Texas Native Americans
The Western Gulf Culture
Karankawa
 Coahuiltecan

◦ Pronounced (coahwheeltecan)
Karankawa
Hunter-gatherers lived from present day
Galveston to Corpus Christi Bay (Gulf
Coastal Plains)
 They were nomads
 Used dugout canoes to paddle through bays
and inlets
 During the spring and summer, the
Karankawa moved away from the coast.
 They camped near rivers and springs on flat
costal prairie.

Hunting and Shelter
Men hunted with large wooden bows and
arrows
 Traps were used to fish
 They also hunted deer and small animals
 They built portable wigwams – circular
huts made from bent wooden poles
covered with animal skin. Each wigwam
could house 7-8 people.

Karankawa Clothing
Because of hot summers and mild winters
not much clothing was worn
 Men wore a little cloth around the waist,
or nothing at all
 Women wore deerskin or grass skirts
 They painted themselves with bright
colors
 Alligator fat or dirt was used as insect
repellent

Karankawa Family
Treated children with kindness and much
love
 Children were given two names one
known only to close family
 They believed that the secret name
carried magic that protected children
from danger

Karankawa Ending
The Karankawa fell ill and died at an
alarming rate in the 1500’s.
 Why do you think this happened?

Coahuiltecan (coahwheeltecan)
Were also nomads who hunted and
gathered
 Lived in Southern Texas (South Texas
Plain) were the climate was too dry to
support farming
 Their clothing was much like the
Karankawa (very little)
 Both men and women wore long hair,
hanging down to the waist

Coahuiltecan Tools
Archaeologist believe that they did not
use many tools
 They were limited to stone hammers,
knives, bows and baskets

Coahuiltecan Food
Hunted buffalo, deer and small mammals
 The men dug pits to trap javelinas
 They started fires to drive animals toward
waiting hunters.
 Their diet included ant eggs, lizards,
snakes, spiders and worms

Coahuiltecan Night Life
They worked hard to survive, but made
time for fun!
 Groups would gather for feasting and
dancing at all-night celebrations called
mitotes.
 These gatherings celebrated special
events such as religious occasions, victory
in battle, or plentiful food supply.

Coahuiltecan Shelter
They did not build wigwams, but instead
placed animal skin over bent branches to
sleep and rest under
 They laid on grass or deerskin beds

Coahuiltecan Ending
Many died from disease in the 1500’s
 The survivors adapted to change and
began to live among the Spanish
abandoning their traditional way of life.

The Southeastern Culture
Caddo
 Wichita
 Atakapa

The Caddo (Cad-oh)
Moved into eastern Texas from presentday Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma
more than 1,000 years ago.
 The rich soil and abundant rain allowed
for the growing of crops

Caddo Farming
The Caddo built permanent villages and
became expert farmers
 Many of their methods are used by Texans
today!
 They used crop rotation – a system of
growing different crops on the same land
over a period of years. This prevents the
soil from wearing out.

They set aside seeds for the next years
crops
 Practiced slash and burn farming.
 Burned forest to provide land for growing
crops.
 Grown were beans, corn, squash,
sunflower seeds, and tobacco.

In most Texas Indian groups women
farmed, BUT the Caddo valued farming so
highly that the men shared farming
responsibility.
 Men cleared the fields and made farming
tools.
 Tools were hoes made of wood, or
shoulder blades of buffalo.

Caddo Society
Large population because of plentiful
constant supply of food
 This allowed some people to take on
special jobs.
 They were organized into three
confederacies – these groups shared a
common language and were allies.
 Allies-friends who supported one
another.

Each confederacy built temples and
mounds that were used for religious
events.
 These mounds were also used as burial
sites for important religious or political
leaders.

Matrilineal Society
Families were traced through the
mother’s side.
 When couples married they lived with
the wife’s family
 Women made the important decisions
concerning the family.

Shelter
The men built sound sturdy houses.
 They would plaster the outside of their
houses with mud.

Caddo Hunting and Fishing
When fishing they would bait a series of
hooks and tie them to a string that was
stretched across a creek.
 They used bow and arrows to hunt deer,
buffalo and small animals.

Clothing
During the cold winter months men and
women wore clothing made from animal
skins.
 In the summer they wore deerskin
breechcloth.
 Women wore clothes/skirts made from
grass and straw.
 They tattooed their bodies and would
also wear paint.

Caddo’s and Europeans
The Caddo were one of the first tribes
the Europeans met.
 Despite the difficulties the Europeans
brought the Caddo played an important
role in Texas history.

The Wichita
Lived to the west of the Caddo along the
Red River.
 They like the Caddo had a confederacy
with 4 different groups.

◦
◦
◦
◦
Waco
Taovaya
Tawakoni
Wichita
Wichita Arrival
The Wichita were originally from Kansas
and Oklahoma.
 They moved into North Texas in the
1700’s.
 This was after the Spanish had brought
horses into the area.

Wichita Life
They used horses to hunt buffalo and
deer.
 They lived along creeks and rivers, where
they grew beans, corn, melon, and squash.

Physical Characteristics
Like the Caddo, they tattooed their
bodies.
 Women tattooed circles around their
eyes and lines from their lips to their
chins.
 Men tattooed their eyelids and a short
line at the corner of each eye.
 This made them look like raccoons!
 They called themselves raccoon eyes.

The Atakapa
Lived from Galveston Island to the Sabine
River and into present day Louisiana.
 Part lived close to the coast and others
lived more inland.

Atakapa by the Coast
The land wash marshy.
 Saltwater sometimes flooded the land, so
farming was impossible in this area.
 They used wooden fish traps.
 They also used canoes to gather shellfish
which they raked from the sea bottom.

The Inland Atakapa
The Atakapa who lived inland from the
gulf farmed.
 They grew several vegetables, but corn
was their primary crop.
 They may have learned how to farm from
the Caddo.
 They also hunted wild game with bows.
 Part of their diet were alligators and
buffalo.

The Pueblo Culture
Only had one tribe called the Pueblo.
 Today they are called the Jumano.

The Jumano
In Northern New Mexico a group of
people called the Pueblo lived as farmers.
 They built permanent houses cut out of
adobe – Made by drying clay bricks in
the sun.
 Sometime between the years 1000 and
1200 they moved into Texas along the Rio
Grande.

Name Change Pueblo  Jumano
The Pueblos who moved south down the
river are known today as the Jumano.
 Adobe villages were built along the Rio
Grande.

Jumano Food
They grew crops despite the intense heat
and dry summers.
 Farming was done close to the Rio
Grande.
 Advantages/disadvantages?

The Jumano gathered wild plants for
nourishment.
 Buffalo was their main source of protein.

Jumano Expansion
Some Jumano became Nomads.
 They moved into the plains of western
and central Texas.
 They supplied their brothers near the Rio
Grande with meat and hides.
 The Jumano had many allies.
 Trading was done with tribes to the east
and west.

Villages near the Rio
Their villages were huge!
 They had 10,000 people living in only five
villages.
 We have less than 700 students attending
Tolar I.S.D.!

Houses
The houses held around 30-40 people.
 They built multiple houses around a
central plaza.
 Jumano houses were made of wood and
adobe which helped keep they cool.
 The roofs were flat and made from tree
branches.
 They often painted the inside of their
houses with vibrant colors.

Not all Jumano lived in the village.
 Some lived in separate adobe houses or
grass huts.
 The Jumano nomads lived in temporary
shelters made from animal hide or grass.

Jumano Battle
Trading was done with allies, but they also
had enemies.
 Apache and Jumano did not get along.
 The Jumano would fight with heavy clubs
and shields made of buffalo hide.
 They were experts at molding hides into
clothing and protection, this was done by
beating the hide with stone.

Appearance
Jewelry was made of copper, coral and
turquoise.
 Clothes were made from animal hides.
 Tattoos were striped down their faces.

Jumano Hair
Women wore their hair long and tied it
to the head with a hair band.
 Men shaved it all except on the middle of
the head.
 They would leave a little mohawk down
the middle of the head and on the very
top a long lock of hair which was fastened
with feathers.
 They would paint the mohawk.

Disease, Drought, and Apache
In the 1500’s the Spanish arrived and
befriended the Jumano.
 The two traded Jumano goods for Spanish
horses.
 Spaniards also introduced disease to the
Jumano.
 This killed much of the tribe.

Drought
Drought hit Texas very hard in the 16 and
1700’s.
 This dried up many of the rivers and
farming became very difficult.
 Much of the grass also died driving the
buffalo to move away.
 The tribe was left with no way to irrigate
and nothing to hunt.

The Last Straw





The Apache constantly attacked the Jumano.
Apache’s longed for the Jumano’s trade
connections and hunting ground.
In the early 1680’s Juan Sabeata asked the
Spanish for protection against the Apache.
Juan Sabeata had once lived with the Spanish,
but adopted the Jumano way of life.
Although Sabeata knew many Spaniards his
request was ignored.
Survivors

Any Jumano that survived joined other
tribes or adopted the Spanish way of life.
The Plains Culture Area
The Great Plains stretch from Canada
into Southern Texas.
 Native Americans of the Plains hunted
buffalo.
 They would hunt them by foot,
sometimes chasing a herd off a cliff to kill
many at once.

Plains Tribes
Tonkawa
 Apache
 Comanche
 Kiowa

Tonkawa
The Tonkawa lived on the North-Central
Plains of Texas (Edwards Plateau).
 They lived in tepees – Movable homes
made of animal hide stretched over long
wooden poles.

Tonkawa Food
The Tonkawa depended on the buffalo for
their food, clothing, and shelter.
 They also gathered wild berries nuts and
wild vegetables.
 They were nomads.

Tonkawa Physical Characteristics
The men wore their hair long and parted
down the middle.
 Women wore their hair either long or
short.
 Both men and women painted their
bodies.
 They wore very little clothing.

Tonkawa Ending
In the 1700’s the Tonkawa were driven
from their hunting grounds – areas
where they hunted for food.
 The Apache forced them to move and
took over their grounds.
 Tonkawa’s tried to adjust and become
farmers, but had little success.
 By the 1900’s the Tonkawa no longer
existed as a separate Indian group.

Apache
Originally lived in Canada.
 They migrated into the American
Southwest between the year 1000 and
1400.
 Two Apache groups

◦ Lipan
◦ Mescalero (Moved from Texas to New Mexico
in the 1700’s)
Apache Bands
Bands-small groups made up of a few
families
 Apache bands would travel, hunt and fight
together.
 These bands lived close together for
defense against other Indians and also for
ceremonies.

Apache Hunting
Horses aided in hunting
 Hunted in teams to herd buffalo and kill
many at one time
 Butchering buffalo and using every piece
of the animal

◦ They would dry the meat in the sun, cutting it
into thin slices.
◦ When it was dry they would grind it, like flour
for later consumption.

They would stretch the hides over
branches and make tub-shaped boats.
Lipan Apache
Some Lipan Apache farmed which was
unusual for Plains Indians.
 They grew beans, corn, pumpkins, and
watermelon.
 When the buffalo moved the Lipan
followed sometimes leaving their crops.
 The Lipan who did not farm would travel
to New Mexico to trade meat and hides
for vegetables.

What Did They Look Like?
Men would cut their hair very short on
the right side, but allow the hair on the
left of the head to grow long.
 Men tied feathers and decorations to
their hair.
 Men would pluck their beard and
eyebrow hair!
 Women wore their hair long
 Women also wore earrings

Apache Behavior
Often times they would attack Pueblo
villages and Spanish towns.
 They were, for a period of time, “the bad
boys of Texas”.
 Their tirade would soon end with the
arrival of the Comanche.

Comanche
Originally lived in what is now the
Western United States
 After they acquired horses the Comanche
moved into the Great Plains
 The Comanche did not migrate into Texas
until the 1700’s.
 They moved to Texas to have access to
more buffalo and wild horses.

Leaders
The Comanche lived in bands headed by a
peace chief, usually an older man.
 The best rider and fighter served as the
war chief of the band.

Hunting
Their skill as buffalo hunters made them
very wealthy.
 How did this make them wealthy?

Fighting
The Comanche were very skilled fighters.
 They soon controlled much of the plains,
including northern and western Texas,
which the Spanish called Comancheria.

Kiowa
The Kiowa were the last Plains group to
arrive to Texas.
 In the 1800’s they moved to the northern
plains to escape from enemy attacks.
 Kiowa men did the hunting and gathering.

Hunters/Gatherers
The Kiowa did not farm.
 They hunted buffalo
 Gathered berries, fruits, and nuts
 They would trade hides for fruits and
vegetables with the neighboring
Comanche

Kiowa Looks
They wore their hair long, but over their
right ear their hair was cut short.
 Kiowa women prepared the buffalo hide,
sewed clothing, and made pemmican.
 Skilled fighters, the Kiowa became allies of
the Comanche.
 They resisted being forced from their
Texas hunting grounds. Together the
Comanche and the Kiowa fought till the
end.
