Geography

• The Caddo Indians originally lived mainly in forested areas of eastern Texas. Their territory included small parts of Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas. Two main groups included the Kadohadacho and the Hasinai. The Hasinai were made up of several tribes formed into a confederacy they called "Tejas," meaning "those who are friends." By 1860, the Caddo people had all been relocated to reservations. Today, most live in Oklahoma.
  
  

Types

• Caddo huts originally had wooden frames covered with grass, so that they looked like beehives. Houses in the west usually were earthen lodges that had thatched roofs. Living in a heavily forested area, the Caddo were able to build furniture for their homes and make many other items out of wood, such as bows and arrows and bowls for eating. They hunted buffalo, the skins of which were used to make blankets.
  
  

Features

• The region they lived in had rich soil, abundant water and an excellent climate for agriculture. The Caddo made clearings in the forests by burning away grass and brush from the previous season. There they raised corn, beans, pumpkins and squash. There were plenty of trees providing walnuts, acorns and pecans. Along with nuts, the tribe gathered fruit and edible plant roots. Caddo men hunted deer, turkey, rabbits and other small game, and fished in the rivers, lakes and bayous. They also traveled to the plains area to hunt buffalo.
  
  The tribe grew cotton for clothing and used vegetable dye to color it. They decorated their clothing with embroidery and beads, and also used beads for ear pendants and necklaces. With the deer, bear, and buffalo they hunted, they made leather for moccasins and other items.
  
  Caddo women created beautiful pottery from clay to store their food and also for bowls and cooking pots.
  
  

Identification

• The Caddo were part of the Indian culture which built earthen mounds and then situated their temples and chiefs' homes on top. Many other tribes in the midwest and south were mound-builders as well. Priests conducted religious ceremonies and took care of the temples. The tribe also had shamans who were healers, or who cast spells for good hunting or to win battles.
  
  The Caddo tribe believed life continued after death, and kinship groups would be reunited in the spirit world.
  
  

Considerations

• French and Spanish explorers noted that the tribe practiced a form of serial monogamy where either the woman or man could choose to leave a marriage, and also could be remarried any number of times. This was socially acceptable to the tribe, but disconcerting to the Christian Europeans who wrote about the practice.