Kiowa

Kiowa
Cáuigú^[1]

Three Kiowa men in 1898
Total population
12,000 (2011)[2]
Regions with significant populations
United States ( Oklahoma)
Languages
English, Kiowa, Plains Sign Talk
Religion
Native American Church, traditional tribal religion, Sun Dance, Christianity

Kiowa (/ˈkaɪ.əwə, -ˌwɑː, -ˌweɪ/ KY-ə-wə, -⁠WAH, -⁠WAY)^[3][4] or Cáuigú^[1] IPA: [kɔ́j-gʷú]) people are a Native American tribe and an Indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,^[5] and eventually into the Southern Plains by the early 19th century.^[6] In 1867, the Kiowa were moved to a reservation in southwestern Oklahoma.

Today, they are federally recognized as Kiowa Indian Tribe of Oklahoma^[7] with headquarters in Carnegie, Oklahoma.^[2] As of 2011^[update], there were 12,000 members.^[2]

The Kiowa language (Cáuijògà), part of the Tanoan language family, is in danger of extinction, with only 20 speakers as of 2012.^[8][9] As of 2024^[update] the Kiowa have a Kiowa Language Department .^[10] The University of Tulsa, the University of Oklahoma in Norman, and the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha offer Kiowa language classes.^{[citation needed]}