The Caddoes, Atakapans, and Wichitas lived in the southeastern region
The Caddo Peoples
Part of a larger culture known as the Mississippian or Mound Builder Culture
inhabited the Mississippi River Valley area
organized into 3 confederacies
first moved into the Piney Woods during the Late Prehistoric period
had the most advanced culture of all Texas Indians
major crops include:
corn
beans
squash
sunflower seeds
houses were cone shaped building of poles covered with cane and grass
sacred fire-burned all the time in the temple; used this fired to light their own fires
thought that that the gods spoke to them through the chief; believed in a single creator
Caddo men worked alongside the women in the gardens and also hunted and fished. used dogs when they hunted
Tay-yas means friends and this is where the name Texas originated
traded beautiful clay potter and hunting bows of Osage orange (or bodark) wood. In return they received shells from the Gulf Coast, turquoise from the Southwest, and copper from great Lakes region.
The Atakapan Peoples
spoke a language called Atakapan
lived in 5 bands or small tribes spread across the coastal plains from Louisiana to Galveston Bay
2 bands
bidais
lived on the southern edge of the Piney Woods
built permanent house
hunted deer for their skins and meat; sometimes hunted bufalo
Akokisas
lived along Galveston Bay
hunted and gathered for their food
in the summer lived in temporary camps near the coast and fished from canoes made from hollowed out logs
in the fall and winters lived in dome-shaped brush huts covered with bearskins
The Wichita Peoples
Central Plains of Texas
shorter and darker than most other Texas Indians
Men has tattoos around their eyes and were named "raccoon eyes"; women tattooed their faces and bodies with zigzag lines, circles and triangles
farmers who tended large fields of corn, pumpkins, squash,melons, beans,