Wichita State Professor Uncovers Forgotten Native Nation

(VERY NICE YouTube transcript typed in by an actual human!)

0:00
Today on Documentify TV, we're exploring an archeological discovery that has changed how we understand the history of the Great Plains, in America's heartland. In this episode, we explain the "Quivira," and why this is so important and seldomly talked about in American History.
0:19
Imagine a thriving civilization of more than 200,000 people flourishing in the heart of what is now the United States—Kansas—centuries before Christopher Columbus set sail. This is the story of Quivira, a forgotten Native American nation rediscovered thanks to the meticulous work of Dr. Don Blakeslee and his team at Wichita State University.
0:45
The journey to uncover this incredible chapter of history began in 2018. That year, Dr. Blakeslee rediscovered Etzanoa, a massive Native American town located near Arkansas City, Kansas. At first, Etzanoa seemed significant. Eyewitness accounts suggested the town had a population between 17,000 and 20,000 people—a bustling community by any historical standard. Yet, as Dr. Blakeslee and his students continued their research, they realized that Etzanoa was just one part of a much larger story. This wasn't an isolated settlement; it was a critical component of an interconnected civilization known as Quivira.
1:39
Quivira was a vast network of towns and trading routes spread across the Great Plains. It emerged in the late 1300s and reached its peak around 1450. Unlike the traditional image of the Great Plains as a sparse landscape occupied by nomadic hunters, Quivira was a thriving civilization. Its people were skilled agriculturalists who cultivated crops and expert hunters who processed bison on an industrial scale.
2:13
Archaeological evidence from Etzanoa shows that more than 80% of the tools discovered there were specialized for bison processing. These bison products—meat, robes, and even war gear like rawhide shields—were traded far and wide, reaching as far east as South Carolina and as far west as California. The Great Plains, it turns out, was not a backwater—it was a central hub of commerce and culture.
2:43
Quivira itself was enormous, spanning an area at least the size of the Republic of Ireland. Its boundaries stretched from the Kansas River in the north to parts of Oklahoma in the south and into Missouri and Colorado. Despite this vast reach, Quivira has remained almost entirely absent from American history books. Part of the reason is its remoteness. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Quivira was far from the European colonies that dotted the East Coast and the Southwest. Only three Spanish expeditions are known to have visited the region, and by the time French explorers arrived in 1719, the civilization was already in steep decline.
3:31
One of the most fascinating aspects of Quivira's story is its use of a common trade language. Historical documents reveal that the people of Quivira spoke Nahuatl, the language of the Aztec Empire. This language served as a Lingua Franca, or a common language, allowing trade and communication across vast distances. Dr. Blakeslee confirmed this through a chance encounter during a local Day of the Dead celebration, where he met someone from Guadalajara, Mexico.
4:04
This individual recognized Nahuatl words mentioned in historical records—such as "xo," used to call a dog, and "arraca," meaning "welcome." These linguistic connections provide a direct link to Quivira's far-reaching influence, showing how deeply intertwined it was with other Native American cultures across North America and even into Mexico.
4:31
The archaeological evidence supporting these findings is nothing short of astonishing. Pottery fragments found in Quiviran sites trace their origins to distant regions, including North Dakota, Texas, and central Mexico. Quiviran sites also contain an extraordinary amount of obsidian—volcanic glass often used for tools and weapons—originating from as far south as Jalisco, Mexico. In fact, Quiviran sites have more central Mexican obsidian than any other archaeological site in the United States. These discoveries paint a vivid picture of a society that was not only thriving but also deeply interconnected with trade routes spanning the continent.
5:19
Despite its grandeur, Quivira's decline was as dramatic as its rise. The turning point came around 1610, when the Spanish established Santa Fe and began using the Great Plains as a source for enslaved captives. Other European powers soon followed suit, supplying firearms to their Native American allies in exchange for war prisoners.
5:44
These weapons—combined with diseases introduced by Europeans—devastated the Quiviran people. Raiding parties from the west brought steel-tipped weapons and horses, while those from the east were armed with guns. By 1700, the once-thriving nation of Quivira was gone, its people displaced or destroyed.
6:08
For the students working with Dr. Blakeslee, the opportunity to uncover Quivira's history has been life changing. Kait Carter, a graduate student at Wichita State, described the experience as one of endless discovery and passion. "There's so much knowledge out there that could be acquired," she said. "Reconstructing history is extremely interesting. I wish a lot more people were in the field to try and help." Another student, Brogan Gillmore, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the groundbreaking nature of their work. "What we're doing here at WSU is phenomenal. We're seeing a lot of amazing stuff. It blows your mind."
6:52
Dr. Blakeslee's research challenges long-held assumptions about the Great Plains. Quivira was not an empty wilderness inhabited by scattered tribes. It was a thriving hub of trade, culture, and political organization—a legend to the ingenuity and resilience of its people. The story of Quivira forces us to rethink the narrative of pre-Columbian North America and to recognize the incredible complexity of Native American civilizations.
7:30
That's it for today's video, folks. See you next time, right here on Documentify TV. Don't forget, we publish our videos every Thursday and Sunday!

Interesting.

Liz Warren’s lost tribe.

First I’d heard of this Quivira place/culture.

https://search.brave.com/search?q=Quivira

I am more favorable to the Great Plains history from the research book; Empire of the Summer Moon.

If this tribe was Aztec, could their existence explain how thousands of captives were made available to sacrifice by the Mexican Aztecs? And could the fall of the Mexican Aztec nation have contributed to the decline of the Quivera (aka Panhandle Apache?), left without military power or allies, becoming vulnerable to overwhelming incursions of various migrating Plains Indians?

...rediscovered thanks to the meticulous work of Dr. Don Blakeslee and his team at Wichita State University.

I see. Well in Overland Park, KS., where I grew up, we had a main street called Quivira Rd.

Now Quivira has been rediscovered.

“Now Quivira has been rediscovered.”

Agreed - I grew up in the 60s in Arkansas City KS & was in the Boy Scout council based out of Wichita - the Quivira Council. It seems the real discovery is how widely this group, the Quivirans, were populated while conducting trade over an even greater area. Previous study approached the various groups as independent settlements rather than a widely distributed unique civilization.

Sounds like in the end, they didn’t have enough arrows in their quivira...

Bullseye!

https://search.brave.com/search?q=Quivira+nahuatl

Sitting Bull vs Col. Nelson Miles - "Then we will have a fight!"*

The Black Hills - Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee

* Counter argument to the narrative that native tribes were peaceful until the coming of the white man.

The Quivira site was replaced by Apache.

Interesting.

The story of man since the Tower of Babel.