Pawnee Indian Museum State Historic SiteHistory Traditionally each of the four bands built a separate village. The South Bands included the Pitahauerats or Tappage band, the Kitkahahakis or Republican band, and the Chawi or Grand band. They lived south of the Platte River. The Skidi, or Wolf band, lived to the north and did not join the South Bands until the mid-19th century when they became one group. The four bands are now recognized as a single tribe. The Pawnee became one of the largest and most powerful of the groups living on the central plains. Their territory extended north from central Kansas through Nebraska and included large hunting areas of the high plains to the west. The Kitkahahki (pronounced KIT-ka-ha-key), or Republican, band settled along the Republican River around 1820. The village with more than 1,000 people contained at least 30 or 40 earth lodges. Thousands of dogs and hundreds of horses lived here with the Pawnee. The village was fortified for protection from nearby enemies including the Kaw and the Osage. By 1830 wood became scarce and the land was no longer productive. The village was abandoned and the band moved north, closer to other Pawnees. The village later burned to the ground.
A few of the earth lodge circles were excavated in 1949, but intensive investigation of the site did not come until 1965. During the next two years, archeologists from the Historical Society explored lodges, storage pits, and a fortification wall that once protected the village. A permanent walkway was laid out to lead visitors to these features. In 1967 a museum was built around one of the lodge sites before it was excavated. The exposed floor and most of the artifacts were left open to view, surrounded by exhibits detailing the history of the Pawnees. In recent years audio elements have added new dimensions to the interpretation, as has a nearby nature trail. Most dramatically, the sacred bundle of a Pawnee family hangs today above the remains of the lodge's altar, much as it would have at its original site on the Loup River in Nebraska.  Pawnee
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According
to Pawnee legend, Pawnee ancestors came from the south. Their language
shows they are related to the Wichita and other Caddoan groups in Texas.
They have lived in the central plains for most of the last 1,000 years.
The
Pawnee village became one of the earliest of Kansas' state historic
sites. In 1901 George and Elizabeth Johnson gave to the state of Kansas
most of the site upon which a Pawnee village had stood for about two
decades after 1820. The only visible remains of the village were several
depressions and circles of dirt that had been left when the earth lodges
had deteriorated and collapsed. Ironically, initial interest in the
site stemmed from the mistaken belief that Zebulon Pike, an American
explorer, had visited there in 1806 and had raised the American flag
over the new Louisiana Territory for the first time. Now interest stems
from the association of the site with an important group of American
Indians.
