For Cultures with Oral Traditions, Words are sacred. They have power. Through words, we exist. Just as the Kiowa Emergence Story celebrated the consciousness and naming of the Kiowa Tribe, the Kiowa Naming Ceremony honors the consciousness of an individual, a Kiowa finding their way, their identity. That is Koy taw gee geah daw, the…
Continue ReadingMonth: October 2020
The Kiowa: The Coming Out People
“There are some stories that all Kiowa children should know.” These were the words of my Great Aunt Arletta, my grandfather’s sister, my grandmother in the Kiowa Way. While most of my Grandfather’s stories told of the Kiowa history, my Great Aunts shared songs and stories of Saynday, the Kiowa protector and trickster God. In…
Continue ReadingForging the Kiowa Memory Chain
It is said … Three words that connected me to my culture, history and self. My tribe the Kiowas, like most Plains Indian tribes did not have books documenting our history, we had stories shared from one generation to the next, an oral memory chain. Always one generation away from extinction. It is said, these three…
Continue Reading