Caddo

Houses of the Caddo Tribe

The “Caddo proper,” or Cenis as they were called by Joutel, early occupied the southwestern part of the present State of Arkansas, the Red River Valley, and adjacent region to the south and west. La Salle was murdered near the banks of the Trinity, in eastern Texas, March 20, 1687. Joutel and several others of the party pushed on, and nine days later, when traversing the valley of the Red River, arrived at a village of the Cenis. Fortunately a very good account of the people and their homes is preserved in Joutel’s narrative, and from it the following quotations … Read more

Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi

Catlin, George - 334, Chippeway Village and Dog Feast at the Falls of St. Anthony; lodges build with birch-bark: Upper Mississippi

Life on the prairies or mountains with the best built house had to be hard for our ancestors, but consider the Indians of the 1800’s. With few implements, or tools, they constructed their homes from their surroundings. David Bushnell, provides a vivid picture of the traditional homes, hunting camps, and travels of the Algonquian, Caddoan and Siouan tribes. Even without the photos and drawings, all of which are included here, Bushnell paints a picture of these tribes life and culture with his words.

Native American Town of Imaha

Imaha – A Quapaw village mentioned by La Metairie in 1682 and by Iberville in 1699, and visited by La Harpe in 1719. It was situated on a south west branch of Arkansas River. In the wars and contentions of the 18th and 19th centuries some of the Quapaw tribe fled from their more northerly villages and took refuge among the Caddo, finally becoming a recognized division of the confederacy. These were called Imaha, but whether the people composing this division were from the village Imaha, mentioned by the early French travelers, is not absolutely known. The people of the … Read more

Black-Indian History

The first black slaves were introduced into the New World (1501-03) ostensibly to labor in the place of the Indians, who showed themselves ill-suited to enforced tasks and moreover were being exterminated in the Spanish colonies. The Indian-black inter-mixture has proceeded on a larger scale in South America, but not a little has also taken place in various parts of the northern continent. Wood (New England’s Prospect, 77, 1634) tells how some Indians of Massachusetts in 1633, coming across a black in the top of a tree were frightened, surmising that; ‘he was Abamacho, or the devil.” Nevertheless, inter-mixture of … Read more

Tawakoni Tribe

Tawakoni Indians (Ta-wa’ko-ni “river bend among red sand hills” (?) -Gatschet) A Caddoan tribe of the Wichita group, best known on the middle Brazos and Trinity Rivers, Texas, in the 18th and 19th centuries. The name “Three Canes,” sometimes applied to them, is a translation of the French form Troiscanne,” written evidently not as a translation of the native name, as has been claimed, but to represent its vocal equivalent. Mezières, for example, writing in French, used “Troiscanne” obviously as a vocal equivalent of Tuacana, a usual form of his when writing in Spanish In 1719 La Harpe visited, on … Read more

Waco Tribe

Waco Indians. One of the divisions of the Tawakoni, whose village stood until after 1830 on the site of the present city of Waco, Texas. The name does not seem unmistakably to appear until after 1820, occurring first in Anglo-American accounts. As the Tawakoni evidently are the Touacara, whom La Harpe visited in 1719 on Canadian river, it is not impossible (and it has been assumed) that the Honecha, or Houecha, given by La Harpe and Beaurain as one of the Touacara group, are identical with the Waco. Yet, if the later Waco had kept this name throughout the 18th … Read more

Yatasi Tribe

Yatasi Indians. A tribe of the Caddo confederacy, closely affiliated in language with the Natchitoch. They are first spoken of by Tonti, who states that in 1690 their village was on Red river of Louisiana, north west of the Natchitoch, where they were living in company with the Natasi and Choye. Bienville and St Denys, during their Red river trip in 1701, made an alliance with the Yatasi and henceforward the tribe seems to have been true to the friendship then sealed. The road frequented by travelers from the Spanish province to the French settlements on Red River and at … Read more

Caddo Indian Research

Map of Caddoan Mississippi Culture

These resources should assist your in your Caddo Indian research. Most of the links feature content found on AccessGenealogy and it’s sister sites, however some of these are offsite resources of which AccessGenealogy has no relationship other then we value the content we link to for the quality of it’s information. If you know of a quality website which we haven’t featured on the Caddo tribe then please feel free to submit them through the comments at the bottom of the page.

Kadohadacho Tribe

Kadohadacho Indians (Kä’dohadä’cho, real Caddo “Caddo proper’ ). A tribe of the Caddo confederacy, sometimes confused with the confederacy itself. Their dialect is closely allied to that of the Hainai and Anadarko, and is one of the two dialects dominant today among the remnant of the confederacy. The Kadohadacho seem to have developed, as a tribe, on Red river of Louisiana and in its immediate vicinity, and not to have migrated with their kindred to an distance either north or south. Their first knowledge of the white race was in 1541, when De Soto and his followers stayed with some … Read more

Kichai Tribe

Kichai Indians (from K’itsäsh, their own name). A Caddoan tribe whose language is more closely allied to the Pawnee than to the other Caddoan groups. In 1701 they were met by the French on the upper waters of the Red river of Louisiana and had spread southward to upper Trinity river in Texas. In 1712 a portion of them were at war with the Hainai, who dwelt lower down the Trinity. They were already in possession of horses, as all the Kichai warriors were mounted. They seem to have been allies of the northern and western tribes of the Caddoan … Read more

Nabedache Tribe

One of the 12 or more tribe, of the Hasinai, or southern Caddo confederacy. They spoke the common language of the group. Their main village stood for a century or more 3 or 4 leagues west of Neches river and near Arroyo San Pedro

Natchitoch Tribe

Natchitoch Indians (Caddo form, Näshi´tosh). A tribe of the Caddo confederacy which spoke a dialect similar to that of the Yatasi but different from that of the Kadohadacho and its closely affiliated tribes. Their villages were in the neighborhood of the present city of Natchitoches, near those of another tribe called Doustioni. Whether the army of De Soto encountered them is unknown, but after La Salle’s tragic death among the Hasinai his companions traversed their country, and Douay speaks of them as a “powerful nation.” In 1690 Tonti reached them from the Mississippi and made an alliance; and in 1699 … Read more

Eyeish Tribe

Eyeish Indians. A tribe of the Caddo confederacy which spoke a dialect, now practically extinct, very different from the dialects of the other tribes; hence it is probable they were part of an older confederacy which was incorporated in the Caddo when the latter became dominant. The early home of  the tribe was on Eyeish Creek between the Sabine and Neches rivers of Texas.  Moscoso led the troops through their country in 1542, encountering herds of buffalo. From the statements of Joutel and Douay, the Eyeish were not on good terms with the tribes west of them on the Trinity, … Read more

Hainai Tribe

Hainai Indians. A tribe of the Caddo confederacy, otherwise known as Inie, or Ioni. After the Spanish occupancy their village was situated 3 leagues west of the mission of Nacogdoches, in east Texas; it contained 80 warriors, the same number assigned to the Hainai by Sibley in 1805, who perhaps obtained his information from the same sources. Sibley places their village 20 miles from Natchitoches, Louisiana. In manners, customs, and social organization the Hainai do not appear to have differed from the other tribes of the Caddo confederacy, whose subsequent fate they have shared. By Sibley and others they are … Read more

Caddo Tribe

Caddo Indians (contracted from Kä’dohädä’cho, ‘Caddo proper,’ ‘real Caddo,’ a leading tribe in the Caddo confederacy, extended by the whites to include the confederacy). A confederacy of tribes belonging to the southern group of the Caddoan linguistic family. Their own name is Hasínai, our own folk.’ See Kadohadacho Tribe. Caddo Indian History According to tribal traditions the lower Red river of Louisiana was the early home of the Caddo, from which they spread to the northwest, and south. Several of the lakes and streams connected with this river bear Caddo names, as do some of the counties and some of … Read more

Doustioni Tribe

Doustioni Indians. A tribe, formerly living on Red river of Louisiana, that from its proximity to the Natchitoches and the Yatasi was probably kindred thereto and belonged to the Caddo confederacy. The people are mentioned by Joutel, in 1687, as allies of the Kadohadacho. Pénicaut, in 1712, met them with a party of Natchitoches, and remarks that for the 5 years previous they had been constantly wandering, and living by the chase . Their warriors at that time numbered about 200. The cause of the abandonment of their village is unknown, but when in 1714 they accepted the invitation of … Read more

Adai Tribe

Adai Indians. The tribe-was first encountered in 1529 by Cabeza de Vaca, who speaks of them, under the name Atayos, as living inland from the Gulf of Mexico

Anadarko Tribe

Anadarko Indians (from Nädä´ko, their own name). A tribe of the Caddo confederacy whose dialect was spoken by the Kadohadacho, Hainai and Adai.  The earliest mention of the people is in the relation of Biedma (1544); who writes that Moscoso in 1542 led his men during their southward march through a province that lay east of the Anadarko.  The territory occupied by the tribe was southwest of the Kadohadacho.  Their villages were scattered along Trinity and Brazos Rivers, Texas, higher up than those of the Hainai, and do not seem to have been visited so early as theirs by the … Read more

Bidai Tribe

Bidai (Caddo for ‘brushwood,’ probably referring to the peculiar growth characteristic of the region). An extinct tribe, supposed to have belonged to the Caddoan stock, whose villages were scattered over a wide territory, but principally about Trinity river , Texas, while some were as far north as the Neches or beyond. A creek emptying into Trinity river between Walker and Madison Counties, Texas, bears the name of the tribe, as did also, according to La Harpe, a small bay on the coast north of Matagorda bay. A number of geographic names derived from this tribe survive in the region. The … Read more