Transcript Early Native American Civilizations

Early Native American
Civilizations
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
 Indians moved onto the
 Apache
Plains of Texas after the
Spanish arrived and
brought horses.
 Each share many
characteristics
 Comanche
 Kiowa
The Tonkawa
 North-Central Texas
 Depended on buffalo for everything: food, clothing,
shelter.


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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.
Tonkawas, 1898
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.