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The Coastal Indians of Texas
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Karankawa Indians
The Karankawa
Atakapan Indians
Handbook of Texas Online - Cancepne/Atakapan
Outline of Class Discussion
The Atakapans
Atakapan is a language, not really a tribe; language may have been related to languages of Southeast
Located upper coast/southeast Texas; lived from Houston to east into Louisiana
"Atakapan" is a Choctaw word for "man-eater"
"Akokisas" were Atakapan speakers - bands along coast that lived like Karankawa
hunter/gatherers; lived in small huts; did not farm
Different environments so different lifestyles; some like Caddo, some like Karankawa
north of Akokisas, other bands and tribes of Atakapan speakers including the
Patiris along the Trinity River, Bidias who were part of Caddo confederacy and lived
like Caddo including farming, and Deadoses
Most campsites along Trinity and Sabine Rivers
Atakapans made and used dugout canoes
were short, stocky
tattoos on their bodies, wore very little clothing, but descriptions rare
no known surviving Atakapans; exterminated by mid 1800s
Karankawa:
To south of
Caddo, the Karankawa
Origin of name unknown but supposedly means "dog-lovers" - bred fox-like and coyote-like dogs
They first Indians of Texas to meet Europeans - Cabeza de Vaca, Estebanico, and rest of guys (1528)
May have had earlier contact with Spanish slave raiders
Although Cabeza de Vaca wrote favorably about them, they became known as atrocious, ferocious cannibals, but
there is no indisputable evidence of these European descriptions
Cabeza de Vaca wrote that when some of his men resorted to cannibalism due to
starvation, the Indians were appalled
Lived along the coastal prairie from Galveston to Corpus Christi
Several archaeological sites:
Rockport Focus - green glass points and beads, pottery
Aransas Focus and San Antonio Bay similar to Rockport though no pottery
At least five groups of Karankawa, autonomous but shared common language and culture
Five groups: Coco, Hans, Kohanis, Korenkake (Karankawa proper), and Kopanos (Copano Bay)
All spoke little-known language, Karankawa; only about 100 words of the language have been preserved.
Physical appearance:
One reason Europeans found Karankawa scary was their physical appearance
They were big! - over 6 feet tall, some reports of 7 feet tall (average
Europeans well under 6 feet); well built
Add to that - men usually naked although women wore deerskin skirts and Spanish moss with breechclout ("pabigo") from birth
Then add pierced nipples and lower lip with cane inserted, tattos, paint all over bodies (men and women)
Married women painted all body; maidens simple stripe on foreheads to chin
Covered with shark oil to repel mosquitos
Other people who looked like Karankawa lived in Caribbean, so some suggest came from there originally
Others think they came from further west (displaced Coahuiltecans)
From wherever they came, no one scared the Europeans more
Descriptions included:
"men are so atrocious" - de Solis
"all...bad tempered and ungrateful" - de Solis
"most savage looking human beings I ever saw..." - Texas Ranger Noah Smithwick
"peculiar and striking" - John Jenkins
"unique in their gluttony" - Father Morfi
"they...go naked in most burning sun..." and bath in ice in winter - de Vaca
"There arises from their bodies such a stench that it causes one...to become sick at the stomach." - Father Morfi
"eternally damned" - Roy Bedichek
But Cabeza de Vaca also wrote: "of all the people in the world, they are those who most love their children and treat them the best."
Karankawa Culture:
Cabeza de Vaca described them as a merry, generous people
They rescued him and his me, nursed them, welcomed with
dance ("mitote"), shared what they had
Most of food came from hunt/gathering as they moved in bands in search of food
autonomous bands of 30-40 people although some new evidence of larger villages of 100)
fish, turtles, oysters, other shellfish, bison, deer, antelope, bear, wild hog, grasshoppers, berries, nuts, alligators
used bow and arrows to fish as well as cane traps
used dugout canoes to travel - Europeans feared, could arrive without sound, detection almost impossible; seemed to
magically disappear
skilled archers with powerful bow that was 5-6 feet long made from cane
also used lances and clubs
Karankawa had rich social and artistic lives
No tribal government but did gather for events and warfare
Used smoke signals to communicate over long distances
many ceremonial dances and festivals
Like Caddo, men drank "black tea"; some dances lasted for days
Had competitive games; wrestling so popular that neighboring tribes referred to them
as "Wrestlers."
crafts included making tortoise shell and gourd rattles, whistles, flutes
odd, distinctive pottery with inside coating of asphaltum, a natural tar that washes onto Gulf beaches
also coated inside of basketry
made ornaments of seashell, stone, bone and wood
also engaged in trade with nearby Coahuiltecans and Tonkawas;
Cabeza de Vaca became trader; wanted skins, red paint, canes, sinew, flint
Nomadic lifestyle restricted material possessions
Always on the move, rarely remained at a single campsite for more than a few weeks
Also kept housebuilding and keeping minimalistic
Houses called "ba-ak"
10-12 feet in diameter huts covered with hides and mats
Earth floofs
Poles twisted together to travel in dugouts - woman's work
Probably not matrilineal - married couples became part of husband's band
Generally monogamous but could divorce easily if no children; divorce rare if there were children
Some Europeans reported wives sold, traded and offered selves to get things
Little known about marriage ceremonies
Men took their wives from another band, not from their own
For several months, a man sent his new wife to take food to her family
the woman would then bring back food for the couple to eat
Did have "in-law taboo" - husband could not speak to or enter home of in-laws (wives no restrictions)
Children nursed up to 12 years since adults had to go without food for days, child would die or be weakly if not suckled
Children two names - one used, one secret with magical significance
Magic and supernaturalism important to Karankawa life
Two main deities - Pichini and Mel
Shaman powerful - got power as result of elaborate ceremony
When shaman died, cremated, one year of mourning
Then another ceremony to make power pass onto his relatives by drinking his ashes
Also elaborate funerals for young men and boys while old not mourned
Also "ordeals" to qualify for chieftainship and/or puberty rights (some confusion about this)
Had two chiefs in each band (war and civil) although little authority except in war (no women chief known)
War taken seriously
Although friendly when Europeans arrived, that did not last and became dangerous foes
Described as inhumane, cruel, and ferocious in war
Although accused of cannibalism, no evidence
Many Indians ate bits of victims to capture enemy's courage, but not cannibalism
No eyewitness accounts at any rate
In 1684, French expedition led by Rene Robert Cavelier, Sieru de La Salle, established
Fort St. Louis on Garcitas Creek near Matagord Bay in heart of Karankawa country; while
La Salle gone, attacked settlers killing all but six children who were taken captives; later rescued
Spanish established missions near former Fort St. Louis, both became known as La Bahia because of locations near Matagorda Bay;
established specifically to civilize and Christianize the Karankawas and make them Spanish subjects; but hostilities;
1726 gave up, moved mission to Guadalupe River
New mission in 1754 (Nuestra Senora del Rosario de los Cujanes on San Antonio River)
but short-lived; 1781 closed due to Indian desertions
Third mission (Nuestra Senora del Refugio) build 1791 but Comanche attacks caused depopulation
Spanish little success in converting
Disease depopulated
1819 confrontation with Jean Lafitte's pirates costly; major defeat for Karankawa
There are no known Karankawa alive today
Last known killed 1858 by Juan Cortina
But to end, retained their traditional culture
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