Native Texans

Early Americans First people to come to North

America may have migrated from Asia about 37,000 years ago.

These first explorers did not keep written records, so we refer to this period as

pre historic.

Early Great Civilizations Mayans

• Southern Mexico and Central America (Mesoamerica)

Aztecs• Mesoamerica

These two cultures are believed to have influenced Native Texans culture from artifacts to crops.

Agriculture and Settlement Early Texans first started practicing

farming and other agricultural activities around 700 A.D.• Farming was simple:

Trees and brush were first cleared and burned. Poked holes in the ground and then put the seed in the hole.

• Farming produced more food then hunting and gathering

By using agriculture efficiently, the Native Texans were able to settle in one place.

Native Texans of the Gulf Coast

The Coahuiltecans• Small game hunter and gatherers

Gatherers were mostly women.• Nomads

When the food ran out of one place they would move to another

This harsh lifestyle made them ideal endurance runners.

The Karankawas• Fisherman

Used canoes to catch fish and mollusks• Used alligator grease to ward off mosquitoes.

Native Texans of the East The Caddoes

• Largest of the East Texas tribes. Built sturdy grass lodges and lived in large

villages. Their major chief was called “the caddi”

• Lived along the Agelina and Neches Rivers.

Other East Texas tribes:• Atakapans, Alabama, and the Coushatta.

Native Texans of the Plain Apaches

• Learned very quickly how to hunt on the plains. Men wore high boots for protection from thornes and also wore headbands to

trap sweat. Mescalero Apaches

• Were known to raid other tribes as well as known for their farming skills.

• Enemies of the Comanches. Comanches

• Fine horsemen, known as the “Lords of the Plain”• Also known as raiders.

Would take goods and captives. Kiowas

• As with the Comanches and Apaches, they were known as skilled riders. Worked with the the Comanches to drive the Apaches from their territories. Among the most feared native groups on the plain.

Natives of North Central Texas

Tonkawas• Hunted Buffalo and deer.

Traded the deer hides for goods and weapons.• Later joined the European settlers in

fighting off the Comanches. Wichitas

• Farmers: corn, beans, pumpkins, squash, and melons.

• Very skilled artisans.• Women were held in high regard.

Native Texans of the Far West

Jumanos• Lived in farming villages of one room houses.

Houses were made of “adobe”. Adobe kept the homes cool in the summer and warm in the

winter. Inside of the homes were brightly painted.

Tiguas• Also lived in adobe houses.

Cooked there food outside in round adobe ovens.• Skilled artisans by turning clay into beautiful

pottery.• Grew cotton and wove it into cloth.

Late Comers Cherokees

• Arrived later from the east when the pressure of more settlers pushed them west.

• Farmers• Intermarried with other tribes and became an

important part of Texas history. Kickapoos

• Arrived from the Great Lakes area around 1830.• Lived in small huts which were round and

covered by mats.• Farmers

Rise of the Europeans

Decline of Native Texans Europeans brought disease

• Smallpox, influenza and measles

Food supply running low.• Many Native Texan tribes depended on the

Buffalo to survive.

Forced out of their territories to live on Reservations.

Reservations Small area of land given to the Native

Americans to live on.• Most tribes in the U.S. were driven into

reservations far from there natural territories.

Alabama-Coushattas, Tiguas and the Kickapoos are the only tribes with reservations in Texas.

Native Texans Today