Whispers in the Wind: Rediscovering Native Americans of Texas.

Whispers in the Wind:

Rediscovering Native Americans of Texas

Caddo

Jumanos

Comanches

West Texas Plains

Piney Woods ofEast Texas

Mountains and BasinsRegion

Along Gulf Coastfrom Galveston to

Corpus Christi

Comanches

(most feared tribe)

www.texasbeyondhistory.net

• Dirt storms and tornadoes• “Comancheria”• Battled intruders

Use of Land & Water

Clothing• Breechcloth made of

tanned buffalo hide• Leggings• Buffalo robes• Boots & snowshoes• Painted faces RED• Braided Hair• Feathered Headdresses

Foods

• Buffalo – every part of it used, boiled, broiled, eaten raw or as jerky

• Nuts and berries• Drank warm animal blood

Homes

• Buffalo hide Tepees

www.texasbeyondhistory.net

Customs• Life centered around 2 activities: Hunting & War• Horse = most important possession (buried with

them)• Expert Horsemen

Caddo

www.texasbeyondhistory.net/.../who.html

Use of Land & Water

• Fertile land for farming• Trotlines• Hunted Deer (most important animal)

Clothing

• Deerskin and fur capes• Shells • Tattoos• Men: Mohawks • Women: Long parted in middle

http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/kids/caddo

Do you see any similarities with today’s styles?

Marek Adney of Austin, TX

http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/kids/caddo/images/oldnew.html

Foods• CORN, ate beans, sunflowers,

melons, pumpkins, tobacco and squash

• Deer, buffalo and javelina• Used traps and trotlines

Homes

• Beehive shaped grass huts

• 25- 40 feet diameter. Up to 40 people in one hut

home.netcom.com/~wandaron/caddo.html

Customs• Huge burial mounds• Weepers• Confederacy with 2 leaders:

– 1 war & peace leader– 1 religious leader

• Made Pottery & wove mats from bamboo

www.texasbeyondhistory.net/.../who.html

Karankawas

Use of Land & Water

• Gulf of Mexico for food

• Dugout canoes

• LONG cedar bows

• 3 foot arrows made of sugar cane

• Weapons & tools from seashells or wood

Clothing• Nude or breechcloths and grass skirts• Sugar cane body piercings• Very tall and powerfully built • Coated bodies with alligator/shark grease

to ward off mosquitoes (VERY Stinky!!!)• Tattooed faces with blue lines and figures• Chokers of shell, glass, pistachio nuts or

metal

Foods• Oysters & Clams• Scallops & Fish• Turtles• Locusts• Prairie hens and quail

Homes• Winter months spent along coast: Small

huts of willow poles with draped animal skins and grass

• Summer months spent inland: several sticks with woven mats over it

Customs• Flattened babies heads with

cradleboards• Like other tribes they ate the

flesh of their enemies believing they would gain their enemy’s courage

• Karankawa = dog lovers• Wrestlers• Mitotes

"“Caw Wacham: Flathead Woman with Child”." Online Photograph. Britannica Student Encyclopædia. 2  Sept.  2008  <http://student.britannica.com/eb/art-94957>.

Jumanos

Jumanos

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/kids/about_texas/regions/big_bend/big_kids/

Use of Land & Water

• Settled along Concho river and farmed

• Hunted and gathered• Little Rainfall• Irrigation

Clothing• Striped Tattoos on faces

• COTTON tunics

• Capes or cloaks

• Color feathers

• Yucca Sandals

Food• Pinon nuts, mesquite beans &

squash

• Pottery and gourds to cook

• Buffalo

Gourds

Pinon Nuts

SquashMequite Beans

www.glennwalter.com/honey_mesquite_tree.htm

Homes• Pueblos made of stone or adobe (sun-dried mud)• Square flat roofs partially underground

www.texasbeyondhistory.net/firecracker/index.html

Customs• Striped facial tattoos =

peaceful trader• Special house for visitors• Heads bowed = “welcome”• Arrows were so well-made

Eastern tribes were eager to trade

Mhln.com

Interactive Websites

• How many ways to use a buffalo: http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/kids/buffalo.html

• Buffalo Matching Game: http://americanhistory.si.edu/kids/buffalo/matching/tail.html

• World of the Caddo: http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/kids/caddo/index.html

• Talking Hands http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/st-plains/kids/talking/index.html

• Imagine It: http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/kids/imagine.html