[GAUI [GUT YA[BAHE:GAU: KIOWA WORD WARRIORS AND THEIR LITERARY PURPOSE

Abstract

This work examines select literature created by Kiowa authors, poets, and playwrights as an extension of their traditional role as warriors, members of warrior societies, and the values that these warriors still uphold today. These values are identified as respect for Mother Earth; resistance against necropolitical forces of genocide and human rights abuse as encouraged by U.S. federal Indian policy; and the preservation of Kiowa culture for present and future generations.