Reclaiming the Past: Descendants' Organizations, Historical Consciousness, and Intellectual Property in Kiowa Society

Abstract

At the core of recent research on heritage and historical consciousness is the premise that interpretations and representations of the past must be understood as rooted in the contemporary moment. This study addressed the ways in which heritage and historical consciousness are implicated in the social dynamics of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma by focusing on formal descendants' organizations, groups organized by descendants to commemorate their nineteenth century ancestors. Research focused upon identifying individuals' motivations for participating in descendants' organizations, documenting cultural performance events sponsored by these organizations, and examining the ways in which contemporary Kiowa people employ intellectual property as a means of visibly asserting their ties to prominent nineteenth century ancestors. Ultimately, research on Kiowa descendants' organizations has contributed to anthropological understanding of the ways in which heritage and historical consciousness are produced, deployed, accessed, and contested in comparatively small, but culturally distinct social settings, providing a much needed counterbalance to previous studies that have focused on their role in large scale nationalist and separatist movements.