Texas Almanac, 1941-1942 Page: 38
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38 TEXAS ALMANAC.-1941-42.
dian mounds found in many points in
Northeast and East Texas, and on the
lower Coastal Plains. From these have
been taken, largely under the direction
of Professor Pearce, evidences of varied
and, in places, relatively advanced cul-
tures. Much of the life habits and migra-
tion of prehistoric man has been ascer-
tained by these means. From the kitchen
middens of a wide area in the central
portion of the state, and from the rock-
shelters in Southwest Texas, have been
taken similar evidences, indicating the
prehistoric cultures of this wide area.
Along the Canadian River and in the
breaks of the escarpment on the east
side of the Great Plains is found evi-
dence of the Pueblo culture of New
Mexico. Dim traces of dwellings having
more than 100 rooms have been discov-
ered, together with artifacts of turquoise
and fish bone, that indicate an eastward
extension of the more western cultures,
or at least their influences.
In the caves of the Big Bend region in
the Guadalupe, Davis, Hueco, Chisos and
other mountain ranges are evidences of
a culture related to the Basket-Maker or
Pueblo culture of New Mexico. As in the
instance of the Panhandle culture, ar-
chaeologists are disagreed as to whether
it is an extension of Pueblo and Basket-
Maker culture, or whether it is a differ-
ent culture showing the influence of the
New Mexico tribes.
As a result of these archaeological
findings and research of historians
among the manuscripts of early explor-
ers, a fairly definite idea of the distri-
bution of the Indian population at ap-
proximately the time of the founding of
the first missions has been attained.
The Great Caddo Family.
The largest group of Indians living in
Texas during the dates, 1690 to 1730, was
that of the Caddo tribes who dwelt in a
crescent-shaped area extending from the
southern extremity of the pine belt in
East Texas, northward up the Trinity
Neches and Sabine Valleys to the Red
River and thence westward along the
Red River to the present Texas Pan-
handle. This great Indian family of
Caddo stock seemingly was broken into
three majqr subclassifications: (1) the
Hasinai Corifederacy in the lower half of
the Texas Pine Belt and extending across
the Sabine into Louisiana; (2) the Caddo
proper group living in Northeast Texas
and adjacent sections of Arkansas, Louis-
iana and Oklahoma, and (3) the Wichita
group dwelling in the Upper Red River
Valley and on the headwaters of the
Trinity.
The Hasinai Confederacy included the
Nacodoche, Nasoni, Neche, Heinai, Nado-
co and other tribal subclassifications.
They were rather far advanced cultur-
ally, living in permanent homes and cul-
tivating the soil. It was among these
Indians that the first Texas mission in
the east, San Francisco de los Tejas, was
founded, and it was from these Indians
that the word Tejas, apparently meaning"friendship," and used as a watchword
among the members of this confederacy,
was derived. Sometimes the Hasinai
Confederacy is referred to as the Tejas
group, though strictly speaking this is
not correct.
To the north and northeast of the
Hasinai Confederacy was the region of
the tribal groups usually referred to as
the Caddoes proper, including the Grand
Caddoes, Little Caddoes, Nachitoches,
Adaes, Natsoos and other tribes. Like the
related Caddoes to the south they dwelt
in permanent abodes, tilled the soil and
maintained a rather high cultural state.
Early explorers said that there was little
variation among the dialects of the two
confederacies.
The third Caddo group consisted of the
Wichita Confederacy, whose grounds ap-
parently lay along both sides of the Red
River, from the approximate location of
present Grayson County to the east line
of the Panhandle, extending southward
into the upper valley of the Trinity. Sub-
classifications included the Wichitas
proper, Taovayos, Tawakanis (or Tahua-
canas), the Yscanis and others. These
tribes are now accepted as a branch of
the Caddo stock, although their dialects
undoubtedly varied considerably from
that of the lower groups, and their hab-
its were more nomadic.
Gulf Coast Indians.
Along the Gulf Coast, from the Sabine
to the Rio Grande, lay the grounds of
tribes, described by Professor Pearce as
sustaining a sea food economy. Their
cultural status was considerably below
that of the Caddoes. Apparently, they
were seminomadic, although their
ranges were rather limited, and they did
not maintain permanent shelters. Most
of them have left undeniable evidence
of cannibalism in varying degree.
Farthest to the east were the Atta-
capas, dwelling around Sabine Lake and
for a short distance along the channel
of this river to the north. Immediately
to the west lay the Arkokisas and the
Deadoses, dwelling on the coastal
prairies of the Gulf and on the southern
fringes of the Big Thicket. In the Trin-
ity Valley, and immediately north of
Trinity Bay, these three tribal groups,
possibly related, occupied the narrow
area lying between the Gulf Coast on
the south and the Hasinai Confederacy
on the north. To the west were the
Didais. Still farther westward, extend-
ing approximately from Galveston
Island to San Antonio Bay were the
Karankawas, including the Cujanes, Co-
panes, Coapites, Cocos, Carancaguases
and other tribal subclassifications. From
accounts they were nomadic within their
rather narrow range along the coast and
without permanent dwellings and sus-
tained by a sea food economy. They were
undoubtedly cannibalistic and were de-
scribed by Cabeza de Vaca and later
writers as vicious, cruel, undependable,
and as maintaining generally a low cul-
tural status.
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Texas Almanac, 1941-1942, book, 1941; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117164/m1/40/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.