Name of Tribe

Name of CultureGovernment

Food Sources Dwellings

Appearance

transportation

Location in Texas

A. How small or large of a group do they live or associate with? Small nomadic bands to large confederacies?B. Do they have leadership?C. Do shamans have a role?D. How do they interact with other Cultures? Do they fight or trade?

A. What do they look like? Do they have special tattoos, haircuts, jewelry or piercings?B. What do they wear for clothing?C. Are they especially tall or short?D. Do they paint or grease their bodies?

A. How do they obtain their food? Hunter/gatherers? Farmers? Fishermen? A combination of these?B. Do they use special tools or weapons to obtain food?C. What do they hunt, grow, or scavenge?D. Is one type of food more important than others?

A. What do their dwellings look like?B. Do their dwellings show that they have adapted to their surroundings and use available materials?C. Is their housing permanent or temporary? WHY? D. If their housing is temporary, do they take it with them or abandon it?

A. What is their common way of transporting people or equipment when they travel, relocate, or hunt/fish/ gather?

Culture & Tribe

Southeastern

Caddo

Gulf

Karankawa

Gulf

Coahuiltecan

Plains

Comanche

Pueblo

Jumano

Food

Housing

Appear-

ance

Govern-

ment

transpor-

tation

NATIVE TEXANS

Comanche means “enemy” in the language of theUte Indians, their neighbors.

The Comanche became known as “Lords of theSouthern Plains.”

Comanche Government

The Comanche lived in small groups, called bands, thatwere led by chiefs. Band chiefs would all meet together to discuss and make decisions on importantthings.

Comanche Appearance Comanche women wore long deerskin dresses.Men wore deerskin breechcloths,leggings, andshirts. In winter they wore buffalo hide coats.They wore leather moccasins on their feet.

The Comanche wore feather headdresses – theMore feathers, the more achievements. They wore their hair long. Men put it in braids.The Comanche painted their faces for specialfighting or hunting occasions. They often woretribal tattoos on their chests.

Comanche Housing

Comanche lived in tepees of tanned buffalo hidesand long poles The tepee was designed to set upand break down easily like a modern tent. Thewhole tribe could be ready to move in 30 minutes.

Comanche Food

The Comanche staple food was the buffalo whichthey dried or made into a sausage called pemican. They also ate smaller game like deer or rabbit, fished in rivers or ponds, and gathered nuts, berries, and wild potatoes.

Comanche Transportation The Comanche were skilled horsemen.Children began riding around 4 years old.The horse allowed the Comanche totravel long distances in pursuit ofbuffalo herds.

Caddo GovernmentThe Caddo lived in tribes of permanent villages.The tribes were organized into a large confederacyWhich would decide important issues, trade with each other, and provide protection for those whowere threatened.

The Caddos built large mounds of earth to put theirImportant government and religious buildings on.

Caddo Appearance The Caddo grew cotton, dyed it with vegetable dyes, and spun it into beautiful cloth. The Caddo also usedLeather to make clothes. Men usually wore breech cloths when it was warm.

Both men and women tattooed their bodies and faces.

Men would usually shave their heads, leaving one longstrip down the middle. Then they would paint theirshaved heads.

Caddo Housing

The Caddo lived in tall, cone-shaped huts made ofpoles and grass. They were furnished with chairs,Beds, and animal skins. They were quite comfortable.

Caddo Food The Caddo were farmers. Their primary crop wasCorn, but they also farmed beans and squash.Men hunted for small game and fished using atrotline, which they strung across a creek to catch several fish at one time. They would alsofind berries, roots, and nuts.

Caddo Transportation Caddos walked most places. They did have canoesto get down or across rivers. They also used dogs to help them transport items on trips.

Jumano Government

The Jumano lived in small bands and did nothave a chief. Different bands helped eachother occasionally. Jumano representatives would visit other groups to ask for help whenneeded or to trade goods (barter) andServices.

Jumano Appearance The Jumano usually wore clothing madefrom animal hide. The men usually worelittle clothing at all.

Since many Jumanos were peacefultraders (they bartered) throughoutTexas and beyond, they wanted to beeasily recognized. They tattooed stripeson their cheeks. The men shaved theirheads, all except one long lock of hair,which they decorated.

Jumano Housing The Jumano lived in dwellings made of adobe. Sometimes these adobe houses would be builttogether in the form of pueblos.

Jumano Food Farming provided the main source of food for the Jumano.They farmed along the few rivers and learned how toirrigate their crops. They grew corn, beans, and rice.

The Jumano also hunted small game and foraged foredible cactii.

Jumano Transportation The usual form of transportation for the Jumano wasto walk. To help them transport the goods they traded,the Jumano would often attach a travois, or sled, toa dog.

Karankawa Government

Had a chief. This chief was appointed because hewas the first-born male of the oldest member of thetribe.

Karankawa Appearance Karankawa Indians were known to be very tall people.Many were over six feet tall. The men wore simpleBreech cloths and the women wore grass skirts.

Since mosquitoes and other insects were a problem,Karankawas would smear aligator fat over their bodies for protection.

The Karankawa would also tattoo bold patterns on their bodies.

Karankawa Housing

Karankawa housing was temporary grass and canehuts called wickiups.

Karankawa Food

Fall and winter they would camp near the gulf to catchFish and other seafood.

Spring and summer they would camp in the forest tohunt for small game and scaveng for nuts and berries.

Karankawa Transportation The most prized possession of a Karankawa IndianWas his dugout canoe.

Coahuiltecan Government

The Coahuiltecans organized themselves as small bands.Sometimes these small bands made alliances with otherbands.

Coahuiltecan Appearance

*Wore very little clothing. Breech cloths, fiber sandals

* In winter, wore cloaks of rabbit of coyote fur.

* Were short, possibly because of continued poor diet.

Coahuiltecan Housing Coahuiltecan Indians sometimes built wickiup hutsout of poles and grasses.

Coahuiltecan Food

* Men hunted small game with bows and arrows.

* They also scavenged for lizards, snakes, and insects, and cactii.

* A favorite dish was to let a fish lay in the sun for days to rot and fill with maggots.

Coahuiltecan Transportation

They walked. These Indians were nomads – alwaysmoving in search for food.