Native Texans
“Geography Is Destiny.”
Where You Live
Effects
How You Live
Imagine It!
• What was it like to live 500 years
ago? 2000 years ago?
• Can you imagine not having
supermarkets or malls to buy
food or clothes?
• Can you imagine cooking without
a stove or building your own
house?
st
1
Let’s Review
1. What happens as you travel from
east to west Texas? Why?
2. How does the vegetation also
change going east to west Texas?
3. Remember the types of resources
for making shelters in each
region.
4. Think of the types of foods and
edible animals in each region.
Great Plains
North
Central Plains
Northern
Coastal Plains
Mountains
& Basins
Southern
Coastal Plains
Gulf of
Mexico
North Central Plains
Tonkawa & Kiowa
Tonkawa
• Politically: Had a chief and medicine
man.
• Caught between the crossfire of regional
tribes and Euro-American Settlers
• Economic: Used the bow and arrow,
spears, and knives for hunting
• Traded with the Explorers, especially the
French. They traded skins for rifles and
other goods.
Tonkawa
• Geographic: Lived primarily in the Central
Texas Area
• Were nomadic
• Social: Hunted deer, turkey, rabbits,
mussels. Occasionally would hunt buffalo
if they were in the area. They also fished
in the rivers and creeks.
• Also ate Prickly Pear Cactus, peaches,
acorns, and pecans
• Social: Lived in teepees
Kiowa- Central Plains
• Political: had a
chief, a medicine
man, & tribal council.
• Economic: hunted
buffalo
• Geographic:
roamed the Central
Plains - nomadic.
• Social: Lived in
Teepees.
Karankawas
Southern Coastal Plains
Karankawas
• Political: Had a chief and medicine man
• Economic: They had long bows for
hunting, fishing hooks made of sea shells
& fishing nets.
• Geographic: Lived along the Coast
• Were seasonal wanderers
During the winter,
Karankawas would fish
and hunt and gather
shellfish along the gulf
coast.
During the summer, when
fish would migrate out to
sea, the Karankawas
would break up into
smaller groups or bands
and go inland to hunt and
gather. They ate different
varieties of berries and
roots and hunted small
game such as deer and
rabbit.
http://www.texasindians.com/karank.htm
Karankawas
• Social: Built dug-out canoes by hollowing out
tree trunks
• Social: Ate fish, oysters, and turtles, plant
roots, sugar cane, wild berries, other edible
plants, and Spanish Explorers (cannibals as
part of spiritual ceremony).
Karankawas
• Social: Camped in shelters that could quickly
built with branches, palm leaves and animal
hides called a Wickiup
• Social: As a custom, men pierced their lower
lips and the sides of their chests with sugar
cane making them very scary looking.
Karankawas
• Extra: Were tall and muscular
• Extra: They smeared alligator grease all
over their bodies to protect against
mosquitoes and other insects
Wickiups:
Sturdy but Temporary Structures
Why did the Karankawas sometimes
have to relocate?
Coahuiltecan
• Political: They had a tribal or group leader
(chief)
• Economy: They used long spears for
hunting as well as weapons
• Geographic: The lived primarily in the brush
country of South Texas along rivers and
creeks.
• Geographic: Roamed in small bands–
nomadic
Coahuiltecan
• Social: They ate rodents, lizards, snakes,
insects, lice, and on occasion killed
antelope, deer, and javelina.
• Also ate prickly pear cactus, mesquite
beans,
• Social: used woven baskets to carry food
in
• Social: They built temporary shelters out
of mud, sticks, moss, and brush
A modern wickiup reconstruction showing
the dome shape and the thatched outer
layer covered with animal hide.
Coahuiltecan
Comanches
Great Plains
Comanches
Comanche
• Political: Had chief, medicine man, and
tribal council
• Economic: Captured wild mustangs or
stole horses from other tribes and settlers
to demonstrate prowess
• expert horsemen
• “Lords of the Plains”
• Hunted buffalo
Economic: They relied on buffalo.
The abundance of grass
Comanche
• Geographic: nomadic, moved according to
the hunting seasons
• Social: Ate pemmican which was a mixture
of dried buffalo meat, nuts, and berries (sort
of like trail mix).
• Social:
• Parted their long hair
down the middle with a
red stripe and two
braids.
Comanche
• Social: Painted their faces, horses, &
teepees
• Social: lived in teepees
Social: Teepees: Early "Mobile
Homes"
Used the travois, a sled pulled by a dog or
horse, to move their teepees and supplies.
Social: Native Americans of the
plains were extremely skilled at
using the bow and arrow.
Lipan Apaches
Great Plains
Lipan Apaches
Lipan Apache
• Political: Had chief & tribal council
• Economic: Traded with other tribes;
hides, robes, honey, pecans, & other
Native Americans they had captured
The Lipan Apaches hunted buffalo
but also gathered plants and farmed.
They traded meat, skins, and other
animal products for blankets, maize,
and other goods. This is a Trade Center.
Lipan Apache
• Geographic: moved around depending on
the season, nomadic
• Social: lived in shelters made of animal
hides or sticks, depending on available
resources
• Social: wore footwear that protected their shin
from sharp cactus spikes
• Social: they were very spiritual & respected all
aspects of life as gifts from the Creator
Teepees: Early "Mobile
Homes"
Tigua & Jumanos
Mountains & Basins
Jumanos
Political Government and other
facts…
Jumanos & Tigua
• Political:
• Economic: Would hunt for deer, bear, and
buffalo using the bow & arrow and spears
• Also farming (cotton)
• Traded jewelry with other tribes and the
Europeans.
Jumanos & Tigua
• Geographic: both tribes were sedentary:
• The Jumanos lived in the Southwest near
the Davis Mountains, settling near the Rio
Grande River as a water source (used to
irrigate their crops)
• The Tiguas lived in West Texas
near El Paso.
Geographic:
The Jumanos
settled along
the Rio Grande
River for a
water source.
The Jumanos
used the river
to irrigate their
farms.
Jumanos & Tigua
• Social: food- corn, pumpkins, squash,
beans, and vegetables.
• Built tools to use for gardening.
• Social: Made pottery and Wampum
necklaces (made from polished ends of
shells). Used Turquoise for jewelry.
• Social: Built homes out of adobe brick
(mixture of ash, dirt, grass, and water that
was dried by the sun). Sometimes homes
were multi-story, using ladders to get to
second level.
Pueblos: Community Houses
Adobe bricks used to build shelter
Economic: Farming allowed Native
Texans to be less dependent on hunting
wild game.