natural texas and its people - Institute of Texan Cultures

NATURAL TEXAS AND
ITS PEOPLE
Electronic Learning Expedition Educator Guide
Education and Interpretation Department
NOTE TO THE EDUCATOR
This guide was prepared by the Education and Interpretation Department of the Institute of
Texan Cultures. For more information on this guide please contact:
Office of Education and Interpretation
Institute of Texan Cultures
UTSA HemisFair Park Campus
801 East Cesar E. Chavez Blvd., San Antonio, TX 78205-3209
Phone: (210) 458-2281
Fax: (210) 458-2360
[email protected]
TexanCultures.com
© 2013 UTSA Institute of Texan Cultures
2|P age
Table of Contents
Activity and Page Number:
Overview of Natural Texas and Its People ELE ............................................................................................ 5
Description:............................................................................................................................................. 5
Objectives: .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Grades:.................................................................................................................................................... 5
Subjects:.................................................................................................................................................. 5
Pre-ELE ........................................................................................................................................................ 6
Be a History Detective ............................................................................................................................. 6
Objective ............................................................................................................................................. 6
TEKS .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Materials ............................................................................................................................................. 6
Instructions ......................................................................................................................................... 6
ELE Prep ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Materials ............................................................................................................................................. 7
Instructions ......................................................................................................................................... 7
During-ELE .................................................................................................................................................. 8
Natural Texas and Its People................................................................................................................... 8
Objective ............................................................................................................................................. 8
TEKS .................................................................................................................................................... 8
Agenda ................................................................................................................................................ 8
Post-ELE .................................................................................................................................................... 10
You’re Hired! ......................................................................................................................................... 10
TEKS .................................................................................................................................................. 10
Materials ........................................................................................................................................... 10
Instructions ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Appendix ................................................................................................................................................... 12
Natural Texas and Its People Chart ........................................................................................................... 13
Natural Texas and Its People Chart- ANSWER KEY .................................................................................... 15
Video Conference Etiquette ...................................................................................................................... 16
Teachers................................................................................................................................................ 16
Students ................................................................................................................................................ 16
I SPY… ....................................................................................................................................................... 17
THE CADDO INDIANS MURAL ................................................................................................................... 18
THE CADDO INDIANS MURAL DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................. 19
THE LIPAN APACHE INDIANS MURAL ....................................................................................................... 22
THE LIPAN APACHE INDIANS MURAL DESCRIPTION .................................................................................. 23
THE MOGOLLON INDIANS MURAL ............................................................................................................ 25
THE MOGOLLON INDIANS MURAL DESCRIPTION ...................................................................................... 26
Resources.................................................................................................................................................. 28
4|P age
Overview of Natural Texas and Its People ELE
Available September 9-30, 2013
Description:
Explore the human-environment interaction of the Texas Indian cultures and the Texas Landscape. We
will focus on three tribes from different physical regions of Texas during different time periods .
Objectives:



Pre-ELE – Students will differentiate between, locate and use valid primary and secondary
sources to acquire information on the Caddo, Lipan Apache and Pueblo Mogollon.
During-ELE – Students will explore how cultural groups are often shaped by their surroundings
by analyzing murals and artifacts from three areas in our American Indian exhibit.
Post-ELE – Students will apply their knowledge by creating a mural of their own for a tribe of
their choice from the North Central Plains physical region (4th grade) or Gulf cultural region (7th
grade) of Texas.
Grades:


4th
7th
Subjects:

Social Studies
Pre-ELE
Be a History Detective
Objective
Students will differentiate between, locate and use valid primary and secondary sources to acquire
information on the Caddo, Lipan Apache and Pueblo Mogollon.
TEKS
Fourth Grade
(21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use
information acquired from a variety of valid sources, including electronic technology. The
student is expected to:
(A) differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such
as computer software; interviews; biographies; oral, print, and visual material;
documents; and artifacts to acquire information about the United States and Texas;
Seventh Grade
(21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use
information acquired through established research methodologies from a variety of valid
sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
(A) differentiate between, locate, and use valid primary and secondary sources such
as computer software, databases, media and news services, biographies, interviews,
and artifacts to acquire information about Texas;
Materials
 Computer or personal device with internet (consider scheduling time in the Library or
Computer lab)
 Social Studies textbook
 Other approved resources, see suggested ITC web resources below and the list of resources
at the end of this guide
 Natural Texas and Its People chart
 Writing utensil
Instructions
1. Class Warm up Prompt: Describe in general terms the way in which geography and history
interact, and explain why understanding geography concepts is important to understanding a
region’s people, culture and economy.
2. Inform the class that they will be participating in a video conference with the Institute of
Texan Cultures soon and that they will be learning about Natural Texas and Its people.
6|P age
3. Then discuss as a class human-environment interaction and brainstorm what do humans
need to live? And where do humans get these things?
4. For the next activity assign partners.
5. Distribute the Natural Texas and Its People chart. (one per pair)
6. Have students complete the chart with their partner using approved resources from the
classroom, library and/or internet.
7. Have the students bring their completed chart to the ELE, so they can refer to it as needed.
Suggested ITC web resources:
Texans: A Story of Texan Cultures for Young People Student Edition - Book
http://www.texancultures.com/assets/1/15/Texans%20SE%20Indian%20Texans.pdf
Texans One and All - Book
http://www.texancultures.com/assets/1/15/Texans_One_and_All%20%20The%20Native%20American%20Texans.pdf
Native American culture area - Blog
http://texanculturescollections.wordpress.com/exhibits/long-term-exhibits/native-americanculture-area/
The Indian Texans - Book
http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p16018coll6/id/269
ELE Prep
Materials
 Completed Natural Texas and Its People chart
 I Spy handout
 Copies of the three murals: the Caddo, the Lipan Apache and the Pueblo Mogollon
Instructions
1. Remind the class that they will be participating in a video conference with the Institute of
Texan Cultures in San Antonio, TX and that they will be learning about Natural Texas and Its
People.
2. Brainstorm questions your students would like to ask the presenter during the Q&A time at
the end of the ELE.
3. Reminder students about appropriate video conferencing etiquette. (See list in the Appendix)
4. On the day of the ELE distribute the I Spy handout and copies of the murals (one set per pair)
so students can follow along and complete the I Spy handout during the presentation.
7|P age
During-ELE
Natural Texas and Its People
Objective
Students will explore how cultural groups are often shaped by their surroundings by analyzing
murals and artifacts from three areas in our American Indian exhibit.
TEKS
Fourth Grade
(9) Geography. The student understands how people adapt to and modify their
environment. The student is expected to:
(B) identify reasons why people have adapted to and modified their
environment in Texas, past and present, such as the use of natural resources to
meet basic needs, facilitate transportation, and enhance recreational activities;
and
Seventh Grade
(2) History. The student understands how individuals, events, and issues through the
Mexican National Era shaped the history of Texas. The student is expected to:
(A) compare the cultures of American Indians in Texas prior to European
colonization such as Gulf, Plains, Puebloan, and Southeastern;
Agenda
1. Introductory video
2. Roll Call of participating schools
3. Introduce students to the Institute of Texan Cultures and to the presenters:
a. ITC – located in San Antonio, World’s Fair Hemisfair 1968, Texas Pavilion,
Showcased all the ethnic groups that came to Texas
b. Presenters: Educational Specialist Carey Eagan
4. Warm up: (If students have access to a computer or a personal device, they can respond
to the questions via Socrative.com by going to http://www.m.socrative.com and
entering 4582351 in as the room number and click on the join room button. From there
they will be able to respond as I make the questions available.)
a. Who were the earliest Texans and how did they get here?
b. Name at least three Native American tribes of Texas.
8|P age
c. Name the four physical/natural regions of Texas
d. Name the four Native American cultural regions of Texas
5. Today’s presentation is Natural Texas and Its People.
a. We will explore the human-environment interaction of the Texas Indian cultures
and the Texas Landscape.
b. We will focus on three tribes from different physical regions of Texas during
different time periods.
i. Muralist – George Nelson; How could George paint these scenes if
he wasn’t alive at the time? Did he have photos? Stories? Where
did he get the information in order to depict these scenes?
ii. Caddo – students will complete the appropriate section of I Spy
handout by analyzing the mural and artifacts. Does their analysis
of these items match the research they did? Why or why not?
What is the same, what is different? Why might that be?
iii. Pueblo Mogollon – students will complete the appropriate section
of I Spy handout by analyzing the mural and artifacts. Does their
analysis of these items match the research they did? Why or why
not? What is the same, what is different? Why might that be?
iv. Lipan Apache – students will complete the appropriate section of I
Spy handout by analyzing the mural and artifacts. Does their
analysis of these items match the research they did? Why or why
not? What is the same, what is different? Why might that be?
6. Wrap up –
a. What the basic human needs? How were these depicted in the murals? How did
these groups meet their needs? Did they all use the same resources to meet
their needs? Why or Why not?
b. Take Student Questions
7. Good Bye - Thank you from the Institute of Texan Cultures
9|P age
Post-ELE
You’re Hired!
Students will apply the knowledge they have acquired during the video conference by creating a
fourth mural for the Institute of Texan Cultures Native American exhibit featuring the humanenvironment interaction for the following:


Fourth grade – a North Central Plains region Indian tribe
o Wichita
o Comanche
Seventh grade – a Gulf culture Indian tribe
o Karankawa
o Coahuiltecan
Students should use prior knowledge, their Social Studies textbooks and other resources from
the Library and the internet to create their mural.
TEKS
Fourth Grade
(22) Social studies skills. The student communicates in written, oral, and visual forms.
The student is expected to:
(D) create written and visual material such as journal entries, reports, graphic
organizers, outlines, and bibliographies; and
Seventh Grade
(21) Social studies skills. The student applies critical-thinking skills to organize and use
information acquired through established research methodologies from a variety of
valid sources, including electronic technology. The student is expected to:
(D) create written, oral, and visual presentations of social studies information.
Materials
 Copies of the three murals with the descriptions from ITC’s Native American exhibit
 One sheet of Butcher paper per group
 Pencils
 Paint
Instructions
1. Put students in teams of 3-5
2. Have one team member pick up the supplies
3. Tell your students:
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Today we are going to pretend that the Institute of Texan Cultures has hired your team
to create a new mural for their Native American exhibit. Create your own mural for:
(fourth grade) North Central Plains physical region or (seventh grade) Gulf cultural
region Indian groups. Use the three we studied during the video conference as an
example. Be sure to include the following:
o shelter
o food
o clothing
o tools
o daily activities/jobs
o a mural description highlighting the activities we see in the mural
o a map of the tribe’s location in the lower right corner
4. Assist students as needed.
5. Have students present to the class, and discuss, or post the murals in the classroom or
the hallway and host a gallery walk.
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Appendix
12 | P a g e
Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________Date:_____________________
Natural Texas and Its People Chart
Instructions: With your partner complete the chart below by conducting research using your Social Studies textbook and other resources from
the Library and the internet. Be sure to shade in the region the tribe lived in on the map in the Location column. Bring the completed chart to
the video conference.
Tribe
Characteristics
Caddo –
Lipan Apache -
Natural Region
Description
Location
Cultural Description
Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________Date:_____________________
Pueblo Mogollon -
List your sources:_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
What information do you still need? What questions do you have? ______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Natural Texas and Its People Chart- ANSWER KEY
Tribe
Characteristics
Natural Region
Description
Location
Cultural Description
Caddo – built dome
shaped huts, organized
government system led
by a chief, women played
important roles, greeted
European with the word
Tejas.
Lipan Apache – used
bison hide to protect
themselves from harsh
landscape. For part of the
year they lived in farming
communities along rivers
and streams called
Rancherias.
Coastal Plains – wet, humid,
largest population, flat land
Southeastern –Sedentary, foodrich environment , complex social
systems
Great Plains – dry, flat, lots of
room, not much animals,
canyons
Plains – Nomadic, dependent on
the bison, fierce warriors
Pueblo Mogollon - lived
in adobe houses, they
were farmers, but also
hunted small animals.
Created beautiful pottery
to cook and store things
in.
Mountains and Basinsmountains, deserts, desert
plants, least populated, highest
elevation
Pueblo – sedentary, farmers,
lived in houses made of adobe
Video Conference Etiquette
Teachers
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Assume at all times that the camera and mic are live
Mute the mic when your school is not speaking; unmute when you school is called upon
Facilitate the learning on your end
Have students raise their hand to respond to or ask a question
Give students an overview of the program
Brainstorm questions for the Q&A session at the end
Provide students with the required materials ahead of time
Remind students to wait at least 20-30 seconds for a response due to lag time
Students
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Be prepared to learn
Pay attention and follow instructions
Be courteous to other participants both at your school and at other sites
Speak clearly and loudly
State your name and what school your from
Keep body movement to a minimum
Maintain eye contact by looking at the camera when speaking
Do not hold side conversations
Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________Date:_____________________
I SPY…
Instructions: When prompted by the presenter, complete the assigned section of the chart with your partner.
Mural
How are humans interacting with Refer to your research. Would
the environment? What does it
you change the depiction? If
tell you about where they lived
so, how and why?
and their culture?
Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________Date:_____________________
PAINTED BY ARTIST GEORGE NELSON
THE CADDO INDIANS MURAL DESCRIPTION
From left to right:
1. Two women are carrying a deer. Women had the responsibility of skinning and processing wild
game (deer, bear, rabbits, wild hogs) and fowl (turkeys, prairie chickens, ducks) which the men had
killed.
2. Drying racks are used to cure thin strips of meat (jerky.)
3. Women are scraping hides in order to make them into blankets or clothing.
4. A hunter, still camouflaged in a deerskin with the head attached plays like he is a deer to delight
the small children.
5. A ramada, or arbor, made of poles and grass thatching, provides shade for a work area and a
rooftop for drying corn.
6. Women weave baskets of split cane.
7. Women fashion clay vessels by coiling rolled lengths of clay. Three-dimensional designs, executed
while the clay is still moist, include incisions, punctuations and appliqués. After the clay has dried, the
women use a sharp tool to engrave designs. Potters bake their bottles, bowls, pots and jars in the
open air inside of a pile of burning branches and sticks. Cutting off oxygen to the fire during the firing
process produces a black color on the finished wares. Sometimes a potter rubs red pigment into
engraved areas on a vessel’s surface after the pot is fired.
8. House-building, if similar to that of the Late Caddos of the 17th century, is a community project. The
men do the heavy labor of digging post holes, planting the upright poles securely into the post holes
and lashing the framework of branches to the uprights. Women carry bundles of grass and cane from
a nearby creek, while others attach thatching in layers to form the exterior surface of the house. The
beehive-shaped dwellings, which measure 25 to 45 feet in diameter and height, are large enough to
sleep 30 to 40 comfortably.
Although we do not know how the interior of the Early Caddo houses looked, we can make an
educated guess by relying on early Spanish and French colonial records. In 1690, Father Damian
Massanet described the house of a Caddo official as follows: A perpetually-burning fire in the center
of the house provided light and heat. Ten beds lined the wall of one half of the house. Each 3-foot
high bed consisting of a reed mat attached to four forked sticks was covered with bison skins. A
brightly colored mat, which arched over the bed, was attached to the head and the foot of the bed.
Mat curtains, which hung between the beds, offered privacy and created an “alcove” look. Shelves
supporting baskets of corn, beans, acorns and nuts, lined the wall of the other
half of the house. Large clay pots and wooden mortars for pounding corn in rainy weather were also
located on the “kitchen” side of the house. Another European who visited a Late Caddo house
described a loft, located 10 to 15 feet above the ground, which was used for food storage.
9. In a large tree in mid-ground are a number of skulls of slain enemies that the Caddo warriors
brought back to the village and hung in a tree near the chief’s house. After a certain time, they were
taken down and buried. Although generally peaceful to European explorers and early settlers in East
Texas, Caddo warriors fought many enemy tribes, such as the Osage and the Lipan Apaches.
10. Pumpkins, corn (two crops per year,) sunflowers and several varieties of beans were among Early
Caddo vegetables. The gathering of wild foods was equally as important, if not more so, than
farming. Acorns, pecans, hickory nuts, walnuts, wild grapes, wild plums, persimmons, amaranth,
fresh water mussels and Rabdotus snails all contributed to the nutrition of the Caddo diet.
11. Storage units (thatched platforms on stilts) were used to keep food dry and away from prowling
varmints.
12. Two women pulverize corn by pounding it in a tree trunk mortar with heavy wooden pestles.
13. The striking woman in the foregrounds returns from a nearby creek carrying water in a pot on her
head. She wears a poncho and skirt made of shiny black brain-tanned deerskin. The source of the
black dye for Caddo clothing in not known. Little white seeds adorn the fringe of her blouse.
14. The large wooden structure located midway in the mural is a ramada with a raised floor but
lacking a thatched roof. A photograph of a Caddo camp, taken by Soule between 1868 and 1872
shows such a structure with Caddos seated upon a platform three to four feet above the ground.
15. Dogs, which were domesticated by indigenous peoples throughout the Americas in prehistoric
times, roam freely when they are not being used to hunt bison or bear. (Caddo ate dogs only when
there was a famine.)
16. The stately-looking gentleman wearing a bison skin robe and carrying a scepter is a high priest or
xinesi (pronounced shin-nee-see.) He and other priests conduct ceremonies, accompanied by rituals
and music. Rituals accompany important events, such as the planning and harvesting of crops,
hunting, war, healing and death. Tobacco is grown and used for ceremonial occasions. One of the
xinesi’s duties is to ensure that a sacred fire burns perpetually in the temple.
17. The seated men on the woven mat are trading. Caddoan-speaking traders from a distant village
have brought items for barter. Because of a difference in dialects, one man communicates with the
others by using sign language. Raw materials for trade have traveled great distances: copper from the
Great Lakes region, stone for axe heads from the Appalachian Mountains, chert (flint) for stone tools
from Oklahoma, Arkansas and central Texas, fin-grained sandstone from Louisiana, marine shells
from the east Gulf Coast. East Texas salt, ocher and bois d’arc bows are exchanged for exotic goods.
18. Body ornamentation
A. Tattoos were made by cutting the skin with a sharp piece of stone and rubbing charcoal into the
incision. Tattoos served to signify one’s clan, social rank or marital status, as well as to beautify the
body.
B. Ground ocher was mixed with animal fat to make body paint. Late Caddos wore paint during war
raids and upon greeting strangers. Ocher, as well as other pigments, was found in the stratigraphy of
the burial mound. Pigments may have been used as a part of death rituals.
C. Copper ear spools and marine shell nose rings ad to the magnificence of the trader’s appearance.
The Caddo chief, called a caddi, wears a regal turkey feather robe. One trader wears a pendant made
from an incised piece of conch shell.
D. The Caddo men wear two hair styles: the Mohawk look (center strip of cropped hair bounded by
hairless areas on the sides) and the Monk look (tonsure or shaved head.) Each look is accompanied
by a long queue. Some Southeastern Indians plucked both scalp and facial hair with “tweezers” made
of two shells.
19. A craftsman drills a pilot hole in a ritual pipe with a bow drill. A flint drill bit is attached to the
upright wooden drill rod. (The bowl and stem holes on the original pipe unearthed at the Davis site
appear to have been enlarged by grinding and pecking.)
20. Two flintknappers demonstrate different stages of the preparation of chipped stone tools. The
man on the right removes flakes from a core of chert by striking the core with a hammer stone. He
creates the general form and shape of the tools by this percussion method. The man to his left uses
the tine of a deer antler to remove flakes from the edges of stone tools. He is doing finish work, such
as making notches for arrow points. This latter method is called pressure flaking.
21. The mound to the far left is a temple mound. The mound in the center of the mural is the burial
mound during a period of construction. Workers carry 30- to 40-pound baskets full of dirt from the
quarry to cover the burials beneath. The mound on the right is the second temple mound.
PAINTED BY ARTIST GEORGE NELSON
THE
THE LIPAN APACHE INDIANS MURAL DESCRIPTION
From left to right:
1. In the left foreground, a woman waterproofs a woven fiber water jug with pitch. A little girl in a
traditional beaded dress stands with a woman with a cradleboard. The woman is talking with a
woman in a new-style blue and orange cloth dress. Cloth was obtained from Spanish and later
Mexican and Anglo-American traders. This lady is based on a painting by Richard Petri, ca.1850. She
also is wearing a large shell pendant and hair-bone or hair pipe beads and a belt embossed with silver
ornaments.
2. Behind to the left is a bison hide stretched on a rack to cure. Further in the background is a woman
with two dogs hitched to travoises and a horse with a travois. Also, there is a tipi under construction
that is not yet covered. In the background (left) is a red oak tree changing color with the season.
3. Far left background on distant hilltop is a group of men sending smoke signals to a more distant
village in the Frio River Canyon five miles to the east.
4. To the right of the lady in blue, two women sit on the ground in front of a tipi; one pounds dried
meat into small fragments to be mixed with fat and berries, made into pemmican and stored in the
painted rawhide skin bags or parfleches on the ground nearby. The other woman rocks a baby in a
cradle-board. Behind them is meat drying on a rack.
5. In the mid-foreground is a woman scraping a bison hide.
6. In the center, a man sends a message via sunlight reflected on a shield to the men who are sending
smoke signals on the hill. This message signals that the war party is returning from their raid.
7. A stack of lances holds up a shield with the warrior’s own markings on it in front of his tipi.
8. Two women heat stones in a fire to heat water in a skin pouch (stone boiling.)
9. At their feet is a much older burnt rock mound used thousands of years before the Plains Indians
moved into the area.
10. In the background, a raiding or hunting party crosses the creek on its return to camp.
11. Right foreground: A group of warriors studies a flintlock musket obtained by trading or raiding.
Each man wears his hair in a long false hair braid made up of his own hair, with locks of his wife’s and
his horse’s hair braided in. Long groups of silver and German silver conchos of descending size
decorate the braid. Buckskin shirts and leggings and woven loincloths are decorated with small glass
beads obtained from European traders.
THE
The large figure wears a bison robe with his life story painted on the smooth side. It shows bison
hunts and fights with his enemies. Also it shows his musket. At his feet is a painted bison skull used
with prayers for good hunting. The warrior on the far rights holds a lance with a Spanish sword blade
made into a point. He has hung his shield and bow and arrows across his shoulder.
12. Red prickly pear fruits (tunas) have ripened and will be picked and eaten.
THE
THE MOGOLLON INDIANS MURAL DESCRIPTION
From left to right:
1. Adobe structures: During the “El Paso phase” of occupation (the two hundred years between 1200
and 1400 A.D.), basin settlers built villages composed of contiguous, surface room blocks with an east
to west alignment and south-facing doorways. Villagers procured mud for adobe and caliche for
plaster from “borrow pits,” which were later filled in with ash debris and trash. Houses were not
constructed of adobe brick, but rather of layer upon layer of “puddle” or daubed-on mud. The cracks
visible on the outer walls were the result of weathering. Rooftops probably served as multiple activity
zones where food-drying, cooking, eating, socializing, and even sleeping took place. Archaeologists
think that the larger middle room of the room block was a combination ceremonial and community
center.
2. Trash midden: Scattered across the foreground of the mural is a garbage dump containing shards
of broken pottery, animal bones and charcoal ash.
3. Cooking fires: Women of each village family probably prepared meals on separate hearths.
4. Storage chamber: Although the actual purpose is not known, perhaps the 3-foot-square enclosure
which the woman is building was used as a food storage area or as a pen for turkeys or eagles.
5. Arbor (ramada): Shaded from the afternoon sun, a woman makes a coiled basket while two small
children eat popcorn. A young man, who is finishing an arrow, squats to the left of an elderly man
wearing a turquoise and olivella shell necklace. Turquoise was available 43 miles to the north in the
Jarilla Mountains of New Mexico, but the olivella would have traveled a great distance from its point
of origin in the coastal waters of Baja, California.
6. Farmer carrying a basket of corn: Equipped with a digging stick and a rabbit-throwing stick, the
man is returning from one of the village corn fields. A tumpline across his head provides support for
the weight of his burden. Baskets, sandals, nets and mats were woven of sotol or yucca leaves.
Situated on alluvial fans at the edge of the basin, the village corn fields received rainfall runoff from
the mountains. Perhaps the accumulation of water in basin playas (shallow lakes) and/or mountain
springs provided other sources of water for the villagers. The Rio Grande was five miles away.
7. Seated man in a rabbit-fur tunic: Robes, shirts and blankets of rabbit fur were made by weaving a
long, continuous warp strand of fur with a weft of spun sotol or yucca fiber.
The man is chipping a frog effigy (perhaps a water symbol) from sandstone.
8. Pottery: The locally-manufactured large pots with bold red and black geometric designs (El Paso
Polychrome) were used for cooking, as well as storage. The smaller polychrome pot behind the man
chipping the frog effigy was a trade item originating at Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, Mexico,
approximately 125 miles southwest of Firecracker. The Chupadero black-on-white vessels were made
by potters of southern New Mexico.
9. Woman painting a pot: Using a mixture of ground red ocher and water, the woman creates pottery
designs with a yucca leaf paintbrush.
10. Corn-processing: A woman uses a trough metate made of basalt to grind dried corn. Ancient lava
beds west of the Franklin Mountains were an available source of basalt for ground stone objects and
of obsidian for chipped tools. A broken piece of pottery collects the ground meal. Standing to the left
is a woman who is winnowing corn with a flat basket. She wears an apron made of yucca or sotol
string.
11. House corner: Striped squash and a basket of beans lay to the right of the ladder base.
12. Seated man with child: The man talks of his rabbit hunt to the boy as another hunter returns. A
folded net used for hunting lies beside the man. Groups of villagers would walk cross-country
together, driving rabbits into nets several hundred feet in length. Hunters threw their rabbit sticks to
stun the animals. The rabbits were killed by clubbing or by shooting with a bow and arrow.
Resources
The University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts. (2003, August 6). Teaching About the Caddo
Indians. Retrieved September 3, 2013, from Texas Beyond History:
http://www.texasbeyondhistory.net/tejas/teach/
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