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Caddo
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The Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who, in the 16th century, inhabited much of what is now East Texas, western Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma, and the Caddoan dialects have converged into a single language. The current Chairperson of the Caddo is LaRue Parker.
This article covers the Caddo as a tribe, or nation.
For other Caddoan languages see: Caddoan languages
oral traditions of the Caddo suggest that they emerged from underground in northern Louisiana.
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The Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who, in the 16th century, inhabited much of what is now East Texas, western Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma, and the Caddoan dialects have converged into a single language. The current Chairperson of the Caddo is LaRue Parker.
This article covers the Caddo as a tribe, or nation.
For other Caddoan languages see: Caddoan languages
History
The oral traditions of the Caddo suggest that they emerged from underground in northern Louisiana. They developed their culture in Arkansas and Louisiana and spread out to the south and west from there. The Wichita and Pawnee are related to the Caddo, a fact attested to in that the Wichita and Pawnee spoke Caddoan languages. Between 500 and 800 AD the Caddo emerged as distinct and separate nation.
The Caddo were maize farmers and enjoyed good growing conditions most of the time. However, the Pineywoods were effected by the Great Drought, from AD 1276-1299. This same drought is believed to have effectively destroyed the Anasazi of the Southwest.
The Caddo tribes were divided into three confederacies, which were linked by a common language; the Hasinai, Kadohadacho, and the Natchitoches. The Haisinai and Kadohadacho lived in what is now East Texas and the Natchitoches in what is now Northwestern Louisiana. The Haisinai lived in the land from Nacogdoches, Texas, which was originally a Caddo settlement, area to the Neches River. The Haisinai were given the name Tejas by Spanish Explorers, based on the Caddo word táysha?, "friend," and this later became the source of "Tejas" and later "Texas" (Bolton 2002:63-64). The Kadohadacho settled the land from the Caddo Lake area to the Red River. The Natchitoches settled around Natchitoches, Louisiana, which was originally a Caddo settlement, and in the Cane River Valley.
The Caddo first encountered Europeans in 1542 when the Hernando de Soto Expedition came through their lands. De Soto's force had a violent clash with one band of Caddo Indians, recorded by his expedition as the 'Tula', near Caddo Gap, Arkansas. This event is marked by a monument that stands in the small town today. With the arrival of missionaries from Spain and France a small pox epidemic broke out that decimated the population. The Caddo invited the European missionaries to return and upon their return a worse epidemic reduced the population to only 1,000.
In 1859, the state of Texas removed the remaining Caddo from its territory to a reservation in Oklahoma and in 1874 the Caddo officially united as a distinct tribe.
Geography
The Caddo lived in the Piney Woods eco-region of the United States up to the foothills of the Ozark Mountains and often near the Caddo River. The Piney Woods is a dense forest of deciduous and conifer flora covering rolling hills, steep river valleys, and intermittent wetlands called Bayous. Several Caddo villages were resettled, including the community of Elysian Fields, Texas, and Nacogdoches and Natchitoches both of which have kept their original names. The Caddo were progressively moved further west until they reached what is now western Oklahoma. The geography of the drier plains was quite a contrast to the lush hilly forest that were formerly their homeland. The Caddo's food varied in many types, the most common being dried corn. Sunflower seeds and pumpkins were also important staples with cultural significance, as were wild turkeys.
Culture
To be written along the lines of Wikipedia:WikiProject Ethnic Groups Template
Institutions
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