Caddoan Mississippian culture

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Map of the Caddoan Mississippian culture and some important sites Caddoan Mississippian culture map HRoe 2010.jpg
Map of the Caddoan Mississippian culture and some important sites
A map showing approximate areas of various Mississippian and related cultures. Cahokia is located near the center of this map in the upper part of the Middle Mississippi area. Mississippian cultures HRoe 2010.jpg
A map showing approximate areas of various Mississippian and related cultures. Cahokia is located near the center of this map in the upper part of the Middle Mississippi area.

The Caddoan Mississippian culture was a prehistoric Native American culture considered by archaeologists as a variant of the Mississippian culture. [1] The Caddoan Mississippians covered a large territory, including what is now Eastern Oklahoma, Western Arkansas, Northeast Texas, Southwest Missouri and Northwest Louisiana of the United States.

Contents

Archaeological evidence has established that the cultural continuity is unbroken from prehistory to the present. The speakers of Caddo and related Caddoan languages in prehistoric times and at first European contact have been proved to be the direct ancestors of the modern Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. [2]

Description

Development

The Caddoan Mississippians are thought to be descendants of Woodland period groups, the Fourche Maline culture and Mossy Grove culture peoples who were living in the area around 200 BCE to 800 CE. [3] They were linked to other peoples across much of the Eastern Woodlands through expansive trade networks. During this time period, pottery making was introduced to them by peoples to their East, and by 500 CE the bow and arrow from peoples of the Southwest.

By 800 CE early Caddoan society began to coalesce into one of the earlier Mississippian cultures. Some villages began to gain prominence as ritual centers. Workers were organized to build earthwork platform mounds, often used for temples, in addition to building elite residences and constructions. The mounds were arranged around large, constructed, open and level plazas. These were usually kept swept clean and were often used for ceremonial occasions involving large groups of people. As complex religious and social ideas developed, some people and family lineages gained prominence over others. This hierarchical structure is marked in the archaeological record by the appearance of large tombs with exotic grave offerings of obvious symbols of authority and prestige. [3]

Caddoan Mississippian culture pottery Caddoan Mississippian pottery2 HRoe 2010.jpg
Caddoan Mississippian culture pottery

By 1000 CE a society now known as "Caddoan" had emerged. This included the increased prominence of ritual centers and the development of a more stratified social hierarchy, with some lineage and kin groups exerting more control over the community. The tomb burials of people thought to be leaders were accompanied by elaborate grave goods, as noted above. In addition, there were sacrificial "retainer" deaths and burials of both family members and followers at the death of such leaders. [3]

Major sites such as Spiro and the Battle Mound Site were constructed in the Arkansas River Valley and the Red River Valley, respectively. As the largest and most fertile areas in the Caddoan region, these areas could support the most productive maize agriculture. Agricultural surpluses supported the growth of the dense populations of such major centers. [4] By 1200 CE, the numerous villages, hamlets, and farmsteads established throughout the Caddo world had begun extensive maize agriculture. [3] The Caddoans also developed a distinct type of pottery making. It was described in 1540 by members of the Hernando de Soto expedition as some of the finest they had seen, even in their homeland of Spain.

Since the late 20th century, recent excavations have revealed more cultural diversity within the region than had been expected by scholars, particularly in sites along the Arkansas River. Caddoan Mississippian towns had a more irregular layout of earthen mounds and associated villages than did towns in the Middle Mississippian heartland to the East, along the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. They also lacked the wooden palisade defensive fortifications often found in the major Middle Mississippian towns.

Living on the western edge of the Mississippian world, the Caddoans may have faced fewer military threats from other peoples. Their societies may also have had a somewhat lower level of social stratification. Their location at the western edge of the Eastern Woodlands may account for these differences. Because the climate west of the woodlands was drier, it hindered maize production and related populations. The lower population on the plains to the West may have meant the Caddoans did not have to compete with many neighboring chiefdoms. [4]

But Caddoan populations peaked around 1400 CE, for reasons that are still unclear. After this point, many ritual centers begin to decline in population. A more dispersed settlement system developed, with the bulk of the people living on scattered homesteads and small farms rather than in large villages. The earlier broad cultural unity of the area also began to break down, with many distinct local variations developing. [3]

Trade

Engraved whelk shell from the Craig Mound showing a tattooed figure Spiro s.e.c.c. tattooed figure HRoe 2005.jpg
Engraved whelk shell from the Craig Mound showing a tattooed figure

Caddoan Mississippian peoples were connected to the larger Mississippian world to the East and other cultures to the Southwest by trade networks that spanned the North American continent. Artifacts found in "The Great Mortuary" (Craig Mound) at the Spiro site included colored flint from New Mexico, copper from the Great Lakes area, conch (or lightning whelk) shells from the Gulf Coast, and mica from the Carolinas. [5] Other materials from trade included wood, basketry, woven fabric, lace, fur, feathers, and carved stone statues. Some artifacts came from as far away as Cahokia in present-day Illinois, Etowah and Ocmulgee in Georgia, and Moundville in Alabama. Many featured the elaborate symbolism of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, a multiregional and pan-linguistic trade and religious network.

Archaeological finds, as well as later Spanish records, also indicate that Caddoan peoples had contact with southwestern groups such as the Jumanos and Puebloans, with whom they traded for turquoise and cotton fabrics. [6]

The Spiro site is the only Mississippian site where an artifact from Mesoamerica has been found. This is a piece of black obsidian from Mexico, which likely reached this site through Caddoan Mississippian trade with peoples to the Southwest. [7] Using these valued materials, Mississippian artists created exquisite works of art expressing their cultural identity and their complex spiritual beliefs.

Language

The Caddoan Mississippians were speakers of many Caddoan languages. [2] The Caddoan languages once had a broad geographic distribution, but many are now extinct. The modern languages in the Caddoan family include Caddo and Pawnee, which were spoken by historic tribes of the area. Both are now spoken mainly by tribal elders.

Sites

SiteImageDescription
Battle Mound Site Located in Lafayette County, Arkansas in the Great Bend region of the Red River basin and has the largest mound of the Caddoan Mississippian culture
Belcher Mound Site Located in Caddo Parish, Louisiana [8] in the Red River Valley 20 miles north of Shreveport [9] and about one-half mile east of the town of Belcher, Louisiana [10]
Bluffton Mound Site Located in Yell County, Arkansas on the Fourche La Fave River. [11]
Caddoan Mounds State Historic Site Also known as the George C. Davis Site (41CE19), located in Cherokee County, Texas 26 miles west of Nacogdoches, in the Piney Woods region of east Texas. Texas State Highway 21 passes nearby and intersects with U.S. Route 69.
Gahagan Mounds Site Located in Red River Parish, Louisiana [12] in the Red River Valley
Spiro Mounds Spiro Aerial HRoe 2016.jpg One of the best-studied archaeological centers of Mississippian culture; located in Eastern Oklahoma in Le Flore County near the modern town of Spiro

European contact and relations with United States

de Soto route through the Caddo area, with known archaeological phases marked Caddoan Phases in the 1520s map HRoe 2010.jpg
de Soto route through the Caddo area, with known archaeological phases marked

When the Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto led an expedition into the southeastern region of North America in the 1540s, his party encountered Native American groups recorded as the Naguatex, Nishone, Hacanac, and Nondacao. These names are now believed to have referred to Caddo villages.

It is estimated that in 1520, the many tribes of people numbered about 250,000. [13] Over the next 250 years the population of these Caddoan-speaking peoples was severely reduced by epidemics of infectious diseases inadvertently brought by Spanish and French colonists and spread by indigenous trading networks. Sometime after the coming of the Europeans, the Caddo organized into three confederacies—the Natchitoches, Hasinai, and the Kadohadacho. All Caddoans were linked together by a common language.[ citation needed ]

In the early 19th century, under the Indian Removal Act the United States forced the Caddo to cede their lands and move to Indian Territory. European Americans were eager to settle in the fertile river valleys of their territory. Later they were required to accept allotment of their communal lands, prior to the admission of Oklahoma as a state in 1907.

Caddo today

The Caddo Nation of Oklahoma (previously known as the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma) reorganized and set up a constitutional government in the 20th century and is a federally recognized tribe. A tribal constitution provides for an elected tribal council of eight members with a chairperson. The tribe is based in Binger, Oklahoma. [14] The tribal complex, dance grounds, and the Caddo Heritage Museum are located south of Binger.

In 2008, a total of 5000 people were enrolled in the tribe, and 2500 of these live in the state of Oklahoma. The tribe operates its own housing authority and issues its own tribal vehicle tags. [15] They maintain administrative centers, dance grounds, several community centers, and an active NAGPRA office.

The Caddo have established several programs to invigorate Caddo traditions. The tribe sponsors a summer culture camp for children. [16] The Hasinai Society [17] and Caddo Culture Club. [18] Both keep Caddo songs and dances alive. The Kiwat Hasinay Foundation is dedicated to preserving the Caddo language. [19]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caddo</span> Southeastern Native American tribe

The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hasinai</span> Indigenous southeastern Texas tribe

The Hasinai Confederacy was a large confederation of Caddo-speaking Native Americans who occupied territory between the Sabine and Trinity rivers in eastern Texas. Today, their descendants are enrolled in the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and the Natchitoches Tribe of Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippian culture</span> Native American culture in the United States (800 - 1600)

The Mississippian culture was a Native American civilization that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1600, varying regionally. It was known for building large, earthen platform mounds, and often other shaped mounds as well. It was composed of a series of urban settlements and satellite villages linked together by loose trading networks. The largest city was Cahokia, believed to be a major religious center located in what is present-day southern Illinois.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands</span> Indigenous groups in the US

Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, Southeastern cultures, or Southeast Indians are an ethnographic classification for Native Americans who have traditionally inhabited the area now part of the Southeastern United States and the northeastern border of Mexico, that share common cultural traits. This classification is a part of the Eastern Woodlands. The concept of a southeastern cultural region was developed by anthropologists, beginning with Otis Mason and Franz Boas in 1887. The boundaries of the region are defined more by shared cultural traits than by geographic distinctions. Because the cultures gradually instead of abruptly shift into Plains, Prairie, or Northeastern Woodlands cultures, scholars do not always agree on the exact limits of the Southeastern Woodland culture region. Shawnee, Powhatan, Waco, Tawakoni, Tonkawa, Karankawa, Quapaw, and Mosopelea are usually seen as marginally southeastern and their traditional lands represent the borders of the cultural region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kichai people</span>

The Kichai tribe was a Native American Southern Plains tribe that lived in Texas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. Their name for themselves was K'itaish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spiro Mounds</span> Precontact Indigenous ceremonial site in Oklahoma

Spiro Mounds is an Indigenous archaeological site located in present-day eastern Oklahoma. The site was built by people from the Arkansas Valley Caddoan culture. that remains from an American Indian culture that was part of the major northern Caddoan Mississippian culture. The 80-acre site is located within a floodplain on the southern side of the Arkansas River. The modern town of Spiro developed approximately seven miles to the south.

The Kadohadacho are a Native American tribe within the Caddo Confederacy. Today they are enrolled in the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.

The Eyeish were a Native American tribe from present-day eastern Texas.

The Ouachita are a Native American tribe who lived in northeastern Louisiana along the Ouachita River. Their name has also been pronounced as Washita by English speakers. The spelling "Ouachita" and pronunciation "Wah-sha-taw" came about as a result of French settlers and their influence. Many landscape features and places have been named for them since colonization of the region by Europeans and Americans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nacogdoche</span> Native American tribe

The Nacogdoche are a Native American tribe from eastern Texas.

The Tula were a Native American group that lived in what is now western Arkansas. The Tula are known to history only from the chronicles of Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto's exploits in the interior of North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle Mound Site</span>

The Battle Mound Site (3LA1) is an archaeological site in Lafayette County, Arkansas in the Great Bend region of the Red River basin. The majority of the mound was built from 1200 to 1400 CE. The site has the largest mound of the Caddoan Mississippian culture. It measures approximately 670 feet (200 m) in length, 320 feet (98 m) wide, and 34 feet (10 m) in height.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fourche Maline culture</span> Woodland Period Native American culture

The Fourche Maline culture was a Woodland Period Native American culture that existed from 300 BCE to 800 CE, in what are now defined as southeastern Oklahoma, southwestern Arkansas, northwestern Louisiana, and northeastern Texas. They are considered to be one of the main ancestral groups of the Caddoan Mississippian culture, along with the contemporaneous Mill Creek culture of eastern Texas. This culture was named for the Fourche Maline Creek, a tributary of the Poteau River. Their modern descendants are the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belcher Mound Site</span>

The Belcher Mound Site (16CD13) is an archaeological site in Caddo Parish, Louisiana. It is located in the Red River Valley 20 miles north of Shreveport and about one-half mile east of the town of Belcher, Louisiana. It was excavated by Clarence H. Webb from 1959 to 1969. The site gives its name to a local phase of the Caddoan Mississippian culture, the Belcher Phase, which radiocarbon dates suggest lasted from 1400 to 1600 CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bluffton Mound Site</span>

The Bluffton Mound Site is a Caddoan Mississippian culture archaeological site in Yell County, Arkansas on the Fourche La Fave River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gahagan Mounds Site</span>

The Gahagan Mounds Site (16RR1) is an Early Caddoan Mississippian culture archaeological site in Red River Parish, Louisiana. It is located in the Red River Valley. The site is famous for the three shaft burials and exotic grave goods excavated there in the early twentieth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mill Creek chert</span>

Mill Creek chert is a type of chert found in Southern Illinois and heavily exploited by members of the Mississippian culture. Artifacts made from this material are found in archaeological sites throughout the American Midwest and Southeast. It is named for a village and stream near the quarries, Mill Creek, Illinois and Mill Creek, a tributary of the Cache River. The chert was used extensively for the production of utilitarian tools such as hoes and spades, and for polished ceremonial objects such as bifaces, spatulate celts and maces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caddo Mounds State Historic Site</span> Precontact Native American settlement in Texas

Caddo Mounds State Historic Site (41CE19) is an archaeological site in Weeping Mary, Texas. This Caddoan Mississippian culture site is composed of a village and ceremonial center that features two earthwork platform mounds and one burial mound. Located on a precontact Native American trail later named by the Spanish as El Camino Real de los Tejas, the settlement developed hundreds of years before the arrival of Europeans to the region. Archaeologists believe the site was created in approximately 800 CE, with most major construction taking place between 1100 and 1300 CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mississippian copper plates</span>

Mississippian copper plates, or plaques, are plain and repousséd plates of beaten copper crafted by peoples of the various regional expressions of the Mississippian culture between 800 and 1600 CE. They have been found as artifacts in archaeological sites in the American Midwest and Southeast. The plates, found as far afield as Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, were instrumental in the development of the archaeological concept known as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Some of the more notable examples are representations of raptorial birds and avian-themed dancing warriors.

References

  1. ↑ Peregrine, Peter N. (1995). Archaeology of the Mississippian culture: a research guide. Garland Publishing. p.  165. ISBN   978-0-8153-0336-7.
  2. 1 2 "Tejas-Caddo Fundamentals-Caddoan Languages and Peoples". Archived from the original on 2020-06-14. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Tejas-Caddo Fundamentals-Caddo Timeline" . Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  4. 1 2 "Tejas-Caddo Fundamentals-Mississippian World". Archived from the original on 2010-01-21. Retrieved 2010-02-04.
  5. ↑ "Spiro Mounds-A Ceremonial Center of the Southern Cult". Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  6. ↑ Foster, William C. Historic Native Peoples of Texas. ISBN   978-0-292-79461-0. OCLC   1289763912.
  7. ↑ Pauketat, Timothy R. (2004). Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians . Cambridge University Press. ISBN   978-0-521-52066-9.
  8. ↑ "Locality information for Faunmap locality Belcher Mound, LA". Archived from the original on 2011-08-20. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  9. ↑ "The Caddo Indians of Louisiana". Archived from the original on 2009-11-09. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  10. ↑ "Historical-Belcher". Archived from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  11. ↑ "History of the Ouachita Mountains". Archived from the original on 2009-06-28. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
  12. ↑ "Notice of Inventory Completion for Native American Human Remains and Associated Funerary Objects in the Possession of the Louisiana State University Museum" . Retrieved 2010-02-22.
  13. ↑ Juliana Barr, Peace Came in the Form of a Woman: Indians and Spaniards in the Texas Borderlands (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007) p. 20
  14. ↑ Constitution and By-Laws of the Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma. Archived 2013-06-30 at archive.today National Tribal Justice Resource Center. (retrieved 13 September 2009)
  15. ↑ Oklahoma Indian Affairs Commission. 2008 Pocket Pictorial Archived April 6, 2010, at the Wayback Machine . Page 5 (retrieved 13 Sept 2009)
  16. ↑ Hasinai Summer Youth Camp. Archived 2009-01-05 at the Wayback Machine Hasinai Society. 2008 (retrieved 13 Sept 2009)
  17. ↑ General Information. Archived 2009-01-05 at the Wayback Machine Hasinai Society. 2008 (retrieved 13 Sept 2009)
  18. ↑ Edge, Donald. Caddo Culture Club. Archived 2009-07-04 at the Wayback Machine Caddo Nation: Heritage and Culture. (retrieved 13 Sept 2009)
  19. ↑ Background. Kiwat Hasinay Foundation.(retrieved 13 Sept 2009)
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