Kansas History
Kansas history is recorded from the day back when it was occupied by the Indians to the present day. I will be talking to you about the Indians and the later breed of settlers.
The Indians who occupied this land was North American Indian people of Siouan linguistic stock. They were called the Kaws by the French. The name of the state was derived from this tribe. The name in Indian language means Smoky. The south fork of the state of Kansas is still called the Smoky Hill River. They were a mixture of tribes. The tribes from which they were mainly from were Omaha, Osage, Quapaw, and Ponca tribes. They were a people who lived by farming. They also took up hunting for their livelihood. They had chiefs who presided over the tribes. The chiefs were chosen in an almost similar way to that of the modern world. The only difference being they choose men who had the ability and courage to lead the tribe. The choice was made to lead the tribe through war. Later on the choice of chiefs was made hereditary. But even then the son of the chief needed to prove that he could lead the tribe, either by a show of bravery or by a show of wisdom.
The families lived in conical type of a house, where two or three families shared a house. The men wore deer skin trousers oven which they wore breechclouts. They were identified by the hair which they plucked carefully. The only hair remaining on the head was the lock running along the top and back of the head.
The tribes of Kansas were highly religious people. They believed in the sun god, god's of nature and other mystical powers. They worshiped mysterious spirits. They practiced voodooism. Adolescent boys had to undergo a ritual called the vision quest, during this period it was required for the boy to undergo a period of isolation. This was for the boy to dream of his future exploits and to converse with the supernatural.
In the annual message given by President Monroe on the 27 of January, 1825, he recommended the colonization of the Indians. During the year 1854 on the thirtieth day of May, the territory of Kansas was formed by the act of the congress. All of the present Kansas was formed except the tract of land which was later on purchased by President Jefferson from France on the April 30, 1803. In 1873 the Kansas were removed to Indian Territory. The Kansas had migrated from the Atlantic coast, though this was not done at one go. The population of the tribe had dwindled as there was constant warfare with the Fox, Omaha, Osage, Pawnee, and Cheyenne tribes. Settlers who fought with these tribes were the French, English and the Spaniards.
The main form of livelihood in this state was farming, a tradition passed down from the hands of the Indians. However after 1952 the story changed. Industrialization caught up with Kansas.