I’m your host!Kicking Bird!

The Karankawa

Gulf of Mexico

I am Big Moak, the Karankawa.

Karankwa were very

tall- over six feet.

The Karankawa

Pierced nipples and lower lips

with pencil-sized sticks.

Loved and spoiled their kids- hardly made them

do any work.

Karankwa means ‘dog

lovers.’

Friendly unless you messed with them.

Canoes Canoes very VERY IMPORTANT to the Karankawa. They needed them for fishing,

attacking enemies, but also to get from one campsite to another. Karankawa were

nomads AND hunter-gatherers. They moved

around constantly searching for food.Our canoes had to be big

enough to carry our family and all of our belongings,

because we moved around a lot.

The Karankawa also made nets, whichthey used to catch marine creatures.

Roots of some coastal plant (but we don’t know

which plant it is)

The “Big Tree” on Goose Island. It is estmated to be 1,000 years old.

I’m a wikiup: a light, portable

house. Why did the K Indians need light,

portable houses?

Canoes, ready for fishing, fighting,

and traveling to a new campsite.

Piles of oyster shells. This is one way that scientists in

modern times find ancient K

campsites.

Karankawa bands had two chiefs:

One ran the business of the tribe,

the other was in charge during times of war.

Be on the lookout for

canoe thieves...

hee-hee

Children were nursed by their their mommas until age 12. There is a reason for this!

Karankawa were covered in lice. They ate the lice.

Karankawa were constantly pestered by mosquitoes and other bugs. To repel them, they would cover their bodies with mud and spoiled alligator and shark grease! They smelled awful!

The Karankawa were not big-time cannibals, but they would feast on an enemy to gain some of that enemy’s ‘powers’. It

also was an intimidation technique.

Boys went through a ritual at age 13 to become a ‘man’. The boys were cut all over their back with razor-sharp oyster

shells. Then he was sent out alone to survive for a few days!

There’s the little canoe thief! Get him!

The Karankawa also made

necklaces of shells and lots

of pottery.

What else are the Karankawa remembered for?

These guyswere tall!

The Karankawa

Shelter: WikiupA light, portable house

made of sticks with grass or hides draped

over it.

Most Remembered For: Being tall, being cannibals (even though they rarely actually ate people), being the first tribe that explorers met

Food: Fish, oysters, turtles, clams, deer, rabbits, roots, berries, nuts,

other Indians.