Karankawan Tribes
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FOUR
DIRECTIONS INSTITUTE
Karankawan Tribes |
| Ethnie: | KARANKAWAN TRIBES |
| Language: | Karankawa |
| Family | Karankawa |
| Stock: | Karankawa |
| Phylum: | Karankawa |
| Macro-Culture: | Texas |
|
| The Karankawans were nomadic hunter/gatherer tribes of the Texas gulf coast. They were considered to be bellicose, said to be tall in stature, and reported to be cannibals. They relied primarily on the sea shore for subsistence but occasionally traveled inland to hunt buffalo. They were met early in history by Cabeza de Vaca and were eventually exterminated by Spanish and French aggression and White introduced disease. |
| Aboriginal Locations (Tribes) |
| TX Chorruco, Choaque, Coapite, Coco, Copane, Cujane, Doguene, Esquien, Estepisa, Karankawa |
|
| Year | History |
| 1528 | Met a shipwrecked Cabeza de Vaca who was the treasurer on the Narvaez expedition who remained in the area for eight years among the Choaque |
| 1685 | Visited by La Salle who built Ft. St. Louis on the site, remained for two eyars |
| 1689 | Spanish under Alonzo de Leon arrived to attack mission but Karankawa had already killed all but five of French, Spanish burned remains of fort, Spanish began unsuccessful missionization attempts |
| 1721 | French Captain Beranger recorded some Karankawan vocabulary |
| 1722 | Spanish established a fort and mission at La Bahia |
| 179X | Epidemics |
| 1820 | Bernard La Harpe crossed territory |
| 1839 | Smallpox epidemic |
| 1870 | Had vanished shortly before Civil War, believed to have been killed by Whites |
| Year | Total TX Population | Source | |
| 1690 | 2,800 | Mooney est. | |
| 1700 | 3,000 | NAHDB calculation | |
| 1800 | 1,000 | NAHDB calculation | |
| 1900 | 0 | NAHDB calculation | |
| 2000 | 0 | NAHDB calculation |
| Other speakers of the same language: |
| None |
Last updated 04/13/05 Copyright © 2005 by Four Directions Press