Description
The Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, largely in the lower Colorado River and Brazos River valleys. They consisted of several independent seasonal nomadic groups who shared a language and some culture. From the onset of European colonization, the Karankawa had violent encounters with the Spanish. After one attack by the Spanish, who ambushed the Karankawa after the establishment of Presidio La Bahía in 1722, the Karankawa allegedly felt "deeply betrayed [and] viewed Spanish colonial settlement with hostility." The Karankawa name's origin is from the caves of El Paso. People worship it still today. The name Karankawa was theorized to originate from related peoples living nearby who called the dog the term "klam" or "glam", and to love, to like, to be fond of, "kawa".
Language
Karankawa is the extinct, unclassified language of the Texas coast, where the Karankawa people migrated between the mainland and the barrier islands.
Culture
They gathered food by hunting, fishing, and gathering. Bison, deer, and fish, were staples of the Karankawa diet, but a wide variety of animals and plants contributed to their sustenance. The Karankawas’ principal means of transportation was the dugout canoe, a watercraft made by hollowing out the trunk of a large tree. Those dugouts, unsuited for deep, open water, were used primarily in the relatively shallow waters between the islands and the mainland. Each canoe was spacious enough to carry an entire family along with their household goods. Upon the Spaniards’ introduction of horses, these coastal Indians maintained their own herds along the coast. A portable wigwam, or ba-ak, provided shelter for the coastal people.