Atlantis Online
March 29, 2024, 09:53:50 am
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: Did Humans Colonize the World by Boat?
Research suggests our ancestors traveled the oceans 70,000 years ago
http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jun/20-did-humans-colonize-the-world-by-boat
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

CADDO NATION - Area Mystery Mounds Delight Archaeologists - HISTORY

Pages: 1 [2]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: CADDO NATION - Area Mystery Mounds Delight Archaeologists - HISTORY  (Read 4106 times)
0 Members and 65 Guests are viewing this topic.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #15 on: February 04, 2009, 07:56:08 am »









Southern Indians



Caddo is a popular name contracted from Kadohadacho, the name of the Caddo proper, as used by themselves. It is extended by the whites to include the Confederacy. Most of the early writers, and even many of the later ones used different names for the Kadohadacho. Chevalier de Tonti, a French explorer, called them Cadadoquis, M. Joutel, historian for La Salle's exploring party, called them Cadaquis, and John Sibley, Indian agent at Natchitoches, called them Caddoes. They were called Masep by the Kiowa, Nashonet or Nashoni by the Commanche, Dashai by the Wichita, Otasitaniuw (meaning "pierced nose people") by the Cheyenne, and Tanibanen by the Arapaho.

The number of tribes formerly included in the Caddo Confederacy can not now be determined. Only a small number of the Caddo survive, and the memory of much of their tribal organization is lost. In 1699 Iberville obtained from his Taensa Indian guide a list of eight divisions; Linares in 1716 gave the names of eleven; Gatschet procured from a Caddo Indian in 1882 the names of twelve divisions, and the list was revised in 1896, by Mooney, as follows: Kadohadacho (Caddo Proper), Nadako (Anadarko), Hainai (Ioni), Nabaidacho (Nabedache), Nakohodotsi (Nacogdoches), Nashitosh (Natchitoches), Nakanawan, Haiish (Eyeish, Aliche, Aes), Yatasi, Hadaii (Adai, Adaize), Imaha, a small band of Kwaps, and Yowani, a band of Choctaw. A more recent study by Dr. Herbert E. Bolton, of the University of California, reveals the fact that there were two confederacies of the Caddoan linguistic stock inhabiting northeastern Texas, in stead of one, as indicated by Mooney and Fletcher. Bolton says that the Caddo whose culture was similar to the Hasinai, lived along both banks of the Red River from the lower Natchitoches tribe, in the vicinity of the present Louisiana city of that name, to the Natsoos and Nassonites tribes, above the great bend of the Red River in southwestern Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma. The best known members of this group were the Cadodacho Grand Cado, or Caddo proper, Petit Cado, upper and lower Natchitoches, Adaes, Yatasi, Nassonites, and Natsoos. On the Angelina and upper Neches rivers, lived the Hasinai, that comprised some ten or more tribes, of which the best known were the Hainai, Nacogdoche, Nabedache, Nasoni, and Nadaco.

Of the names mentioned by the different writers nine tribes named by Mooney in his list are found under varying forms in the lists of 1699, by Iberville, and 1716, by Linares. It will be noticed from the above lists that both Mooney and Bolton included the Cadodacho, Natchitoches, Yatasi, and Adai in the Caddo Con federacy. It appears from the evidence at hand that during the eighteenth century two confederacies existed instead of one as indicated by Mooney. In this paper the Yatasi, Adai, Natchitoches, Natsoos, Nassonites, and Cadodacho will be considered as the tribes that belonged to the Caddo Confederacy.

It is impossible at the present time to identify all the tribes that belonged to the Caddo Confederacy, but a sketch of the best known tribes that inhabited the Louisiana territory will be under taken. The Natchitoches lived on Red River, near the present city of Natchitoches, Louisiana. Whether the army of De Soto came in contact with them is unknown, but the companions of La Salle, after his death, traversed their country, and Douay speaks of them as a powerful nation." In 1730 according to Du Pratz, the Natchitoches villages near the trading post at Natchitoche numbered about two hundred cabins. The population rapidly declined as a result of the wars in which they were forced to take part, and the introduction of new diseases, particularly small pox and measles.

In 1805 Dr. John Sibley, Indian agent at Natchitoches, in a report to Thomas Jefferson relative to the Indian tribes in his territory said:

There is now remaining of the Natchitoches but twelve men and nineteen women, who live in a village about twenty five miles by land above the town which bears their name near the lake, called by the French Lac de Muire. Their original language is the same as the Yattassee, but speak Caddo, and most of them French.

The French inhabitants have great respect for this nation, and a number of very decent families have a mixture of their blood in them. They claim but a small tract of land, on which they live, and I am informed, have the same rights to it from Government, that other inhabitants in their neighborhood have. They are gradually wasting away; the small pox has been their great destroyer. They still preserve their Indian dress and habits; raise corn and those vegetables common in their neighborhood.

The Yatasi tribe is first spoken of by Tonti, who states that in 1690 their village was on the Red River, northwest of Natchitoches. In the first part of the eighteenth century, St. Denis invited them to locate near Natchitoches, in order that they might be protected from the attacks of the Chickasaw who were then waging war along Red River. A part of the tribe moved near Natchitoches, while others migrated up the river to the Kadohadacho and to the Nanatsoho and the Nasoni.

At a later date the Yatasi must have returned to their old village site. John Sibley, in a report from Natchitoches, states that they lived on Bayou River (Stony Creek), which falls into Red River, Western division, about fifty miles above Natchitoches. According to Sibley's report they settled in a large prairie, about half way between the Caddoques (Cadodacho) and the Natchitoches, surrounded by a settlement of French families. Of the ancient Yattassees (Yatasi) there were then but eight men and twenty-five women remaining. Their original language differed from any others, but all of them spoke Caddo. They lived on rich land, raised plenty of corn, beans, pumpkins, and tobacco. They also owned horses, cattle, hogs, and poultry.

The Adai village was located on a small creek near the present town of Robeline, Louisiana, about twenty-five miles west of Natchitoches. This was also the site of the Spanish Mission, Los Adaes. The first historical mention of the Adai was made by Cabeca de Vaca, who in his "Naufragios", referring to his stay in Texas, about 1530, called them Atayos. Mention was also made of them by Iberville, Joutel, and some other early French explorers. In 1792 there was a partial emigration of the Adai, numbering fourteen families, to a site south of San Antonio de Pejar, southwest Texas, where it is thought they blended with the surrounding Indian population. The Adai who were left in their old homes at Adayes, numbered about one hundred in 1802. According to John Sibley's report in 1805 there were only twenty men of them remaining, but more women than men. Their language differed from that of all other tribes and was very difficult to speak, or understand. They all spoke Caddo, and most of them spoke French also. They had a strong attachment to the French, as is shown by the fact that they joined them in war against the Natchez Indians.

The Cadodacho (real Caddo, Caddo proper), seem to have lived as a tribe on Red River of Louisiana from time immemorial. According to tribal traditions the lower Red River of Louisiana was their original home, from which they migrated west and northwest. Penicaut reported in 1701 that the Caddo lived on the Sabloniere, or Red River, about one hundred and seventy leagues above Natchitoches, which places them a little above the big bend of Red River near the present towns of Fulton, Arkansas, and Texarkana. In 1800 the Caddo moved down the Red River near Caddo Lake, which placed them about one hundred and twenty miles from the present town of Natchitoches. Sibley says:

They formerly lived on the south bank of the river, by the course of the river 376 miles higher up, at a beautiful prairie, which has a clear lake of good water in the middle of it, surrounded by a pleasant and fertile country, which had been the residence of their ancestors for time immemorial. They have a traditionary tale, which not only the Caddoes, but half a dozen other smaller nations believe in, who claim the honor of being descendants of the same family; they say, when all the world was drowning by a flood, that inundated the whole country, the Great Spirit placed on an eminence, near this lake, one family of Caddoques, who alone were saved; from that family all the Indians originated.

In 1719 the Assonites (Nassonites), and Natsoos, dwelt along Red River, often on both sides of the channel about one hundred and fifty leagues northwest of Natchitoches. They lived near the Cadodacho and were related to them.

The Cadodacho was the leading tribe in the Caddo Confederacy. This nation wielded a great influence over many of the tribes belonging to the Southern Caddoan family. In 1805 their influence extended over the Yatasi, Nandakoes, Nebadaches, Inies, or Tackies, Nacogdoches, Keychies, Adai, and Natchitoches, who looked up to them as their father, visited and intermarried among them, and joined them in all their wars.

It is impossible to determine with exactness the population of the Caddo during the early period, for no record of a census is available until after the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Fletcher says that before the coming of the French and Spanish they were no doubt a thrifty and numerous people."' One writer states that during their early history they must have numbered about ten thousand. No doubt this estimate included both the Caddo and Hasinai Confederacies. According to a report from the Indian agent at Natchitoches made in 1805 the tribes of the Caddo confederacy at that time numbered approximately six hundred, not including children.

All the tribes of the Confederacy spoke the Caddoan language. However, the language of the Adai differed from all the others and was very difficult to speak. The Caddoes had a very convenient way of communicating with each other and with other tribes, through the medium of a sign language. Their tribal sign was made "by passing the extended index finger, pointing under the nose from right to left." When they wanted to accuse some one of telling a lie, or falsehood, they did that "by passing the extended index and second fingers separated toward the left, over the mouth".
Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #16 on: February 04, 2009, 07:57:20 am »









2. THE MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE CADDO



The Caddoes were cultivators of the soil. They planted fields around their villages in corn, pumpkins and vegetables that furnished their staple food. They would not allow idleness; there was always something to be done, and those who would not work were punished. They worked hard in their fields when the weather was good, but when the cold rain fell and the north wind blew they would not come out of their houses. Yet they were not idle; they sat around the fire employing themselves with handiwork. It was then that they made their bows and arrows, their necessary clothing and tools with which to work. The women worked making mats out of reeds and leaves, and pots and bowls out of clay.

Joutel gives an interesting account of the agriculture of the Caddo tribes in his day. He says:

I noticed a very good method in this nation (Cenis), which is to form a sort of assembly when they want to turn the soil in the fields belonging to a certain cabin, an assembly in which may be found more than a hundred per sons of both sexes. When the day has been appointed, all those who were notified come to work with a kind of Mattock made of a buffalo's shoulder-l: lade, and some of a piece of wood, hafted with the aid of cords made of the bark of trees. While the workers labor, the women of the cabin for which the work is being done, take pains to prepared food; when they have worked for a time, that is, about midday, they quit, and the women serve them the best they have. When someone coming in from the hunt brings meat, it serves for the feast; if there is none, they bake Indian bread in the ashes, or boil it, mixing it with beans, which is not a very good dish, but it is their custom. They envelop the bread that they boil with the leaves of the corn. After the repast, the greater part amuse themselves the rest of the day, so that, when they have worked for one cabin, they go the next day to another. The women of the cabin have to plant the corn, beans, and other things, as the men do not occupy themselves with this work. These Indians have no iron tools, so they can only scratch the ground, and can not pick it deep; nevertheless, everything grows there marvelously.

The Caddo also hunted and fished for a living. M. de la Harpe mentions the fact that the Cadodaquious (Cadodacho) and their associates prepared a feast for him which included among other things, the meat of bear, buffalo, and fish. Another evidence that they fished and hunted for a living, was brought to light by Harrington, field worker for the Heye foundation, in excavations made near Fulton, Arkansas, in the old Caddo villages. In their digging they found the bones of deer, raccoons, turkeys, and many other creatures, mixed with the ashes of ancient camp fires, showing that hunting was one of their principal means of gaining a livelihood. They also found fish and turtle bones and stone sinkers for nets, all of which indicated that they used fishing as another means of making a living.

The tribal organization among the Caddo was similar to that of the Hasinai. Fortunately, Father Jesus Maria left a good account of the Tejas or Aseney (Hasinai) tribes. Each group of the Tejas Indians was apparently under the command of a great chief called Xinesi. Each tribe had a chief or governor called a Caddi, who ruled within the section of country occupied by his tribe, no matter whether it was large or small. If large, they had a sub-chief called Canahas. The number of sub-chiefs depended on the size of the tribe ruled by the Caddi. The number ranged from three to eight. It was their duty to relieve the Caddi and to publish his orders. One of these gave orders for preparing the chief's sleeping place while on the buffalo hunt and the war-path, and filled and lighted his pipe for him. They also frightened the people by declaring that, if they did not obey orders, they would be whipped and punished in other ways. There were other sub ordinate officers called Chayas, who carried out orders issued by the Canahas. There were petty officers under the Chayas, called jaumas, who promptly executed orders. They whipped all the idlers with rods, by giving them strokes over the legs and belly. When the Caddi wished to have a council meeting, the Canahas had to summon the elders. This organization must have worked well, for Father Jesus Maria states that during his stay of one year and three months among them he had not heard any quarrels. It is certain from the evidence at hand that their life was more or less communal, for we are told that eight or ten families often lived in one dwelling, and cultivated the land about it in common. It appears that the food supply was kept in common, for Joutel says:

The mistress, who must have been the mother of the chief, for she was aged, had charge of all the provisions, for that is the custom, that in each cabin, one woman holds supremacy over the supplies, and makes the distribution to each, although there may be several families in the cabin.

We are told by Jesus Maria that if the house and property of one of the tribesman were destroyed, all the rest of the tribe joined in helping provide him with a new home. This communistic practice was common among the early white settlers, and will be found among the farmers in the rural sections of Louisiana today.

The Caddo lived in two kinds of houses, the grass thatched, and earth covered. The grass houses were conical in shape, made of a framework of poles covered with a thatch of grass. They were grouped around an open space which served for social and ceremonial purposes. Arranged around the walls inside of the house were couches covered with mats, that served as seats during the day and as beds at night. In the middle of the house was the fire, which was kept burning day and night.

The earth houses were erected by constructing a frame, probably in the form of a low dome of very stout poles upon which were placed smaller ones at right angles. These in turn were covered with brush and cane, and then with sage grass on which was placed a heavy coating of earth.

The Caddoes wore very few clothes during the early period as reported by Joutel. During the winter months they covered themselves with animal skins. They hung these skins around their bodies reaching about half way down their legs. During the warm months nearly all of them went without clothing.

They loved ornaments such as beads, ear-pendants, and ear plugs. Father Jesus Maria states that at festive times they did not lack for ornaments such as collars, necklaces, and amulets, which resembled those the Aztecs wore, with the one difference that the Tejas Indians knew nothing of gold and silver.

If a man wanted to marry, he took the maiden of his choice the best and finest present he could afford. If the father and mother gave their permission for her to receive the gift, it meant that the man had their consent to take her. However, she was not taken away until notice was given to the Caddi. If the woman was not a maiden, all that was necessary was her consent to receive the presents. Often the agreement was made only for a few days. At other times they declared it binding forever. Only a few of them kept their word. When a woman found another man who was able to give her better things she went with him and there was no punishment for this conduct. Few men ever remained with their wives very long, but they never had but one wife at a time.

Another custom of interest among the Hasinai was the war dance. Before going to war they usually sang and danced for seven or eight days, offering to their God such things as corn, tobacco, bows, and arrows. Each offering was hung on a pole in front of the place where they were dancing, and near the pole was a fire before which stood a wicked-looking person who made the offering of incense by casting tobacco and buffalo fat into the fire. Each man gathered around the fire collected smoke and rubbed his body with it, believing that by performing this ceremony his God would give him whatever he requested. They prayed to nature, and to the animals for courage and strength to defeat the enemy. They asked the water to drown their enemies, the fire to burn them, the arrows to kill them, and the wind to blow them away. On the last day the Caddi came forward and encouraged the men by telling them that if they really were men, they must think of the wives, their parents, their children, but not to let them be a handicap to their victory. Ethnologists agree that the Caddoes follow nearly the same mode of burial as the Wichitas.

When a Wichita dies the town crier goes up and down through the village and announces the fact. Preparations are immediately made for the burial, and the body is taken without delay to the grave prepared for its reception. If the grave is some distance from the village, the body is carried thither on the back of a pony, being first wrapped in blankets and then laid prone across the saddle, one person walking on either side to support it. The grave is dug from three to four feet deep and long enough for the body. First blankets and buffalo robes are laid in the bottom of the grave, then the body, being taken from the horse and unwrapped, is dressed in its best apparel and with ornaments is placed upon a couch of blankets and robes, with the head toward the west and the feet to the east; the valuables belonging to the deceased are placed with the body in the grave. With the man are deposited his bows and arrows or gun, and with the woman her cooking utensils and other implements of her toil. Over the body sticks are placed six or eight inches deep and grass over these, so that when the earth is filled in, it need not come in contact with the body or its trappings. After the grave is filled with earth, a pen of poles is built around it as a protection from the wild animals. The ground on and around the grave is left smooth and clean.

If a Caddo is killed in battle, the body is never buried, but left to be devoured by beasts or birds of prey, and the condition of such individuals in the other world is considered to be far better than that of persons dying a natural death. This practice resembles that of the ancient Persians who threw out the bodies of their dead on the roads, and if they were promptly devoured by wild beasts they esteemed it a great honor, and if not, a terrible misfortune.

Not much is known about the religious beliefs of the Caddo, but the early writers tell us that they believed in a "great spirit," known under the name of Ayanat Caddi, or as Ayo-Caddi-Aymay. Manzanet says that their ceremonial leader "had a house reserved for the sacrifices, and when they entered therein they behaved very reverently, particularly during a sacrifice. They never sacrificed to idols, but only to him of whom they said that he has all power, and that from him came all things. Ayimat Caddi, in their language, signifies the great captain. This was the name he gave to God. In spite of these remarks there is evidence that the Caddo and their relatives worshipped a number of minor spirits and powers. This may be inferred from Douay's statement that the Caddo adored the Sun. He says, "Their gala dresses bear two painted suns; on the rest of the body are representations of buffalo, stags, serpents, and other animals." Harrington says, "it even appears that they thought everything in nature had some sort of spirit or power, which could be prayed to, reasoned with, and led to assist the supplicant, so they 'solicited the deer and buffalo, that they should allow themselves to be slain; the maize, that it would grow and let itself be eaten; the air, that it would be pleasant and healthful.
Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #17 on: February 04, 2009, 07:58:27 am »









3. THE CADDO COUNTRY AND RANGE



According to a tradition of the Caddo which has parallels among other tribes, their original home was on lower Red River in Louisiana. The story says that they came up from under the ground through the mouth of a cave on a lake close to the south bank of Red River, just at its junction with the Mississippi. From this place they spread out toward the west, following up the course of Red River, along which they made their principal settlements. Bolton states that during the eighteenth century they extended along both banks of the Red River from the present city of Natchitoches, Louisiana, to the Natsoos and Nassonites tribes, above the great bend of the Red River in southwestern Arkansas and southeastern Oklahoma.

No definite boundary lines can be given for the territory claimed by the Caddo previous to eighteen hundred. Good authority establishes the fact that they claimed a very extensive tract of country on both sides of Red River extending from the present city of Shreveport to the cross timber, a remarkable tract of woodland, which crosses Red River more than a thousand miles above its mouth. This tract of country claimed by the Caddo was one of the finest sections within the bounds of North America.

The topography of the country made it suitable for agriculture, stock raising, fishing, and hunting. The Caddo uplands are marked by numerous bayous and lakes and are undoubtedly excellent in quality. The river lands are of the richest alluvial soil and of wonderful fertility. The soil of the valley in many places is a black, deep soil of unsurpassed fertility. At intervals along the Red River from Shreveport to the timber line there are numerous lakes and spring-brooks, flowing over a fertile soil, here and there interspersed with glades and small prairies, affording a fine range for the wild animals that inhabited the Indians' happy hunting ground.

The range of the Caddo was far beyond the territory that they claimed. It undoubtedly extended east from the Red River near the present city of Shreveport to the Ouachita River, and north to the Arkansas River, northwest to the source of the Red River and west to the Sabine River.

Since the Caddo hunted, traded, and often went to war with adjacent tribes, it appears necessary at this time to give a sketch of the tribes bordering on the territory claimed by the Caddo. To the west and southwest of the Caddo on the Angelina and upper Neches rivers lived the Hasinai Confederacy, that comprised some ten or more tribes, of which the best known were the Hainai, Nacogdoche, Nabedache, Nasoni, and Nadaco. They were a settled people, who had been living in the same region certainly since the time of La Salle, and probably long before. They dwelt in scattered villages, practiced agriculture to a great extent, and hunted buffalo on the western prairies. In manners, customs, and social organization the tribes of the confederacy were similar to those of the Caddo.

The Wichita, comprising another group of the Caddoan tribes, lived northwest of the Caddo, on the upper Red, Brazos, and Trinity Rivers. They were known to the Spaniards of New Mexico as Jumano and to the French as Panipiquet or Panis. They are now collectively called by ethnologists the Wichita.

The civilization of the Wichita was essentially like that of the Caddo and the Hasinai, though they were more war like, less fixed in their habitat, and more barbarous, even practicing cannibalism extensively.

The Arkansas (Quapaw) lived north of the Caddo on the south side of the Arkansas River about twelve miles above the Arkansas post. They claimed all the land along the river for about three hundred miles above them. They were friendly with the Caddo tribes, but at war with the Osage who lived farther up the river. They were active tillers of the soil, and also made pottery of the finest design.

East of the Caddo across Red River on Bayou Chicot was a Choctaw village. Marshall says that as early as 1763, and perhaps earlier, some of the Choctaw left their homes in Mississippi and Georgia, and migrated west of the Mississippi where they evidently encroached upon the Caddo, for in 1780 some of them were at war with that nation."

These are the principal tribes and confederacies found along the borders of the territory claimed by the Caddo Indians during the eighteenth century.



http://ops.tamu.edu/x075bb/caddo/Indians.html
« Last Edit: February 04, 2009, 09:15:10 am by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Pages: 1 [2]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy