Chapter 3: Native Texans

Chapter 3: Native Texans

Section 1: The Ancient Texans

The First Texans Arrive

The story of the people of Texas really begins before written records. Instead of writing knowledge down on paper, people passed it down by telling stories. Because corn was the most important crop for the farming people, many of those tales were about corn. Thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the Americas, people lived in Texas and learned about their early history from storytellers.

Why did these people migrate? These early people were hunters. They followed herds of animals to modern-day Alaska. Throughout the centuries, the newcomers ventured farther and farther into the interior of North America, while new waves of immigrants crossed the Bering Strait. Evidence indicates that humans first reached regions of Texas more than 10,000 years ago.

In your notebooks, write down the following words and their definitions.

People migrated to the Western Hemisphere as early as 35,ooo years ago. They migrated from Asia over a land bridge connecting Siberia and Alaska. Today Siberia and Alaska are separated by a narrow body of water, the Bering Strait. During the last Ice Age, however, water did not always cover this area, and people simply walked across the land.

Answer the following questions in your vocabulary notebook. Write each question down then find the answer in your text!

1. How did ancient people pass down knowledge?

2. How long ago did people migrate to North America?

3. Why did these people migrate

4. When did the first people arrive in Texas?

1. archaeologist

2. artifact

3. culture

4. anthropologist

5. nomad

Artifacts Are Historical Clues

Rock Painting Assignment

Vocabulary

archaeologist

culture

A scientist who studies the material remains of past human life.

the way of life developed by a group of people to satisfy its needs.

nomad

Paintings on rocks and in caves and canyons of Southwest Texas provide glimpses of how ancient people viewed themselves and how they lived. Changes in pottery or tool styles may be evidence of people moving into an area. Human bones, like those found near the Texas cities of Midland and Leander, provide information about how ancient people looked and what diseases they carried.

Much of what is known about ancient people comes from studies by archaeologists. These scientists study evidence of past human activity. They search the earth for artifacts, such as tools, artwork, human and animal bones, pottery, baskets, and shells.

a member of a group that wanders from place to place.

artifact

anthropologist

an object made or altered by humans

a scientist who studies the origin, movement, and way of life of humans.

Early People Hunt for Food

Different Cultures Emerge

The first inhabitants of Texas arrived during the early Stone Age (more than 10,000 years ago). These people obtained their food by hunting large animals, such as the mastodon, mammoth, and giant bison. The people lived in small groups and stayed in one place only temporarily. More often they followed the herds of animals. They also hunted small animals such as rabbits, squirrels, and birds.

These people had several advantages, even though they were smaller, and slower than many of the animals that they hunted. The people had tools and developed a notched throwing stick called an atlatl. They used flint-tipped spears and darts to make a kill. Strategy was another advantage. One strategy was the “surround,” in which the hunters encircled a herd of animals and then moved in and killed the animals as they tried to escape.

The early people of Texas developed into distinct cultures—all the ways groups of people express and conduct themselves. Culture includes language, customs, clothing, shelter, ways of working and playing, and beliefs.

Hunters Become Farmers

Answer the following questions

1. What does the word culture mean?

2. How many separate culture groups were living in Texas when the first Europeans arrived?

3. What were the names of the four different culture groups?

At the time the first Europeans arrived in what they called the Americas, there were four separate culture groups living in the area that became Texas. Anthropologists have named these the Southeastern, Gulf, Pueblo, and Plains cultures.

While wandering bands of hunters and gatherers searched for food in Texas, people in central Mexico were growing their own food. Sometime around A.D. 100, several groups of people in Texas began to adopt this settled way of life. Among the first crops to be grown were peanuts, corn, tomatoes, various beans, pumpkins, squash, and cotton.

How did the rise of farming change the way people lived? First, farming meant a more dependable source of food. More available food resulted in an increase in the population. Now, however, people could not leave their gardens and farms untended. People no longer roamed in search of food. Instead they began to settle in one area for years at a time, building and living in villages. Living in one place meant that there was other work to do. This led to more complex societies that included craft workers, warriors, and political and religious leaders, as well as farmers.

During the Archaic Age, about 8,000 years ago, life in early Texas changed. The climate became warmer and drier, and large game animals disappeared. People still hunted, but now the pursued smaller game. To help them find and prepare their food, they developed a variety of tools made of stone or bone. These included axes, picks, drills, choppers, scrapers, and grinding tools, such as mortars and pestles. They did not depend on meat alone, but gathered berries, nuts, and roots. The hunter-foragers stayed in one area longer than the earlier hunters but did not settle permanently because there were always searching for food.

1. What types of animals did the first Texans hunt?

2. Why did the first Texans follow herds of animals?

3. What was the name of the throwing stick that ancient Texans used to hunt animals?

4. What types of tools did ancient Texans develop to help make their lives easier?

Each of these cultures developed differently as they adapted to the physical surroundings. Some Indians of the Southeastern United States lived in the fertile and well-watered land of East Texas. They raised crops and settled in permanent villages. The land of the Gulf people, on the other hand, was unsuitable for farming. The Gulf people did not stay in one place but were nomads who hunted and foraged.

Answer the following question?

1. What were the first crops grown in Texas?

2. How did the rise of farming change the way people lived?

These Native American cultures influenced Europeans who migrated to the area later. Europeans learned to prepare new foods, cultivate plants that would grow well in the region, and hunt native animals. New arrivals often adopted Native American names for places, foods, and animals. For example, the Native American word “cotoyl” became “coyote” and “tamalli” became “tamale.”