Wichita People

Wichita, woman holding braided squash.jpg

Various Spellings: Wichita, Witchetaw, Wicheta, Ouichita

Ancestral homeland: in area now Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. 

History

Brief Timeline

• 1541: early contact Spanish expedition of Francisco vasquez de Coronado
• 1662: Diego Dionisio de Panalosa led an army against the Wichita, defeated the Wichita
• 1660's: migrated to Canadian River in what is now Oklahoma
• 1719: established trade relations with Bernard de la Harpe
• 1700's: Osage War parties drove the the Wichita further south to the Red River-(Oklahoma and Texas)
• 1835: Treaty
• 1850: had moved to Wichita Mountains near Fort Sill of the Indian Territory
• 1859: assigned a reservation with the Caddo tribe
• 1872: ceded remaining land to U.S.

Tribal Headquarters

Wichita and Affiliated Tribes
P.O. Box 729
Anadarko, OK 73005
Phone: 405.247.2425
Fax: 405.247.2430

Correspondence and Census

Tribe	Agency	Location of Original Records	Pre-1880 Correspondence M234 RG 75 Rolls 963 Roll Number	FHL Film Number	Post-1885 Census M595 RG 75 Rolls 692 Roll Number	FHL Film Number
Wichita, Indian Territory Oklahoma	Kiowa Agency, 1878-1962	Washington D.C. and Fort Worth	Rolls 383-86	-	Rolls 211-23	-
Wichita	Texas Agency, 1847-59	Washington D.C.	Rolls 858-61	-	-	-
Wichita	Wichita Agency,  1857-78	Washington D.C.	Rolls 928-30	-	-	-

Treaties

• 1835 August 24, at Camp Holmes, with the Comanche 
• 1846 May 15, at Council Springs, with the Comanche, Aionai, Anadarko, Caddo, Etc.,  

Vital Records

• Kiowa Agency, M595 ,birth and deaths 1930-1936, FHL Film: 576911

Important Web Sites

• Wichita Tribe Wikipedia

References

Bibliography

• Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives; Record Group 75, Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Hodge, Frederick Webb. Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1906 Available online.
• Klein, Barry T., ed. Reference Encyclopedia of the American Indian. Nyack, New York: Todd Publications, 2009. 10th ed. WorldCat 317923332; FHL book 970.1 R259e.
• Malinowski, Sharon and Sheets, Anna, eds. The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. Detroit: Gale Publishing, 1998. 4 volumes. Includes: Lists of Federally Recognized Tribes for U.S., Alaska, and Canada – pp. 513-529 Alphabetical Listing of Tribes, with reference to volume and page in this series Map of “Historic Locations of U.S. Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Canadian Native Groups” Map of “Historic Locations of Mexican, Hawaiian and Caribbean Native Groups” Maps of “State and Federally Recognized U.S. Indian Reservations. WorldCat 37475188; FHL book 970.1 G131g.

Vol. 1 -- Northeast, Southeast, Caribbean

Vol. 2 -- Great Basin, Southwest, Middle America

Vol. 3 -- Arctic, Subarctic, Great Plains, Plateau

Vol. 4 -- California, Pacific Northwest, Pacific Islands

• Sturtevant, William C. Handbook of North American Indians. 20 vols., some not yet published. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978– .
  

Volume 1 -- Not yet published

Volume 2 -- Indians in Contemporary Society (pub. 2008) -- WorldCat 234303751

Volume 3 -- Environment, Origins, and Population (pub. 2006) -- WorldCat 255572371

Volume 4 -- History of Indian-White Relations (pub. 1988) -- WorldCat 19331914; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.4.

Volume 5 -- Arctic (pub. 1984) -- WorldCat 299653808; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.5.

Volume 6 -- Subarctic (pub. 1981) -- WorldCat 247493742; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.6.

Volume 7 -- Northwest Coast (pub. 1990) -- WorldCat 247493311

Volume 8 -- California (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 13240086; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.8.

Volume 9 -- Southwest (pub. 1979) -- WorldCat 26140053; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.9.

Volume 10 -- Southwest (pub. 1983) -- WorldCat 301504096; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.10.

Volume 11 -- Great Basin (pub. 1986) -- WorldCat 256516416; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.11.

Volume 12 -- Plateau (pub. 1998) -- WorldCat 39401371; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.12.

Volume 13 -- Plains, 2 vols. (pub. 2001) -- WorldCat 48209643

Volume 14 -- Southeast (pub. 2004) -- WorldCat 254277176

Volume 15 -- Northwest (pub. 1978) -- WorldCat 356517503; FHL book 970.1 H191h v.15.

Volume 16 -- Not yet published

Volume 17 -- Languages (pub. 1996) -- WorldCat 43957746

Volume 18 -- Not yet published

Volume 19 -- Not yet published

Volume 20 -- Not yet published

• Swanton John R. The Indian Tribes of North America. Smithsonian Institution, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin #145 Available online.
• Waldman, Carl. Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes. New York, New York: Facts on File, 2006. 3rd ed. WorldCat 14718193; FHL book 970.1 W146e 2006.