Texas History

Fort Burrows

2.5 - The Western Gulf Peoples

Main Idea:

The Western Gulf cultures lived in southern Texas near the Gulf of Mexico. Their environment shaped their lives.

Vocabulary:

missionary – a person sent to a place to convert its people to a new religion

( Spanish Roman Catholics were missionaries toward the Indians )

reservation – land set aside by the U.S. government for use by Indian peoples

javelinas – wild pigs

Setting the Scene:

de Vaca described the Coahuiltecan people in 1528. He wrote,

“ These people see and hear better, and have keener senses than

any other in the world. They are great in hunger, thirst, and cold,

as if they were made for endurance of these more than other men.” De Vaca

They lived in one of the harshest environments in Texas.

WESTERN GULF CULTURES
Coahuiltecans adapted to
the lack of natural resources by eating anything they could find / Karankawas made canoes out of hollowed-out logs / Warfare was a fact of life for Karankawas

The Coahuiltecans ( koh-ah-WEEL-tay-kahnz )

N  Lived on the dry plain across the Rio Grande until 1800

N  Never organized into tribes, but lived in hundreds of independent bands

Lifestyle

N  Hunter-gatherers – moved often – ate deer and javelinas, cactus fruits, snakes, armadillos, worms, snails, rotten wood, etc.

N  Lived in dome-shaped huts covered with hides or reed mats

N  Food was scarce and they were not warriors

Fate

N  Driven out of the plain by Lipan Apaches and missionaries

N  Some moved to Mexico

N  Most died of disease brought by the Spaniards

The Karankawas ( dog-lovers or dog-raisers )

N  the Karankawas MOSTLY ate fish (seafood), but also hunted, and gathered plants along the Gulf Coast ( From Corpus Christi Bay to the Bay of Galveston )

N  they traveled by foot or in dugout canoes, made from hollowed out tree trunks

N  Karankawas communicated by sending smoke signals

N  their dogs were a mix between a fox and a coyote, which were bark-less

N  they were taller than most Indians - six to seven feet tall

N  they used a long bow (6’ long) with arrows three feet long

N  they used shark-liver oil to repel mosquitoes

N  there is some evidence that the Karankawas practiced ceremonial cannibalism

•  as reported by Spanish explorer Alvarez de Pineda [ he mapped the Gulf of Mexico ( Texas coast ) in 1519 ]

Diseases spread by the Spanish killed many Karankawas. American settlers in Texas fought and killed many more. Settlers attacked and killed the last remaining group of Karankawas in 1858.

Texas Indians Today

N  about 100,000 Native Americans live in Texas today

N  most are from tribes that came from outside Texas

N  warfare or disease destroyed most of the original Texas tribes

N  those that survived had to settle on reservations

N  Tiguas, the only remaining culture from this chapter, they have a tiny reservation in El Paso ( the pass )

1. How did the Karankawas make canoes ?

A. they made them from a mixture of mud and clay

B. they lashed strips of wood together, like a raft

C. they wrapped animal hides around stick frames

D. they used fire to hollow out tree trunks

2. What is a missionary ?

A. a person who gives donations to people in need

B. a person sent to a place to convert its people to certain religious beliefs

C. a person with one specific goal

D. a person who teaches survival skills

3. How did the environment influence the way in which the Coahuíltecans lived ?

______.

4. How did the Karankawas use the land on which they lived ?

______.

5. How many Native Americans live in Texas today ?

______.

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