The Kansa Way of Life

The Kansa Way of Life. . , As the Kansas migrated westward, their style of lodging changed from timber based to sod based. Repeated relocation of core villages as well as the indiscriminate timber-cutting practices of white squatters ultimately forced the Kansas to rely exclusively on sod as their primary building material., Kansa villages combined small conical huts and larger rectangular lodges. The lodges measured sixty feet long by twenty-five feet wide, each lodge accommodating three to five families. The lodges afforded little or no family privacy, a situation which dismayed many a white visitor., The political arrangement of Kansa society centered around a number of separate villages. The common practice was for each village to have its own head chief, although a particularly capable leader might enjoy, for a limited time, the position of principal chief over all the villages. Rraditionally, chiefs were selected on the basis of wisdom, bravery, and distinguished acts. However, reflecting the influence of white culture, the position of village chief eventually became mainly hereditary., The Kansa social structure consisted of two half-tribes (keepers of the pipe and wind people), which were in turn divided into at least seven or eight gentes, which were further divided into the various family units. Family emphasis was strong among the Kansas, and family structure was patriarchal., Kansa males and females had clearly demarcated roles. Boys were encouraged to be headstrong and willful, as these qualities were believed crucial for their maturing into brave hunters and warriors. Girls, on the other hand, were expected to accept their role as domestic servants. Kansa women performed most of the manual labor about the village, and Kansa girls were trained to work hard at an early age. Even seasoned military officers, accustomed to the rigors of frontier travel were astonished at the hundred-pound loads carried up to three leagues (about nine miles) at a time by ten-to twelve-year-old girls., The appearance of Kansa men inspired favorable comment among white travelers. In 1802, a French aristocrat described Kansa males as "tall, handsome, vigorous, and brave." Travelers were particularly impressed by the hair plucking scrupulously practiced by chiefs and warriors. Using a wire apparatus, Kansa men carefully plucked their arms, chins eyebrows, and most of the scalp, leaving only a narrow strip of hair on the top and back of the head. The strip was sometimes colored with vermilion or decorated with the tail feather of a war eagle., During the course of the nineteenth century, as the result of a number of factors including destruction of the buffalo herds, pressure from merchants and traders, and the introduction of smallpox and cholera, the Kansa way of life indeed, Kansa survival, became increasingly precarious. The tribe numbered about 1365 in 1806. By 1873, the tribe numbered only about 600. Clearly, the long-range trend appeared to be one of eventual obliteration. As late as 1855, even in the midst of the increasing dispossession and impoverishment of the Kansa tribe, the carriage of a typical Kansa warrior was described as "erect, dignified, and proud; sometimes even scornful."