This archive will host all extant primary sources related to the Karankawa Indians.
Karankawas are perhaps the most maligned Indians in Texas. By curating this archival space, by explaining the biases and ulterior motives of the individuals who wrote about the Karankawas, this collection serves to counteract demonized images of these Natives. Most importantly, this work of public history gives Karankawa Indians who are reclaiming and reasserting their identity greater access to their heritage.
Each source is accompanied by a description, a direct link to view the document, a biography of the author, a physical location, and a list of secondary readings. If you have sources of your own that you wish to contribute, please get in touch.
Kept busy by Southern Methodist University’s Ph.D. program, I work on this archive when time allows. My pace, at the moment, is about one new entry every other day. I have more than six-hundred entries to upload.
Special thanks to Andrés Vázquez Arreguín and Elmer Josue Villalobos in translating select documents.
Sources for Southwestern Historical Quarterly article “The Karankawa-Spanish War from 1778 to 1789: Attempted Genocide and Karankawa Power” : Documents (zip)
Chronology:
~10,000 BCE-6000 BCE: Paleo Indians on the Karankawas’ land.
6000 BCE-800: Archaic Indians on the Karankawas’ land.
800-1527: Pueblo and Mississippian cultural traditions.
1528-1684: Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca and the Shipwreck of 1554.
1719-1753: Marqués de San Miguel de Aguayo expedition and the establishment of Mission Nuestra Señora de la Bahía del Espíritu Santo de Zúñiga.
1754-1766: Mission Rosario, Marquis de Rubí’s inspection tour, and Fray Gaspar José de Solís’s tour.
1768: Documents
1769: Documents
1770: Documents
1772: Documents
1773: Documents
1774: Documents
1775: Documents
1776: Documents
1777: Documents
1778: Documents
1779: Documents
1780: Documents
1781: Documents
1782: Documents
1783: Documents
1784: Documents
1779-1786: Karankawa Spanish War. Joseph María, Domingo Cabello y Robles, Nicholas de La Mathe, and Teodoro de Croix.
1787-1792: Peace Building. Joseph María, Rafael Martínez Pacheco, Luis Cazorla, and Juan de Ugalde.
1793-1815: Mission Refugio. Chief Balthasar, Manuel Delagado, Capitan Grande.
1815-1820: Karankawas and Jean Laffite and Three Trees.
1837-1846: Juan Cortina and Genocide. John Holland Jenkins, Henderson K. Yoakum, and William Bollaert.
1847-1900: Forced assimilation or extermination. Albert Gatschet,
1900-1970: Spanish and Anglo-American propaganda reinforced
1971-Present Day: Revitalization of the Karankawa Peoples.
Category:
Appearance (physical)
Family Structures
Food
Gender
(This index will grow over time)
Miscellaneous
PDF historiography on the Karankawas
Committed to First Archivists Circle’s “Protocols for Native American Archival Materials”
General Disclaimer and Takedown
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