Pawnee Indian Tribe
The Pawnee lands in Kansas were taken by the Government through treaties with
the Kansas and Osages. The cession of the Pawnees in Kansas was insignificant.
They had a much better title to Kansas west of the Blue than any other tribes.
Irving found the remains of their towns on the Cimarron as late as 1832. Brower
claimed to have traced them or their kindred from the Ozarks to the forks of
the Kansas River. They lived on the Lower Neosho, in the vicinity of the present
Vinita, in the time of Du Tisne. But they were despoiled by the agents of the
Government, and their place in Kansas history was thereby circumscribed.
The name Pawnee, Dunbar tells us, comes from the word pá-rik-i, a horn. The
tribal mark of the Pawnees was the scalp-lock. No other tribe had one like it.
With the Pawnees the scalp-lock was bound about and held in a solid body by
buffalo tallow and the paints used by the Indians. It was thus so stiffened that it
stood erect. Sometimes it was curved back in the shape of the horn of a buffalo
bull. It is said that the term, pá-rik-i, at one time embraced the Pawnee
Picts, known to us now as the Wichita Indians.
The four bands of the Pawnees were known among themselves by the following
names:Xau-i, or Grand Pawnees
  1.. Kit-ke-hak-i, or Republican Pawnees
  2.. Pit-a-hau-e-rat, or Tapage Pawnees
  3.. Ski-di, or Loup Pawnees
The origin and meaning of some of these tribal designations are lost. Indeed,
only the Pit-a-hau-e-rat signification is remembered, and is supposed to imply
that the Tapage were the Noisy Pawnees. They were also known as the Smoky Hill
Pawnees, having lived on that stream in what is now Kansas well down into
historic times. In 1836 they pointed out to Mr. Dunbar the remains of their villages
on the Smoky Hill. In 1719 there was a Pawnee town at the mouth of the
Republican River-most probably a Tapage Pawnee town.
There were, among the Pawnees, the usual divisions of gentes, but the names of
these cannot now be stated with certainty. Morgan gives the following as
probable names of Pawnee gentes, but does not pretend that the list embraces all the
gentes of the Pawnees as their organization originally existed:
  1.. Bear
  2.. Beaver
  3.. Eagle
  4.. Buffalo
  5.. Deer
  6.. Owl
The compact manner in which the Pawnees were always found, and which remained
until recently, would seem to justify the conclusion that these gentes or clans
extended through all four of the tribal divisions, as with the Iroquois. The
chiefs of the band were the governing power, the individuals having little
influence in tribal matters.
The principal expeditions to the country of the Pawnees in early times have
been noted. In 1833 John T. Irving, Junior, went with Commissioner Ellsworth on a
tour of the Indian country tributary to Fort Leavenworth, visiting the Pawnees.
Later, he was present when the various tribes gathered at the fort to compose
their differences. At that time he witnessed a Pawnee dance, his description of
which is here given to show the savage nature of the Pawnees:
In the evening it was determined to bring the Delawares and the Pawnees
together as friends, for as yet they had held no intercourse. A large fire was
accordingly built before the outhouses in which the Pawnees had taken up their
quarters, and the wild troop sallied forth, prepared to commence one of their national
dances round the flame. A group of eight or ten savage-looking fellows seated
themselves a little distance off, furnished with a drum and rattle. They
commenced a song, accompanied by their rude instruments. For a time there was no
movement among the Pawnees who stood huddled in a large, condensed crowd. Suddenly
one of them, a tall muscular savage, sprang into the middle of the circle, and
gazed around with a hurried air; then with a loud yell he commenced his dance.
He jumped slowly round the fire, with a kind of zigzag step; at every leap
uttering a deep guttural "Ugh!" occasionally accompanied with a rattling sound from
the very bottom of his lungs. His comrades looked on silently, but with
intense interest. They were a savage group; face and body begrimed with paint; their
fierce features reflecting the flame, their teeth bared, and every brow knotted
into a frown. Head rose behind head, and gleaming eyes were seen peering
through the living mass, until those farthest off were hid by the darkness.
When the first warrior had made two or three circles about the fire, a second
left the crowd, and sprang forward in the dance; a third followed, and a fourth,
until about twenty were fitting swiftly round, and joining in the song.
Occasionally they stopped short in their course, and uttered a loud shrill yell,
which was taken up by the whole surrounding horde, until the very trees echoed to
the sound. At one moment they moved swiftly forward, and at another their steps
were slow and wearied. As we watched their fierce, earnest faces, the forms of
some wrapped in shaggy robes, the painted bodies of others writhing in the
dance, and then turned to the silent, and equally savage group of lookers-on, it
required no great stretch of the imagination to fancy them a host of evil
spirits, busied in fiendish revel.
While they were thus engaged, the crowd separated, and revealed a Delaware
watching their movements. Behind him were about twenty more of the same tribe. No
sooner had the Pawnees caught sight of them than they retired. Old prejudices
could not be rooted out at once, and though the dancers remained at their
employment, the rest of the tribe drew off in a sullen and haughty group, and stood
watching the countenances of their quondam enemies.
This continued during the whole evening. As it grew late, group after group of
the Pawnees left the fire, and retired into their dwelling. The Delawares soon
followed their example; and although their visit had continued for several
hours, I fear it did but little towards removing that ancient venom, which, in
spite of their apparent friendship, was rankling in their hearts.
The treaty-scene between the Pawnee and the Kansa, as described by Irving, is
worthy a place in any historic work:
The deliberations lasted during the whole day: for, as these Indians had no
particular injuries to dwell upon, they confined themselves to things in general;
and, as this was a subject that would bear to be expatiated upon, every man
continued his address until he had exhausted his wind. The Pawnees listened with
exemplary patience, though I doubt if there was one who regretted when the last
speaker had finished.
The morning following, the Pawnees and the Kansas had a meeting to settle their
difficulties. A large chamber in the garrison had been selected for the
purpose. About ten o'clock in the forenoon they assembled. The two bands seated
themselves upon long wooden benches, on opposite sides of the room. There was a
strong contrast between them. The Kansas had a proud, noble air; and their white
blankets, as they hung in loose and graceful folds around them, had the effect of
classic drapery.
The Pawnees had no pride of dress. They were wrapped in shaggy robes, and sat
in silence-wild and uncouth in their appearance, with scowling brows, and close
pressed-mouths.
At length the speaking commenced. First rose the White Plume. He had boasted to
his tribe that he would relate such things, in his speech, as should cause the
Pawnees to wince. With true Indian cunning, at first, in order that he might
conciliate the favorable opinion of those present, he spoke in praise of the
whites-expressing his high opinion of them. After this, he gradually edged off
into a philippic against the Pawnee nation, representing them as a mean and
miserly race-perfidious and revengeful. There was a hushed silence among his own
people as he spoke, and every eye was fastened upon the grim group opposite. The
White Plume went on; and still the deepest silence reigned through the room; that
of the Kansas arose from apprehension; the silence of the Pawnees was the
hushed brooding of fury.
The chief of the Tappage village was sitting directly opposite the speaker; his
eyes were dark as midnight; his teeth were bared, and both hands were tightly
grasped round his own throat; but he remained silent until the speech had
finished. When the White Plume had taken his seat, half a dozen Pawnees sprang to
their feet but the Tappago chief waved them down; three times did he essay to
speak, and as often did he fail. He rubbed his hand across his throat to keep down
his anger; then stepping out, and fixing his eye on that of the Kansa chief,
in the calm, quiet voice of smothered rage, he commenced his answer; he
proceeded; he grew more and more excited-indulging in a vein of biting irony. The White
Plume quailed, and his eye drooped beneath the searching, scornful glance of
his wild enemy. Still the Pawnee went on; he represented the injury which first
kindled the war between the two nations. "My young men," said he, "visited the
Kansas as friends; the Kansas treated them as enemies. They were strangers in
the Kansa tribe, and the Kansas fell upon them and slew them, and concealed
their death." He then entered into the particulars of the quarrel, which,
unfortunately for the Kansas, were strongly against them. The chief of the latter tribe
received the answer with great philosophy; nor did he attempt to utter anything
in reply. Perhaps, too, he did not wish to invite a second attack from so
rough a quarter. When the Pawnee had finished, the Commissioner interposed, and
after a short time harmony was restored, and several of the inferior chiefs made
their harangues. They were of a more calm and conciliating nature, and gradually
tended to sooth the inflamed feelings of their foes. The council lasted until
sunset, when the terms of the treaty were finally adjusted.
On the 9th of October, 1833, the Confederated Pawnees-all the divisions of the
tribe-ceded "all their right and title in and to all the land lying South of
the Platte River." This embraced but a small portion of Kansas-a triangular tract
bounded on the south approximately by Prairie Dog Creek, and on the west by
the east line of range thirty-seven.
So passed the Pawnees from their ancient heritage in the future State of
Kansas.