Caddo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Caddo Caddo Caddo Caddoan dialects have converged into a single language. The current Chairperson of the Caddo is LaRue Parker. This article covers the Caddo as a tribe, or nation. For other Caddoan languages see: Caddoan languages History Total population circa 1700: 8,000 circa 1990s: 3,371 Regions with significant populations United States Arkansas, and Texas Louisiana, Oklahoma, Languages 3 separate dialects of Caddo and English Related ethnic groups Native American North American Natives Southeast Natives Caddo "Sibling" groups: Native American North American Natives Great Plains Natives Pawnee Southeast Natives Wichita Sho-e-tat, a Louisiana Caddo man. Image from 1916. The oral traditions of the Caddo suggest that they emerged from underground in northern Louisiana. They developed their culture in Arkansas and Louisiana and spread out to the south and west from there. The Wichita and Pawnee are related to the Caddo, a fact attested to in that the Wichita and Pawnee spoke Caddoan languages. Between 500 and 800 AD the Caddo emerged as distinct and separate nation. The Caddo were maize farmers and enjoyed good growing conditions most of the time. However, the Pineywoods were effected by the Great Drought, from AD 1276-1299.[1] This same drought is believed to have effectively destroyed the Anasazi of the Southwest. The Caddo tribes were The Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who, in the 16th century, inhabited much of what is now East Texas, western Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma, and the 1 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia divided into three confederacies -- the Hasinai, Kadohadacho, and Natchitoches -- which were linked by a common language. The Haisinai and Kadohadacho lived in what is now East Texas and the Natchitoches in what is now Northwestern Louisiana. The Haisinai lived in the land from Nacogdoches, Texas, which was originally a Caddo settlement, area to the Neches River. The Haisinai were given the name Tejas by Spanish Explorers, based on the Caddo word táysha?, "friend," and this later became the source of "Tejas" and later "Texas" (Bolton 2002:63-64). The Kadohadacho settled the land from the Caddo Lake area to the Red River. The Natchitoches settled around Natchitoches, Louisiana, which was originally a Caddo settlement, and in the Cane River Valley. Caddo reservation in Oklahoma and in 1874 the Caddo officially united as a distinct tribe. Geography The Caddo lived in the Piney Woods eco-region of the United States up to the foothills of the Ozark Mountains and often near the Caddo River. The Piney Woods is a dense forest of deciduous and conifer flora covering rolling hills, steep river valleys, and intermittent wetlands called Bayous. Several Caddo villages were resettled, including the community of Elysian Fields, Texas, and Nacogdoches and Natchitoches both of which have kept their original names. The Caddo were progressively moved further west until they reached what is now western Oklahoma. The geography of the drier plains was quite a contrast to the lush hilly forest that were formerly their homeland. The Caddo’s food varied in many types, the most common being dried corn. Sunflower seeds and pumpkins were also important staples with cultural significance, as were wild turkeys. Institutions The Caddo Nation of Oklahoma is a federally recognized tribe. It was previously known as the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma. A tribal constitution, adopted in 1938 and revised in 1976, provides for a tribal council consisting of eight members with a chairperson, based in Binger, Oklahoma. Their tribal complex, dance grounds, and the Caddo Heritage Museum are located south of Binger. 5000 people are enrolled in the tribe, with 2500 living within the state of Oklahoma. The tribe operates its own housing authority and issues its own tribal vehicle tags.[2] They maintain administrative centers, dance grounds, several community centers, and a very active NAGPRA office. Several programs exist to invigorate Caddo traditions. The tribe sponsors a summer culture camp for children. The Hasinai Society and Caddo Cultural Club both keep Caddo songs and dances alive, while the Kiwat Hasinay Foundation is dedicated to preserving the Caddo language. A map showing the de Soto expedition. This section shows Moscoso’s route through Arkansas, and Texas, and then eventually to Mexico after de Soto’s death. Based on the Charles M. Hudson map of 1997. The Caddo first encountered Europeans in 1542 when the Hernando de Soto Expedition came through their lands. De Soto’s force had a violent clash with one band of Caddo Indians, recorded by his expedition as the ’Tula’, near Caddo Gap, Arkansas. This event is marked by a monument that stands in the small town today. With the arrival of missionaries from Spain and France a small pox epidemic broke out that decimated the population. The Caddo invited the European missionaries to return and upon their return a worse epidemic reduced the population to only 1,000. In 1859, the state of Texas removed the remaining Caddo from its territory to a See also • Caddoan village bundle • Caddo Lake 2 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia • List of sites and peoples visited by the Hernando de Soto Expedition Caddo the Caddo People. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 1988. ISBN 0-890-96342-8 • Perttula, Timothy K. The Caddo Nation: Archaeological and Ethnohistoric Perspectives. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1997. ISBN 0-292-76574-6 • Smith, F. Todd. The Caddo Indians: Tribes at the Convergence of Empires, 1542-1854. College Station: Texas A&M Press, 1995. ISBN 0-890-96981-7 • Swanton, John R. "Source Material on the History and Ethnology of the Caddo Indians." Bureau of American Ethnology. Bulletin 132. (1942) ASIN B000NLBAPK References [1] Great Drought. (2008). Encyclopædia Britannica. (Retrieved September 30, 2008). Encyclopædia Britannica Online [2] Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. 2008 Pocket Pictorial. Page 5 Bibliography • Bolton, Herbert Eugene. The Hasinais: Southern Caddoans As Seen by the Earliest Europeans. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002. ISBN 0-806-13441-0 • Carter, Cecile Elkins. Caddo Indians: Where We Come From. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001. ISBN 0-806-13318-X • Dorsey, George Amos. Traditions of the Caddo. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1997. ISBN 0-803-26602-2 • LaVere, David. The Caddo Chiefdoms: Caddo Economics and Politics, 1700-1835. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1998. ISBN 0-803-22927-5 • Newkumet, Vynola Beaver and Howard L. Meredith. Hasinai: A Traditional History of External links • Official Caddo Nation of Oklahoma Website • Caddo Heritage Museum • Kiwat Hasinay Foundation - Caddo Language for Caddo People • Online Exhibit on Caddo Culture • Sketch of a Caddo Chief from A pictorial history of Texas, from the earliest visits of European adventurers, to AD 1879, hosted by the Portal to Texas History. • Treaty between the Republic of Texas and the Caddo and other Indian tribes, 1844 from Gammel’s Laws of Texas, Vol. II. hosted by the Portal to Texas History. Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caddo" Categories: Native American tribes in Oklahoma, Native American tribes in Texas, Federally recognized tribes in the United States, Caddo County, Oklahoma This page was last modified on 12 May 2009, at 19:05 (UTC). All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. (See Copyrights for details.) Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) taxdeductible nonprofit charity. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers 3