TONKAWA

Cultural groups
plains cultural group
Culturally, the Tonkawa displayed features of the Southern Plains. Their early acquisition of the horse and dependence on the bison and absence of sea resources suggest that during historic times they more closely fit the Plains pattern.

PARTNER PIC

WHAT YEARS WERE THEY IN TEXAS

• 1500-1900
• 1900 they were no longer a seprate group
• 1700 they were driven from their grounds by the apache
• fighting with the Caddo tribes in East Texas over hunting grounds-
• 1746 to 1756. Eventually they ended up in Oklahoma

What foods did they eat?
They ate roots, buffalo, nuts, fruit, herbs, acorns, pecans, oysters, fish, tuna, and prickly pears. Meat was roasted, and dry venison or bison was mixed with pecans. Major food source was buffalo

SHELTER

• They were nomadic so they lived in teepees
• The teepees were made out of buffalo skin
• They were held up with sticks
• Easy to move around

Clothing
Tonkawa women wore wraparound deerskin
skirts. women wore shawls made of rabbit fur and the
men wore painted buffalo robes. The Tonkawa made beautifully decorated moccasins, but wore them only for special occasions. Normally they went barefoot. Sometimes they would tie a few feathers to a lock of their hair.

Hunting and Gathering
They refused to farm because they said they were wolves and wolves hunted for food and did not farm. So they got their food by hunting and gathering. This makes them hunter gatherers. They lived in a region with lots of animals to hunt.

Recreation and Values
Tonkawa means, "the people of the Wolf". The Tonkawa claimed they were all descended from a mythical wolf. For this reason the Tonkawa would never kill a wolf. This way of claiming an animal or thing as a first ancestor is called a totemic belief system by anthropologists. As in most societies with totemic ancestors, the Tonkawa were divided into clans. Each clan had a mythical animal or spirit they believed guarded them.

Enviroment
Central Texas along the streams and rivers.

WHERE ARE THE TONKAWAS NOW

• Louisiana
• Arkansas
• Oaklahoma
• Texas

WHAT DO THEY LIVE IN

• Hut
• Teepee
• Mound
• Wigwaum

WHAT WAS THERE MAJOR FOOD SOURCE

• What was their major food source?
• Bluberries
• Corn
• Buffalo
• Bugs

Credits
http://www.texasindians.com/tonk.htm http://www.oldthingsforgotten.com/nativeamerican/tonkawa.htm http://www.tonkawatribe.com/history.htm http://www.bigorrin.org/tonkawa_kids.htm http://www.texasindians.com/tonk.htm http://tonkawas.weebly.com/clothing.html http://events.nationalgeographic.com/events/exhibits/wolves/ http://tonkawas.weebly.com/homes.html http://www.superbwallpapers.com/photography/acorn-17870/. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Texas