Tonkawa

Tonkawa
Tickanwa•tic
Seal of the Tonkawa Tribe of Oklahoma
Total population
611[1]
Regions with significant populations
 United States ( Oklahoma)
Languages
English, Tonkawa language
Religion
Christianity, Native American Church, traditional tribal religions
Related ethnic groups
Wichita, Waco, Tawakoni, Kichai, Guichita

The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe indigenous to present-day Texas. They once spoke the now-extinct Tonkawa language,[2] a language isolate.[3] Today, many descendants are enrolled in the federally recognized Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.

In the 15th century, the Tonkawa tribe probably numbered around 5,000, with their numbers diminishing to around 1,600 by the late 17th century due to fatalities from new infectious diseases and conflict with other tribes, most notably the Apache. By 1921, only 34 tribal members remained. Their numbers have since recovered to close to 700 in the early 21st century. Most live in Oklahoma.[1]

Name

The Tonkawa's autonym is Tickanwa•tic (meaning "real people"). The name Tonkawa is derived from the Waco tribal word, Tonkaweya, meaning "they all stay together".[4]

Economy

The Tonkawa tribe operates a number of businesses which have an annual economic impact of over $10,860,657.[1] Along with several smoke shops, the tribe runs 3 different casinos: Tonkawa Indian Casino and Tonkawa Gasino located in Tonkawa, Oklahoma, and the Native Lights Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma.[5]

Events

Tonkawa otter pelt turban, circa 1880, Oklahoma, Oklahoma History Center

The annual Tonkawa Powwow is held on the last weekend in June to commemorate the end of the tribe's own Trail of Tears when the tribe was forcefully removed and relocated from its traditional lands to present-day Oklahoma.[6]

History

Scholars once thought the Tonkawa originated in Central Texas. Recent research, however, has shown that the tribe inhabited northwestern Oklahoma in 1601.[7] By 1700, the stronger and more aggressive Apache had pushed the Tonkawa south to the Red River which forms the border between current-day Oklahoma and Texas. The Tonkawa had a penchant for cannibalism, which made them unpopular with other Native American groups and the new Texans.[8]

In the 1740s, some Tonkawa were involved with the Yojuanes and others as settlers in the San Gabriel Missions of Texas along the San Gabriel River.[9]

In 1758, the Tonkawa along with allied Bidais, Caddos, Wichitas, Comanches, and Yojuanes went to attack the Lipan Apache in the vicinity of Mission Santa Cruz de San Sabá, which they destroyed.[10]

Tonkawa lands

The tribe continued their southern migration into Texas and northern Mexico, where they allied with the Lipan Apache.[7][11]

In 1824, the Tonkawa entered into a treaty with Stephen F. Austin to protect Anglo-American immigrants against the Comanche. At the time, Austin was an agent recruiting immigrants to settle in the Mexican state of Coahuila y Texas. In 1840 at the Battle of Plum Creek and again in 1858 at the Battle of Little Robe Creek, the Tonkawa fought alongside the Texas Rangers against the Comanche.[12]

In 1859, the United States escorted the Tonkawa and a number of other Texas Indian tribes to a new home at the Wichita Agency in Indian Territory, and placed them under the protection of nearby Fort Cobb. When the war started, the troops at the fort received orders to march to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, leaving the Indians at the Wichita Agency unprotected. In response to years of animosity, a number of tribes, including the Delawares, Wichitas, and Penateka Comanches, attacked the Tonkawas as they tried to escape. The fight, known as the "Tonkawa Massacre," killed nearly half of the remaining Tonkawas, leaving them with little more than 100 people. The tribe returned to Texas where they remained for the rest of the Civil War. In the 1880s, the United States removed them, once again, to the new Oakland Agency in northern Indian Territory, where they remain to this day.

On October 21, 1891, the tribe signed an agreement with the Cherokee Commission to accept individual allotments of land.[13]

Tonkawa groups

The Tonkawa were actually made up of various groups, many of which are no longer known by name. These groups are generally counted as Tonkawa:

  • Awash
  • Choyopan
  • Haiwal
  • Hatchuknni
  • Kwesh
  • Mayeye
  • Nilhailai
  • Ninchopen
  • Pakani
  • Pakhalateh
  • Sanukh
  • Talpkweyu
  • Titskanwaticha

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 2011 Oklahoma Indian Nations Pocket Pictorial Directory. Archived 2012-04-24 at the Wayback Machine. Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. 2011: 36. Retrieved 8 Feb 2012.
  2. ↑ International encyclopedia of linguistics. Frawley, William, 1953- (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. 2003. ISBN 9780195307450. OCLC 66910002.
  3. ↑ Hoijer, Harry (1933). Tonkawa, an Indian language of Texas. University of Pittsburgh Library System. New York : Columbia University Press.
  4. ↑ May, Jon D. Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture. "Tonkawa." Retrieved May 30, 2013."Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-02-21. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  5. ↑ Oklahoma Indian Casinos: Kay County. 50 Nations. (retrieved 8 Feb 2009)
  6. ↑ Tonkawa Tribal History. Archived 2009-03-04 at the Wayback Machine. The Tonkawa Tribe. (retrieved 7 Feb 2009)
  7. 1 2 May, Jon D. "Tonkawa" Archived 2012-02-21 at the Wayback Machine., Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture, Tulsa: Oklahoma Historical Society (retrieved 8 Feb 2009)
  8. ↑ Jones, William K. 1969. “Notes on the History and Material Culture of the Tonkawa Indians.” Smithsonian Contributions to Anthropology. Vol. 2, No. 5.
  9. ↑ Gary Clayton Anderson, The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999) p. 85
  10. ↑ Anderson, The Indian Southwest, p. 89
  11. ↑ Walker, Jeff (2007-11-16). "Chief returns » Local News » San Marcos Record, San Marcos, TX". Sanmarcosrecord.com. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
  12. ↑ Gwynne, S. C. (2011). Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History. Scribner. pp. 7, 211. ISBN 1-4165-9106-0.
  13. ↑ Deloria Jr., Vine J; DeMaille, Raymond J (1999). Documents of American Indian Diplomacy Treaties, Agreements, and Conventions, 1775-1979. University of Oklahoma Press. pp. 346–348. ISBN 978-0-8061-3118-4.

Further reading

  • Himmel, Kelly F. (1999). The conquest of the Karankawas and the Tonkawas, 1821-1859. College Station, Texas: Texas A&M University Press. ISBN 978-0-89096-867-3.
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