the treaty were largely unfulfilled and hostilities throughout the Plains necessitated a new peacemaking treaty: the Treaty of Medicine Lodge. Alongside older and wiser chiefs like Black Kettle and Ten Bears, Kicking Bird realized the futility of militant opposition. During discussions at Medicine Lodge, he was prominently seated in the council circle and worked for a resolution of the annuity situation, but Satanta ultimately stood out as the leading Kiowa chief after the head chief Guipago. Kicking Bird was one of the first signatories of the Treaty of Medicine Lodge; Satanta too signed the treaty, but Guipago refused to do it.
The Treaty of Medicine Lodge moved the Kiowa onto a reservation and promised annuities of food, clothes, equipment, weapons, and ammunition. The promised annuities were rarely fulfilled, however, which engendered tribal animosity toward the reservations and assimilation policies. This dissatisfaction was a central obstacle to Kicking Bird's peace efforts.
Obstacles to peace and prestige
As a result of the Battle of Washita, General Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer arrested Guipago and Satanta and took them to Fort Sill. In 1869, Kicking Bird helped to obtain the release of Guipago and Satanta from army captivity after promising good behavior on their part. During the interim period, Kicking Bird figured prominently as a leading Kiowa chief.In response to the lack of annuities and tribal land, the Kiowa and their contemporaries resorted to looting and plundering throughout the Plains, which undermined Kicking Bird's efforts towards peace. On January 15, 1870, a body of Kiowas under Satanta intercepted a Texas herd driven by Jacob Hershfield and robbed the drovers of money and supplies before killing some 150-200 head of cattle. Kicking Bird arrived on the scene and defused the situation. Hershfield accounted that had it not been for Kicking Bird, he and his men would have died.
Kicking Bird received intense criticism for his close relationships with white people and his renunciation of hunting and advocation of farming. The ranks of warring chiefs Satanta and Guipago swelled in comparison and Kicking Bird lost much tribal support. When the Kiowas hosted a sun dance to celebrate the Summer Moon of 1870, many warriors talked of staying out on the Plains instead of living on reservations with inadequate annuities. Kicking Bird spoke strongly against this and urged that the tribes cultivate friendly relations with the whites and continue to live on reservations. Though a chief, Kicking Bird received much scorn during the sun dance from young Kiowas, and the lack of respect was evident. They said "he had been a great warrior before the white men penned him up on the reservation. Now he talked like a woman."
Battle of Little Wichita River
Responding to claims that he was a coward and had become effeminate, Kicking Bird assembled a war party and invited some of his chief critics and worst tormentors to participate - Guipago, Tsen-tainte, and Satank. Kiowa Old Man Horse accounted "Chiefs hostile to him said to him, ‘Kicking Bird, if you don't quit opposing us, we are going to kill you.' He said, ‘Alright go ahead.' ‘Kicking Bird,' they said, ‘you are nothing but a low-down unrecognized man, no longer a chief.' Kicking Bird said, ‘It may be true, but I am trying to put you in a good road which will be a protection for the lives of the women and children.'" Kicking Bird expressed his regret at having to prove himself in battle, but acquiesced nonetheless.In July 1870, his war party, some 100 strong, crossed the Red River into Texas and confronted a Kansas-bound herd in Montague County, Texas, taking horses, mules, blankets, and other property. A few of his braves broke away from the war party and captured a mail stage at Rock Station, provoking a response from nearby Fort Richardson. On July 12 Captain Curwen B. McClellan and several of his officers from the Sixth Cavalry attacked Kicking Bird's encampment near present-day Seymour, Texas. In a long battle under a hot sun, Kicking Bird displayed his military genius and his right to his chieftaincy after thoroughly defeating McClellan's forces by engaging the soldiers in a frontal skirmish and sending two pincer columns to flank his enemy and strike the rear. In the battle, he was said to have personally lanced one soldier.
The Battle of Little Wichita River reaffirmed Kicking Bird's martial acumen and also reinforced his status as Kiowa chief. His victory marked the end of his military career and he expressed regret that tribal divisions forced his hand in the battle. He would spend the rest of his life cultivating peace with whites.
The schism between peace-minded and war-minded Kiowa leaders was exacerbated by the increased presence of the U.S. military and Quakers by the end of 1870. Kicking Bird was clearly the foremost advocate for an accommodation with the United States, but was opposed by Satanta, Guipago, Ado-ete, Maman-ti, and Tsen-tainte. He represented the Kiowa peace-faction in numerous intertribal meetings and promised that the Kiowa would live respectfully on the land, but again stressed that without the necessary annuities from the government, his people were forced to stray from the reservations to survive.