Details for Karankawa Indians

Historical Marker — Atlas Number 5355002899

Data

Marker Number 2899
Atlas Number 5355002899
Marker Title Karankawa Indians
Index Entry Karankawa Indians
Address 909 Ennis Joslin Rd.
City Corpus Christi
County Nueces
UTM Zone 14
UTM Easting 663872
UTM Northing 3066047
Subject Codes Native Americans
Marker Year 1976
Recorded Texas Historic Landmark No
Marker Location Hans & Pat Suter Wildlife Refuge, on trail about 100 feet NE of intersection of Ennis Joslin Rd. and Nile Dr.
Private Property No
Marker Condition In Situ
Marker Size 27" x 42"
Marker Text Among the first Indians encountered in Texas by 16th and 17th century European explorers were the nomadic Karankawas, who lived along the coast from Galveston Bay to the Corpus Christi area. A primitive tribe, the Karankawas fished and gathered roots and cactus fruit for food. The men were usually tall and wore their hair long or braided with colorful bits of flannel and rattlesnake rattles. The women were shorter and stouter. The Indians often smeared their bodies with alligator grease and dirt to repel mosquitoes. At first friendly to Europeans, they later gained a reputation for savagery. Persistent reports that the Karankawas were cannibals may be traced to occasional ritualistic practices. Attempts by Spanish Franciscans to found missions for this coastal tribe were not successful. Never large in numbers, the Karankawa population dwindled as a result of diseases contracted from Europeans. During the 19th century, many of the Indians were killed in warfare with Jean Lafitte's pirates and with Anglo-American colonists. Remaining members of the tribe fled to Mexico about 1843. Annihilation of that remnant about 1858 marked the disappearance of the Karankawa Indians. (1976)