American Indians of Texas

Before there were cities with tall buildings or highways stretching across the plains, there was just the land and my people. Imagine a time when the only sounds were the whisper of the wind through tall grasses, the cry of a hawk, and the songs we sang around our campfires. For thousands of years, long before anyone had drawn a map of this place, my spirit was alive in the families who hunted giant mammoths near cool streams, around 13,500 BCE. We were hunters, artists who painted stories on rock walls, and families who knew the secrets of every plant and star. We were not just one people, but many, each with our own language, traditions, and home. I am the memory of those first footsteps. I am the collected story of all the first peoples of this land you now call Texas.

Hello. I am the spirit of the American Indians of Texas. My story is written across the whole state. In the shady pine forests of the east, I was the Caddo people, who began building great earthen mounds and farming corn, beans, and squash as early as 800 CE. They were so good at building communities and making friends that the name 'Texas' comes from their word for friend, 'taysha.'. Along the warm Gulf Coast, I was the Karankawa, who traveled with the seasons, fishing in the bays and gathering food from the wetlands. In the dry lands of the south, I was the Coahuiltecans, resourceful survivors who knew how to find food and water where others saw none. And out on the vast, open plains, I was the Apache and, later, the powerful Comanche, who became the most incredible horse riders in the world after horses arrived with the Spanish in the late 1600s. Can you imagine a world without farming or horses? We were all different, but we all shared a deep connection to this land, our home.

My world began to change when new people arrived from far across the ocean. On November 6th, 1528, the first Spanish explorers shipwrecked on the coast, and they were amazed by the world they found. Over the next centuries, more newcomers arrived. The Spanish built missions, like the one in San Antonio in 1718, hoping to change our ways of life. Then, in the 1800s, settlers from America arrived. This brought many challenges. New diseases, which our bodies had never seen before, made many of my people sick. There were disagreements and terrible fights over land because the new people didn't understand that the land was our home, not something to be bought or sold. After Texas became its own country on March 2nd, 1836, and later a state, many of my people were forced to leave their ancestral homes.

But my story did not end. It is a story of strength and survival. Today, my spirit is alive and strong in the descendants of those first peoples. Three tribes are officially recognized by the United States government in Texas: the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe, the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe, and the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo. They keep our traditions alive by speaking our ancient languages, creating beautiful art, and celebrating with dances and songs at gatherings called powwows. They remind everyone that our history is a vital part of Texas history. My voice is in their stories, and it teaches us that even after great challenges, a culture can endure, adapt, and continue to share its gifts with the world.