Description
The Waco (also spelled Huaco and Hueco) of the Wichita people are a Southern Plains Native American tribe that inhabited northeastern Texas. Today, they are enrolled members of the federally recognized Wichita and Affiliated Tribes, headquartered in Anadarko, Oklahoma. The Waco were a division of the Wichita people, called Iscani or Yscani in the early European reports, kinsmen to the Tawakoni people. The present-day Waco, Texas, is located on the site of their principal village, that stood at least until 1820.
Language
Caddoan
Culture
Stephen F. Austin wrote that the Waco village was 40 acres large, with 33 grass houses and about 100 men. They grew 200 acres of corn, in fields enclosed by brush fences. As late as 1829, the village was protected by defensive earthworks. The tribe lived in beehive-shaped houses, with pole supports, typically covered with rushes, but sometimes buffalo hides. The houses stood 20 to 25 feet tall. Besides corn, Wacos also grew beans, melons, peach trees, and pumpkins.