A Kanza Indian Encampment and earthen log lodge opened in 2003 at the Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead. This attraction will be a significant addition to the expansion plan currently under development at the Farmstead.

This encampment focuses on the culture and history of the Kanza Indian tribe, today called the Kaw Indian Nation.

The Kanzas were indigenous to northeast Kanzas when the first white explorers arrived. They then made treaties with white settlers before finally ceding all land holdings in the region and moving to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) in 1873.

The Kanza were involved in crop raising and big game hunting. The Kanza Indians were semi-nomadic and used tepees during their semi-annual buffalo hunts. They built permanent earthen lodges clustered in villages.

The primary structure is an earthen lodge with an interior diameter of 40 feet.

It is constructed entirely of wood from tree trunks for support and covered with smaller trees and thatched grasses with a top layer of soil. The center structure is constructed of Cottonwood trees 14 feet tall and 14 inches in diameter. The outer ring of the lodge is constructed with mostly hedge and hackberry tree trunks 10 feet tall with 8-inch diameters.

This earthen lodge will serve as a primary instructional facility for students, visitors and field trips.

Two tepees also are part of this encampment.

The encampment is a historically accurate, culturally sensitive replica of a small Kansa Indian village. The Earthen Lodge will serve as a primary instructional facility for field trips, historians and guests of all ages.