ABSTRACT
Kiowa women and young men are perhaps most visible in the reservation period in the politically loaded realm of exchange. The experiences give evidence that Native people engaged with colonialism variously with significant consequences for the preservation of Kiowa cultural autonomy, if not political autonomy. Taking possession of land and other valuable resources was not enough; the Americans turned their eyes upon the material culture, the Indian goods. Entrepreneurs exploited Indian goods for profit in the rising curiosities trade and other commercial realms. Scholars made careers in the nascent professional field of ethnology. Whether for scientific inquiry or for personal possession or for turning profit, American acquisition of American Indian material culture continued steadily throughout this period of imposed Indian segregation. Native things were appropriated by various means and channeled into the tourist trade, collecting circles, and public cultural institutions, such as the National Museum in Washington, DC, and the Georg Gustav Heye Foundation in New York City.
