The Wichita Indians
Subtitle: Traders of Texas and the Southern Plains, 1540-1945 (Centennial Series of the Association of Former Students, Texas a & M University)
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press; Texas A & M University Press
Published: September 2000
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 206
ISBN-13: 9780890969526
Subjects: American history: c 1500 to c 1800; American history: c 1800 to c 1900; History of specific racial & ethnic groups; Indigenous peoples; Modern period, c 1500 onwards; Land tenure; Native Americans - Plains; History; History - General History; United States - State & Local - General; History: American; Texas; Native American; Expeditions & Discoveries; First contact with Europeans; Commerce; United States; Wichita Indians
Description: "The Wichita Indians presents a narrative of the Wichita Indians and their constituent bands from their first contact with Europeans until 1845, when the United States annexed Texas. Historian F. Todd Smith provides background information on the Wichita Indians' provenance - the separate tribes of Taovayas, Tawakonis, Kichais, Wacos, and other bands whose shared language and culture helped unite them for survival when external pressures increased.

He recounts the migration of the Wichita bands southward over the centuries and details their pre-contact lifestyle in fixed villages, where they combined farming and hunting. He then focuses on the trade relationships they developed with the succeeding bands of Europeans who entered their lands: Frenchmen, Spaniards, and Mexicans.

Offering detailed descriptions of their battles, negotiations, trading practices, and survival strategies, Smith traces the Wichitas' struggles to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and defend themselves from encroaching tribes and white settlers."--BOOK JACKET.