Kechi was named for the Kichai people. Archaeologists speculate that the Caddo Confederacy, Wichita, Kichai, or non-Caddoan Tunica could be their descendants. Ancestors of the Wichita, Kichai, Teyas, Escanjaques, and Caddo lived in what is now Oklahoma. Kichai people's allotted lands were mainly in Caddo County, Oklahoma. Forty-seven full-blood Kichai lived in Oklahoma in 1950. The Kichai were most closely related to the Pawnee. Historically they spoke the Wichita language and Kichai language, both Caddoan languages. The Kitsai (also Kichai) language is an extinct member of the Caddoan language family. The French first record the Kichai people's presence along the upper Red River in 1701. The Kichai were victorious, despite losing their leader in the first attack. The Kichai were part of the complex, shifting political alliances of the South Plains.