Karankawa

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Karankawa

• Created by
• Nathan Jehl and Connor Lydon

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I. Location and Government

• If you traveled from west Galveston Bay to Corpus
  Christi Bay you would find Karankawa lands.
• Depending on the season they lived in The Coastal
  Prairie.
• They were made up of at least 5 groups called
  bands.
• Each band always had a male chief.
• The bands never devoloped into a tribe.
• Smoke signals were used to bring bands together.

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II. Dress

• The men were at least 6 ft. tall and strong.
• The girls dress was made with spanish moss and
  deer skin.
• Male and female painted and tattooed their
  bodies.
• Tattoos were considered beautiful.
• The Karankawa covered them selves in alligator
  lard to keep away mosquitoes.
• They dressed in breechcloths made of animal
  skins.

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III. How They Lived

• Very strong, could withstand hunger, thirst,
  cold, and harshness of the sun.
• Like most nomadic people, they moved a lot and
  always returned to a old place for various types
  of food.
• They did not farm.
• In fall they ate fish and underwater plant roots.
• Winter till spring they ate shellfish and
  blackberries.
• They hunted whatever they could find.

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IV. Transportation

• Famous for dugout canoes.
• Expert swimmers for when canoe breaks.
• Each canoe could hold a family and its
  possessions.
• They were made from hollow tree trunks.
• They were used for short trips.
• Poles were used to move through water quietly.

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V. Homes

• When not moving they lived in small huts.
• The hut was oval shaped.
• Seven or eight people could live in a hut.
• They had a fire in the middle.
• They used the fire for warmth and cooking.
• The huts were easily moved from place to place by
  women.

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Vl. Tools

• They made pottery like jars, sphere vessels,
  bowls, baskets, and bottles.
• The baskets were coated inside and out with
  asphaltum for waterproofing.
• Milling stones were used to crush seeds and nuts.
• Food was cooked in pottery.
• Oysters were thrown into the fire or on burning
  hot coals.
• The oysters opened, and were raked out of the
  fire and munched on.

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VII. Weapons

• The main weapon of the Karankawa was bow and
  arrow.
• It was also used for fishing.
• The bows were made of cedar, and the arrows cane
  with three feathers and rock tip.
• The bow strings were made of doe sinew.
• They also used clubs, lances, and tomahawks.
• The Karankawa traveled north as far as Caddo
  people.

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VIII. Family, Traditions, And Beliefs

• Each child has two names.
• One was a nickname for public, the other was a
  secret name.
• The Karankawa belived the secret name to be
  magical.
• Infants were attached to a cradle board and
  wrapped in a loop of skin.
• The loop of skin was worn by their mother.
• Marriage was arranged by the boy and girls family.

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IX. Summary

• As with the Coalhuiltecans, the Texas Gulf Coast
  was difficult to live in.
• The Karankawa did their best to survive.
• These family groups used every available
  resource.
• The resources helped make their lives
• easier.
• They passed those skills on to their children.
• The Karankawa had a lot of land to use in the
  Gulf of Texas.

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THE END!