Southeastern & Gulf CulturesMain Idea: Native American people of Southeastern and Gulf Cultures

developed different ways of life based on their environment and

needs.

Essential QuestionsEssential Questions

How does the environment affect the How does the environment affect the development of a society?development of a society?

How did the American Indians adapt How did the American Indians adapt to and modify their environment?to and modify their environment?

SE/Gulf Farmers & SE/Gulf Farmers & GatherersGatherers

a.a. Some were Some were farmersfarmers, others were mainly coastal , others were mainly coastal fishersfishers, and , and still others still others gathered gathered their food.their food.

b.b. During the 1600s new Native American groups joined these During the 1600s new Native American groups joined these 3 3 groups and began groups and began raising crops and building permanent raising crops and building permanent settlementssettlements..

The CaddosThe Caddos• The Caddos settled in East Texas along

the Coastal Plains. They were highly advanced farmers and fishers.

• Two large groups, or confederacies, of Caddo people, the Kadohadacho and Hasanai, lived in Texas.o Some confederacies were matrilineal—

tracing their descent through their mothers

The CaddosThe Caddos CaddoCaddo-moved into Eastern -moved into Eastern

Texas from Arkansas, Texas from Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. Louisiana and Oklahoma. They built permanent They built permanent villages and became expert villages and became expert farmers. They practiced farmers. They practiced crop rotationcrop rotation. .

The The CaddoCaddo grew beans, grew beans, corn, squash, melons and corn, squash, melons and tobacco. They organized tobacco. They organized their tribes into 2 to 3 their tribes into 2 to 3 confederacies. confederacies.

The The CaddoCaddo built mounds built mounds and temples for religious and temples for religious events. events.

In addition to a religious In addition to a religious and political structure the and political structure the CaddoCaddo had healers and had healers and craftspeople. craftspeople.

The Caddo was a matrilineal society. This means they traced their families through their mother’s side. Their houses were wooden poles covered with grass. Some may have plastered the outside walls with mud. Both men and women tattooed and painted their bodies.

Caddo Round House-up to 50 feet tall, second level inside.

The CaddosThe Caddos• They lived in They lived in domed-shaped hutsdomed-shaped huts, ,

had an had an organized government organized government systemsystem led by a chief, and greeted led by a chief, and greeted Europeans with the word Europeans with the word TejasTejas, , which means “friends”.which means “friends”.

• SmallpoxSmallpox eventually reduced their eventually reduced their number; and in 1859 they were number; and in 1859 they were forced to move to present-day forced to move to present-day Oklahoma (i.e. Oklahoma (i.e. Indian TerritoryIndian Territory) on a ) on a reservation.reservation.

The CoahuiltecansThe Coahuiltecans• The Coahuiltecans lived a The Coahuiltecans lived a nomadicnomadic

life moving from life moving from campsitecampsite to to campsite in the dry, brushy land of campsite in the dry, brushy land of the the SouthSouth TexasTexas PlainPlain..

• They They huntedhunted javelina, deer, and javelina, deer, and bison with bows and arrows, and bison with bows and arrows, and they they gatheredgathered dried plants and dried plants and ground them into flour.ground them into flour. They also ate They also ate bugs and other bugs and other insectsinsects. Considered . Considered very very primalprimal..

CoahuiltecansCoahuiltecans--hunted and gathered hunted and gathered food in south Texas. food in south Texas. They were nomadic They were nomadic and covered long and covered long distances following distances following buffalo, deer and small buffalo, deer and small animals. They also animals. They also

fished, and ate seeds, fished, and ate seeds, berries, roots, plants, berries, roots, plants, insects, lizards, insects, lizards, snakes, spiders and snakes, spiders and worms. They did not worms. They did not build permanent build permanent homes. They worked homes. They worked hard, but they liked to hard, but they liked to gather for feasting and gather for feasting and dancing. dancing.

Scavengers of the desert…ate anything that wiggled or crawled.

The CoahuiltecansThe Coahuiltecans

•ShamansShamans, or people believed to , or people believed to have the power to summon have the power to summon spiritsspirits and cure the and cure the sicksick, were important , were important to them.to them. •By the time Texas became a state By the time Texas became a state in in 18451845, most Coahuiltecans , most Coahuiltecans disappeareddisappeared from the Gulf region. from the Gulf region.

The KarankawasThe Karankawas• The Karankawas lived along the The Karankawas lived along the

Southeast Gulf Coast and on Southeast Gulf Coast and on islands islands between Galveston and between Galveston and Corpus Christi BaysCorpus Christi Bays..

• They used their most prized They used their most prized possession—possession—dugoutdugout canoescanoes—for —for fishing and hunting small animals.fishing and hunting small animals.

• Cabeza de Vaca Cabeza de Vaca wrote about his wrote about his time living with them.time living with them.

The KarankawasThe Karankawas KarankawaKarankawa-hunters -hunters

and gatherers who and gatherers who lived in the area of lived in the area of Galveston to Corpus Galveston to Corpus Christi. They were Christi. They were nomads. They used nomads. They used dugout canoes to dugout canoes to fish, hunt turtles and fish, hunt turtles and collect shells. They collect shells. They also hunted deer and also hunted deer and small animals. They small animals. They lived in lived in wigwamswigwams..

Karankawa wigwam

The Karankawa did not need much clothing. Their clothes were made out of deerskin or grass or moss. Men would pierce pieces of sharpened bone through their lips and chest to show how macho they were. To keep the insects away, they rubbed alligator fat and dirt into their skin. Some reports say they were cannibals (eating human flesh!).Taller Indians so they

carried bows that were up to 6 feet tall.

The KarankawasThe Karankawas• In the In the 1820s1820s, when North , when North

American settlers moved into the American settlers moved into the area, fighting with settlers area, fighting with settlers erupted.erupted.

• By the By the mid-1800smid-1800s, almost all , almost all Karankawas were displaced or Karankawas were displaced or killed.killed.

The WichitasThe Wichitas• The Wichitas moved from present-day The Wichitas moved from present-day

KansasKansas to lands along the Trinity, Red, to lands along the Trinity, Red, and Brazos Rivers.and Brazos Rivers.

• They They hunted buffaloshunted buffalos, , farmedfarmed, and were , and were known for their tattoos around the eyes known for their tattoos around the eyes known as “known as “raccoon eyesraccoon eyes”.”.

• WomenWomen held held leadershipleadership positions and positions and shared work with the men.shared work with the men.

• They traded with the They traded with the FrenchFrench but often but often fought fought SpanishSpanish settlers, who tried to settlers, who tried to bring them into Spanish missionsbring them into Spanish missions..

The Wichitas were called the raccoon-eyed Indians because of their eye tattooes. They settled along the Red River. They grew beans, corn, melons and squash. The Wichita used horses to hunt buffalo and deer. They lived in permanent villages, some building houses like the Caddo.

Other SE/Gulf Other SE/Gulf GroupsGroups• The The AtakapansAtakapans lived along the coast lived along the coast

between Galveston Bay and the Sabine between Galveston Bay and the Sabine River.River. Very similar to the Very similar to the KarankawaKarankawa, , though some were though some were farmersfarmers..

• In the 1820s the In the 1820s the CherokeesCherokees moved to moved to East East Texas Texas from parts of the U.S. and from parts of the U.S. and adopted adopted the ways of the “white man”the ways of the “white man” by learning by learning English and taking English/American names.English and taking English/American names.

• Between 1795 and 1816, the Between 1795 and 1816, the AlabamaAlabama and and CoushattaCoushatta nations moved to East Texas and nations moved to East Texas and settled on a settled on a reservationreservation near near LivingstonLivingston..

AtakapanAtakapan-between -between the the CaddoCaddo and the and the Gulf of Mexico lived Gulf of Mexico lived the the AtakapanAtakapan people. people. They were farmers, They were farmers, and corn was their and corn was their main crop. Not only main crop. Not only did they farm, but did they farm, but they hunted wild they hunted wild game and alligator. game and alligator. Little is known about Little is known about their houses, but it is their houses, but it is thought they lived in thought they lived in huts made from brush. huts made from brush.

Essential QuestionsEssential Questions

How does the environment affect the How does the environment affect the development of a society?development of a society?

How did the American Indians adapt How did the American Indians adapt to and modify their environment?to and modify their environment?