One of the most famous Native American tribes in Texas were the Caddos.  Read about the Caddo Indians in the section called "Meet the Caddos."  

• In what section of Texas did the Caddos originally live?  Be sure to explore the photographs and read the captions on this site. 

Explore a Caddo Indian village in "Village Life."  Be sure to answer all the questions on this page.

Now, explore the "Living in Grass Houses" link and look for answers to the following questions:

• What types of houses did the Caddos live in?
• How did they build these houses so quickly?

Click on "Step Inside a Caddo House," about halfway down the page.  Look inside the Caddo house. 

• Did the Caddos have closets in their homes?  How did they store things?
• What are some types of foods which the Caddos ate in their diet?

Go back to the main site and click on "Traces of the Past."   Next, click on the Virtual Museum and then click on "Tools and Weapons." 

• What type of tools and weapons did the Caddos use?

Take some time to explore the other areas in the Virtual Museum.

Commanche Indians

The Commanche indians were another one of the Texas indian tribes.  Visit this site, scroll down to the link for Commanches and answer the following questions:

• In what section of Texas did the Commanches live?
• In addition to being warriors, what else were              the Commanches very good at
• Where did the Commanches originally come from?

Now, scroll down the page past the map and past the pay pal information.  Read about how the Commanche lived. 

• What kind of houses did they live in? 
• What does 'nomadic' mean?  (You may use an online dictionary to look up this word.  Just type the word in the box next to "Merriam Webster Online Dictionary" and press enter.
• Did the Commanches settle in one place, or were they nomadic? 

Many of the tribes, including the Commanches, hunted buffalo.  They used the buffalo for many things, including food, clothing and shelter.  Visit "How Many Ways Can You Use a Buffalo?"  Click on each part of the picture of the buffalo, and answer the following questions:

• What were 3 uses for the buffalo hide?
• What were 3 uses for buffalo hair?
• Name 3 uses for buffalo horn.
• What were 2 ways that buffalo bone could be used?
• How did the Commanches use the buffalo skull?
• What are buffalo chips and how were they used?

Texas Indian Myths

A myth is a type of folktale which can tell us many things about a culture.  A myth can help teach us a lesson, can help us understand the rules which a culture had and can help us understand how a culture understands the world.  Read this myth from the Caddo indians, "Corn Mill Coyote." If we knew nothing about the Caddo indians, what can we tell about them from the story?   

• What job did the women have in the story?
• What food were they preparing?
• Can we tell any type of animals that lived near the Caddo after reading this myth?

Next, read this myth from Commanches. 

• What did the Commanches call themselves in the story?
• What kind of animals did the Commanches know of?
• Can you tell from the story which of the animals that the Commanches hunted and used for many purposes?  Explain your answer.