Texas Native AmericansChapter 2

It is best to think of Indians as “peoples” or “cultures” rather than as “tribes”.

Not all Indians who had the same culture belonged to the same tribe. In fact,

some Indians did not belong to tribes. Instead they lived in small groups or

bands.

THE SOUTHEASTERN PEOPLES

CADDOLOCATION

The Caddoes were part of a larger culture known as the Mississippian or Mound Builder Culture.

Caddoes first moved into the Piney Woods during the Late Prehistoric period.

East TexasRich soil and plenty of rainfall

CADDO• BLUE

CADDOHousing:

Caddo houses were cone shaped buildings of poles covered with cane, grass, & mud

Sturdy, beehive shaped housesSmall hole in the top for firesMore than one family

CADDOFood Source/Daily Life:

They fished and hunted deer and small animals (rabbit). Crops were more important in their diet than meat and fish. Major crops included corn, beans, squash, and sunflower seeds.

Sometimes buffalo

CADDOAppearance:

Caddoes made most of their clothing from deerskin, which they tanned a deep black. They wore mostly skirts and leggings

Men and women tattooed streaks on their faces and plant and animal designs on their bodies.

CADDOTrading:

They traded beautiful clay pottery & hunting bows, they received shells from the Gulf Coast, turquoise from the Southwest, copper from the Great Lakes region. Skilled workers used these trade goods and made useful & decorative objects. The fact that Caddoes had such specialized craft workers shows how advanced their culture was.

CADDO factsThey were organized into 3 confederacies

or alliances of people or groups that unite for a common purpose.

The Caddoes had the most advanced culture of all Texas Indians. Even in prehistoric times, they settled in villages, lived and farmed in small clearings in the forest.

Men helped the women with crops Built mounds for burial and worship

ATAKAPANLocation/Landforms:

South of the Caddoes lived Indians who spoke a language called Atakapan. The lived in five bands or small tribes spread across the coastal plains from Louisiana to Galveston Bay.

Coastal AreaMarshland

ATAKAPAN• ORANGE

ATAKAPANHousing:

Atakapan houses were cone shaped buildings of

Smaller than Caddo and portable like an umbrella

ATAKAPANFood Source:

Fish, sea life, deer, bear, bird, shark, and alligator (sea food)

ATAKAPANAppearance:

Short and stocky

ATAKAPAN facts:

Tanned animals with deer brains (French fought over these hides)

Nomadic

WICHITALOCATION:

For protection, villages joined together to create three tribes- Tawakonis, Wacos, and Wichitas.

West of Caddo Moved along the Red River and Brazos River Rich, sandy soil

WICHITA• GREEN

WICHITAHousing:

Clay floors Dug moats around the houses Look much like the beehive Caddo houses “Spirit” door Tipis when hunting buffalo for the skins

WICHITAFood Source:

The Wichita were farmers who tended large fields of corn, pumpkins, squash, melons, beans, and groves of plum trees.

After the fall harvest, entire bands left their homes and spent the winter hunting buffalo. During these months they lived in tipis. A tipi is a cone-shaped tent made of poles covered with animal skins. In the springtime the bands returned to villages and planted crops again.

The Wichita would make pemmican (jerky) out of the buffalo.

WICHITAAppearance:

The Wichita people, were shorter & darker then most other Texas Indians. Men had tattoos around their eyes “raccoon eyes.” Women tattooed their faces & bodies w/zigzag lines, circles, & triangles

WICHITAFacts:

Lakes and cities named for them Made lots of things from pumpkin (ropes,

baskets, etc.) Farmers and Hunters

THE WESTERN GULF PEOPLES

COAHUILTECANSPINK

COAHUILTECANSLocation/Landforms:

Southwest Plains and the Rio Grande area toward Northern Mexico. Bottom part of Texas. They lived in hundreds of independent bands.

Mesquite thickets, desert, scattered grasslands, and cactus

COAHUILTECANSHousing:

Coahuiltecans lived in dome-shaped huts made by cutting and bending young trees and covered them with reed mats and animal hides. They could quickly roll up the mats and hides, place on their backs to carry, and move to the next camp.

COAHUILTECANSFood Source:

The Coahuiltecans were hunter-gatherers. They ate snakes, lizards, armadillos, worms, snails, spiders, and insects (ants).

With meat in short supply, plants formed the major part of the Coahuiltecans diet. Women and children gathered leaves, cactus tuna (nopalitos), fruits, mesquite beans (very sweet), and nuts.

They also hunted deer, javalinas, and rabbit

COAHUILTECANSAPPEARANCE:

Yucca sandalsRabbit skin shawlsLong, loin cloths

COAHUILTECANSFACTS:

The most primitive or least advanced tribe of all the Texas’ tribes

NomadicHad an ambush technique and would then run for days

Would use a burning torch to attract fish (night)

KARANKAWAPURPLE

KARANKAWASLocation/Landforms:

The Karankawa Indians lived along the Gulf Coast

Galveston Bay to Corpus ChristiMarshlandGoose Island Grove

KARANKAWASHousing:

Karankawa houses held about eight people and were easy to move.

Small poles with mats of leaves, grass and palm leaves

Portable like and umbrella

KARANKAWASFood Source:

They survived by fishing in coastal bays and by hunting and gathering wild plants near the coast.

Fish/shellfishWild riceAlligatorWater plantsDeer, bear, and birdsharks

KARANKAWASAppearance:

Karankawas were taller than most Texas Indians. The average man was about six feet tall. Both men and women painted their bodies with red clay or charcoal, and the men pierced their lower lips and chests with small pieces of cane. They wore very little clothing. The women wore clothes made of deer skin or Spanish moss.

KARANKAWAS FACTS:

Nomadic Used alligator grease for insect repellant Pottery was waterproofed with natural

asphalt Dugout canoes Special ceremony dance (mitoks)

THE PLAINS PEOPLES

TONKAWAS• DARK

GREEN

TONKAWASThe Tonkawa were a group of independent

bands. At first they lived on the Edwards Pleateau west of present-day Austin & San Antonio.

In the 1600’s and 1700’s, the Apaches and Comanches moved into the Tonkawas’ lands. They pushed the Tonkawas away from the Edwards Plateau and onto the Balcones Escarpment.

Central Texas.Treeless areas

TONKAWASHOUSING

Caves of limestoneTipis

TONKAWASFood Source:

Before other groups pushed them off their land, the Tonkawas hunted buffalo and small game. Buffalo was their main source of food and materials for making clothes and tools. Once they had horses, the Tonkawas tried to move to the plains. The Apaches and Comanches prevented this.

Instead the Tonkawas were pushed east, where even fewer buffalo lived. There the Tonkawas became hunters and gatherers. Brush and grass replaced buffalo hides as covering for their tipis. The plant foods they gathered included roots, seeds, fruit, acorns, and pecans. Their meat came from rabbits, skunks, rats, rattlesnakes, and land turtles instead of buffalo.

TONKAWASFACTS:

NomadicReligion centered around hunting prayers

Women set-up the campsFunerals have vision quests

The Diet of the plains peoples

BuffaloDeerCornBeansPumpkinsWatermelons

APACHES• JUMANO

BLUE (took over the area)

APACHESLocations/Landforms:

Around A.D. 1000, a Native American people moved south from the present-day Canada across the Great Plains. They posed a threat to the people who already lived on the land. In order to survive, these newcomers became fierce fighters.

“Apache” comes from the Zuni word apachu, which means “enemy”.

Two of the Apache tribes, the Lipans and Mescaleros, were very important to Texas history.

APACHESHousing/Food Source:

The Lipans 1st appeared in the Texas Panhandle in the 1500’s. They lived as independent bands. The Lipans wore clothes made of deerskin. To keep warm in the winter, they wrapped themselves in buffalo hide robes. Buffalo hides also covered their tipis.

The Lipans hunted buffalo and other animals and sometimes farmed. During spring and summer they lived in small villages where the women planted and harvested crops of corn, beans, pumpkins, and watermelons. In the fall and winter they moved about, following buffalo.

The Mescaleros were among the Apache tribes that settled in New Mexico. Their lands stretched from present-day El Paso to the Pecos River. Unlike the Lipans, the Mescaleros were a hunting and gathering people.

The homes of the plains peoples

Tipis, also known as Teepees

COMANCHESLocation/Landforms:

The 1st Comanches lived in the northern Rocky Mountains in what is now Wyoming. They were poor hunter gatherers and their environment offered little food. After they acquired horses from the Spanish they left the mountains to hunt buffalo. They became expert riders.

They first appeared in New Mexico and the Texas Panhandle in the early 1700’s. Over time, at least 13 bands of Comanche roamed the plains. Each band had a chief with limited power. He could act only with the approval of the band’s council. All adult males were members of the council. The entire council had to agree for decisions to take effect.

COMANCHESFood Source:

The Comanches entire way of life depended on the buffalo. The animals provided clothing, shelter, and most of their food.

The Comanches were nomads: people who wander from place to place in search of food.

COMANCHESHousing:

Like other Plains Indians, the Comanches lived in tipis.

COMANCHESAppearance:

They decorated their bodies and made most of their clothing from buffalo hides. Comanche women had short hair. Men allowed their hair to grow long, parting it in the middle, with braids on each side.

KIOWASLocation/Landforms:

They came into Texas late-after 1832-and occupied only the very northern part of the Panhandle. Their main territory lay to the north of Texas. The Kiowas raided other groups in Texas for many years. The Kiowas’ attacks brought them in conflict with the Comanches. For about 50 years, the two peoples were bitter enemies. Around 1790 they made peace. The Kiowas and Comanches became allies, or people who help each other to benefit them both.

KIOWASHousing, Food Source:

The Kiowas’ culture was like that of most other Plains peoples. They were nomads and buffalo hunters who rode horses, lived in tipis, and traveled in bands. Their diet, dress, and appearance were similar to those of the Lipans and Comanches.

More special information about the plains peoples

The Apaches were a warlike people and forced other tribes, like the Tonkawas, to move to other territories.

The Kiowas practiced the Sun Dance, an important and elaborate religious ceremony.

THE PUEBLOAN PEOPLES

The location of the Puebloan peoples

West TexasMountains and

Basins region of Texas

The homes of the Puebloan Peoples

Adobe pueblosHuts covered with

grass or animal skins

The Diet of the Puebloan Peoples

CornBeansSquashCactusDeerBirdsRabbitsFish

JUMANOSHousing:

Jumanos farmed and lived in pueblos made of adobe.

JUMANOSLocation:

Around A.D. 1200 the Jumanos established villages on the land between the Pecos River & the Rio Grande.

JUMANOSFood Source:

The Jumanos grew corn, beans, and squash. Most of their fields were close to the river and streams, providing them with reliable sources of water. Unlike in most other Texas Indian cultures, Jumano men did most of the farming.

Farming was difficult during droughts, or periods with little or no rain.

JUMANOSTrading:

The Jumanos were great traders. They supplied corn and other crops from the farming villages to Plains Indians. In return they received animal hides, meat and wild nuts and beans.

JUMANOSAppearance:

They painted their faces in horizontal lines. Men cut their hair short except for one long lock, to which they attached feathers. Women had long hair, which they sometimes wore in braids.

The arrival of the Apaches ended the Jumanos’ trade and drove the Jumanos toward the Rio Grande.

CONCHOLocation/Landforms:

The Concho Indians lived southeast of the Jumanos, near present day Presidio.

CONCHOFood Source/Daily Life:

Conchos and Jumanos were allies. The Jumanos and Conchos also shared a similar way of life. The Conchos grew corn, beans, and squash.

Concho women did the farm work and gathered wild plants to eat. The Concho diet included nuts, berries, roots, and the fruit of cactus.

The main job of Concho men was hunting. They used bows and arrows, dug pits, and set traps to hunt deer, birds, rabbit, and other small animals. They also made nets to fish in rivers and gathered clams to eat.

The Conchos lived in huts that were covered with grass or animal skins.

CONCHOAppearance:

Men and women wore little clothing in warm weather. In winter they dressed in capes or ponchos made of rabbit fur. They painted their faces and bodies and sometimes decorated their hair with feathers.

TIGUALocation:

The Tiguas are the oldest group of Native Americans still living in Texas today. They settled along the Rio Grande, in a pass between two mountain ranges. There they established the town of Ysleta. It was the first permanent town in Texas.

TIGUAFood Source/ Daily Life:

The Tigua way of life is similar to that of the Jumanos and Conchos. They were farmers, and most of their food came from the corn, beans, and squash they grew. Their meat came from deer, rabbits, antelope, and other game that the men could find. Women and children gathered berries and other wild foods.

The council governed the tribe and elected the chief, who served for life. The chief, was the Tiguas’ religious leader.

More special information about the Puebloan Peoples

Kiva: large room where the tribal council met and where other community activities occurred

Cacique: Spanish word for a Tigua religious leader