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Explore the fascinating cultures of the Karankawa, Coahuiltecan, Caddo, Wichita, Atakapa, and Jumano tribes in the Western Gulf. Discover their nomadic lifestyles, hunting and fishing practices, unique traditions, and impact of European contact.
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The Western Gulf Culture • The Karankawa • Lived on the coast from p.d. Galveston to Corpus Christi. • Both hunted and fished for Food, and gathered for food as well. • Nomadic: during the winter they lived along the coast, fishing and hunting sea turtles, and gathering shellfish. Also hunted birds eggs and hunted deer and small animals.
During the spring and summer, the Karankawa moved inland and camped near rivers on the coastal prairie. • “I passed the entire summer in this country with them in going everywhere in search of food because they possess no cabins or fields. That is why they travel in this manner the entire summer. The men kill a few deer and a few buffaloes and the women search for wild potatoes.” • French explorer Simars de Bellisle
Hunted with large wooden bows and arrows and fished with bows and arrows and fish traps. Karankawa women collected plants, cooked the food, and took care of the camp. Lived in portable wigwams, or circular huts from bent poles covered with animal skins and reed mats. They could house 7-8 people.
Daily life of the Karankawa • Clothing: • Since life on the coast has hot summers and mild winters, they didn’t need much clothing. • Some wore nothing, some wore a deerskin “breechcloth”, which is worn around the waist. • Women wore skirts of deerskin or grass. • Painted themselves with bright colors • To keep insects away, they rubbed alligator fat and dirt on their skin
Children: • Treated their children with kindness • Gave them two names: one which was known only to close family members and one that was widely known. • Belived that a secret name protected them from danger • Because they had never been exposed to European diseases, they quickly fell ill when Europeans arrived.
Coahuiltecan • South Texas Indians • Hunter-gatherers (too dry to farm) • Nomads. Covered lots of Territory looking for food: buffalo, Deer, small mamals. • Diets also included ant eggs, lizards, snakes, spiders and worms. • Used small tools and bows and arrows to hunt.
They didn’t live in permanent houses, they placed skins over bent branches for shelter. • Held festivals and celebrations called mitotes • Celebrated important events, such as special religious occasions, victory in battle, or a plentiful food supply. • Very similar culture to the Karankawa. • Many died when Europeans arrived. Many assimilated into Spanish culture and abandoned their own culture.
Southeastern Culture Area Caddo Wichita Atakapa
Caddo • East Texas Indians • Lived in permanent villages and • Farmed the land. The soil was perfect • for this. • Used crop rotation—a system for growing different crops on the same land over a period of years—to prevent the soil from wearing out. • They also set extra seeds aside for the next years crop and burned forests to provide lands for growing crops. • Grew beans, corn, squash, sunflower seeds, and tobacco.
Men and women shared the responsibility for farming. • Large population due to the overabundance of food. • Developed a large, complex civilization that was split into three confederacies: • Hasinai, Kadohadaco, Natchitoches. • Built temples and mounds used for religious events (still here) • Matrilineal society. • Clothing similar to “typical” Indians: deerskin and grass clothing. They also painted their bodies.
Wichita • West of the Caddo in North Central • Broken into four groups: • Waco, Taovaya, Tawakoni, Wichita • Lived along creeks and rivers. Farmers and hunters. • Lived in permanent houses. (p. 77) • Tattooed their bodies.
Atakapa • Coastal tribe in between Karankawa • Also ran into p.d. Louisiana • Farmers: grew veggies and corn • Corn was a very important crop. You could do many different things with it, like make flour and dough and popcorn. • Some think they learned to farm from the Caddo. • Also used bows and arrows to hunt game, like small animals and buffalo, and alligators.
Lived in huts made of brush. Made pottery and wove baskets. Similar clothing to other tribes of the Southeastern Culture: animal skin breechcloth and grass skirts. Tatooed their faces and bodies. Same fate as other coastal tribes: European disease killed many and almost none were left. Today, the Atakapa-Ishak nation is stationed in Port Arthur, TX.
Pueblo Culture • Jumano • West Texas Indians • Descendants of the Pueblo people of Northern New Mexico. • Adobe houses • Moved south around 1000-1200 and crossed into p.d. Texas, settling along the Rio Grande River. Grew corn along the riverbed. • Also gathered wild plants for food and hunted buffalo.
Lived in large villages 10,000 strong • Little cities. They’d build cities around a central plaza, like a town square. 30-40 people lived in one house. Lived in adobe-brick homes and painted the walls. • Some Jumano hunters lived as nomads on the plains of W. Texas as well.. • Used bows and arrows to hunt. • Wore clothing and shoes made of animal hide, and made jewelry from copper, coral and turquoise. • Tattooed their faces with lines. Hair, pg. 80.
Troubled times • Traded goods when Spanish arrived. The Spanish brought horses, which the Jumano wanted. • Many Jumano, like other Indians, died from illness • Early 1500s: a horrible drought in Texas caused hardships for Jumano. Many moved away. • Faced attacks by Apache (plains). Many left Texas and joined other Native American groups.
The Plains Tribes Tonkawa Apache Comanche Kiowa Indians moved onto the Plains of Texas after the Spanish arrived and brought horses. Each share many characteristics
The Tonkawa • North-Central Texas • Depended on buffalo for everything: food, clothing, shelter. • Lived on the southern edge of buffalo herds • Also gathered for foods: berries, fruits, nuts • Hunted small animals: rabbits, rattlesnakes, skunks • Hair was long and parted in the middle. Both men and women painted their bodies. • Late 1700s: Tonkawa driven from their land by other Plains Indians. • By 1900 the Tonkawa did not exist as a separate Indian group.
Apache • Originally from p.d. Canada, the Apache migrated to SW United States between 1000 and 1400. Two groups made it to Texas • Lepan: western edge of the hill country to West Texas • Mescalero: West Texas to New Mexico • Organized into family groups, or bands • Families would travel and hunt together • Hunted buffalo (pg 84)
Some Lipan Apache farmed • Beans, corn, pumpkins, watermelons. They always moved with the buffalo though • Hair was worn long on one side but short on the other. • Plucked out all their beard and eyebrow hair. Wore earrings and bracelets. • Often raided neighboring Indian tribes for goods • Very non-friendly • Fought with Comanche and Spanish and were driven from Texas.
Comanche • Took over a great amount of land in the Plains of Texas. • Lived in bands led by a chief and a war chief. • Very skilled at riding horses. Very wealthy tribe and very skilled at fighting. • Their land was called “Comancheria”
Kiowa • Last Plains group to arrive in Texas. • Northern Plains (present day panhandle) • Hunted buffalo and gathered berries, fruits and nuts. • Also traded with other Indians. • Became allies with Comanche and controlled “Comancheria” with them.
