The Caddo Indians

1. The Caddo Indians By: Dalton Dickson

2. Region -----The Caddo lived in east Texas in the piney forests.-----

3. Housing The Caddo lived in tall cone shaped grass huts. To build a hut, they made a wood frame and covered it with cut cane and long grasses. These huts were nicely furnished inside with furniture and were quite comfortable. They would use buffalo skins with the hair on them as blankets to keep warm in the winter. These huts would often be very large. The inside of the huts had woven grass and split cane mats on the floors. These same mats were hung up as partitions inside the hut. Often several families would live in one hut.

4. Food -----For their main source of food, they farmed. They usually grew corn, beans, squash and some other crops. They also hunted deer, turkey, rabbits, squirrels, and other small animals. They would also often gather berries, roots, and nuts, from the woods around them. -----

5. Clothing and Appearance -----The Caddo grew cotton. They spun threads and colored them with vegetable dye. The women would then weave beautiful cotton fabrics. They would use bead work and embroidery to decorate their clothing. The Caddo also used leather in many ways. They would dye deer, buffalo, bear and other animal skins. The Caddo had a secret way of dying leather a lustrous black that only they knew. Most researchers think they used a plant to make this dye, but no one is for sure. ----- -----The men would often shave their whole head and leave a strip of hair down the middle. The hair was grown out, sometimes even down to their waist. They would then paint the shaved sides of their heads with colored paints. Another popular men's hair style was to cut all the hair about 4 inches long except one spot on the top on the head. Hair on this spot was allowed to grow long. Women grew their hair out and parted it in the middle. Some of them tied their hair in a knot behind their necks.-----

6. Major Groups and Tribes -----There were two main groups of the Caddo in Texas.One major Caddo tribe was the Kadohadacho. The Kadohadacho lived in large villages along the Red river near the present day Oklahoma - Arkansas border.----- -----The secondmajor tribe was the Tejas or Hasinais Caddo who lived around present day Nacogdoches. In fact, modern Nacogdoches is built on top of one of the largest of the old Hasinai villages.-----

7. Other -----After hunting, the men would dry the meat from the animal(usually buffalo) they killed to preserve it so they could carry it home.----- -----They would use buffalo skins with the hair on them as blankets to keep warm in the winter.---- -----The men and women had many tattoos all over their faces and bodies. These tattoos show their membership in tribes, clans and societies.--

8. Resources ---texasindians.com---

9. FIN