1. Texas Indians

2. The First Americans
It is thought that most Native Americans are descendents from people that crossed over from Asia to America on a land bridge– the Bering Land bridge.
As the world's glaciers and ice sheets melted over the following millennia, rising sea level flooded the land bridge.
This picture demonstrates the diminishing of the bridge over thousands of years
First of all, the first people in America actually came from some place other than America. One widely accepted theory is that the first people traveled from Asia by walking over a land bridge, called the Bering Land Bridge that once existed btwn Alaska and Asia. This land bridge eventually disappeared due to flooding cause by melting glaciers.
Moore, Edward R & Texarch Assoc., Texas Indians,

3. Migration Paths
As the people began to migrate to America, they all branched off and to different locations. As you can see, most of the people traveled to areas with a lot of water. The people that we will be focusing on eventually, thousands of years later, migrated to the Texas area.
Moore, Edward R & Texarch Assoc., Texas Indians,

4. Texas before European Exploration

5. Apache Nomadic Lived in villages of tepees
Made up of two groups called the Lipan and Mescalero Apache
Hunted buffalo
Led by warrior chiefs
Skillful warriors who could shoot many arrows very quickly
Pierced their left ear with six to eight holes
The men would grow the hair on their right side very long, sometimes almost to the ground

6. Apache Gardening was important, but soon hunting became more important
Strong fear of the dead
Language of the Southwest-Athabaskan (Na-Dene)
Religion was related to ceremonial dances that tied them to the natural world
Lived in the southern part of the Great Plains
 Traded animal hides and other goods they produced
For more info click more info

7. Comanche Nomadic and lived in tepees
Horses were a central part of their culture after Europeans arrived in the New World
Believed spirits gave them special powers
Would not eat food if a person’s shadow fell on it while it was cooking
Scalped their enemies as a symbol of strength and to keep the person’s soul from going to an afterlife
Traded animal hides, beads, and stolen goods between tribes
Hunted buffalo and other large animals

8. Comanche
Followed a moral code (a set of rules) defining right and wrong
Decorated their body with bright colors of paint and tattoos
Had long hair
Men wore headdresses of buffalo horns
Language was Uto-Aztecan
Roamed the Great Plains
A war chief, peace chief, and a council were elected to lead each tribe
For more info click here

9. Caddo Sedentary (lived in one place)
Richest and most advanced of all Texas Indians
Farmers
Matrilineal (traced their descent only through their mother’s family)
Made beautiful pottery, rugs, baskets, and wall hangings that they traded with other tribes
Used different fishing methods such as hooks and trotlines
Used modern farming methods such as crop rotation

10. Caddo
Women treated with more dignity than women from other American Indian groups
Members greeted outsiders with tears and wailing noises that sounded like crying, but were friendly
Lived in dome-shaped huts
The word “Tejas” came from the Hasinai language
Believed in a supreme God
Lived in East Texas
Governed by confederacies (leagues of about 25 tribal groups) and led by elected leaders
For more info click here

11. Jumano Sedentary (lived in one place) Peaceful people
Had long droughts (little rain) so farming was difficult
Built irrigation canals to water their crops of corn, squash, beans, and other vegetables
Hunted small animals
No organized government
Only kind of government was different groups would organize trading and celebratory events.

12. Jumano
Lived in pueblos (Spanish for villages) and their homes were made of adobe (mud bricks)
Entire families lived in one big room
Language was Tiwa
Believed in pledging friendship
Lived along the Rio Grande near present day El Paso
Joined other tribes and were gone soon after the Europeans arrived
For more info click here

13. Karankawa
Nomadic
Moved around in small bands of people and led by an elected leader, no central governing system
Painted their body with bright colors, some thought they were scary looking
Tattooed and pierced their bodies
Lived in semi-permanent shelters in winter and were more nomadic in summer
Tall and muscular

14. Karankawa Traded foods, beads, pottery
Children draped Spanish moss about their shoulders and wore deerskin skirts
Children were given two names to protect them from danger while growing up
Spoke a little-known language called Karankawa
Rubbed alligator fat over their body to keep insects away
Lived along the coast of Texas
For more info click here