Description
The Kichai were most closely related to the Pawnee. French explorers encountered them on the Red River in Louisiana in 1701. By 1772, they were primarily settled around the east of the Trinity River, near present-day Palestine, Texas. After forced relocation, they came to share portions of southern and southwestern Oklahoma with the Wichita and with the Muscogee Creek Nation. The Kichai were part of the complex, shifting political alliances of the South Plains. Early Europeans identified them as enemies of the Caddo. In 1712, they fought the Hainai along the Trinity River; however, they were allied with other member tribes of the Caddoan Confederacy and intermarried with the Kadohadacho during this time.
Language
The Kichai language is a member of the Caddoan language family, along with Arikara, Pawnee, and Wichita.
Culture
In Kichai traditional culture the government consisted of a council of warriors, with a chief or sub-chief ruling each village. Each tribe within the Wichita had its own dances, secret from the rest of the tribes. The Kichai chose to settle along the banks of rivers in grass lodges built to thirty feet in height. Each lodge had two access doors and a smoke hole in the roof. The Kichai excelled at farming and hunting. Their diet consisted of corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins, supplemented by buffalo, buffalo, deer, and antelope meat. In traditional Kichai spirituality, ceremonies honored the sun, stars, moon, and mother earth.