Waco Indian Tribe
Location
Waco. According to Lesser and Weltfish (1932), from Wehiko, a
corruption of Mexico, and given the name because they were always fighting
with the Mexicans. The same authorities report that the Waco are thought
to have been a part of the Tawakoni without an independent village but
separated later.
Also called:
Gentlemen Indians, by Bollaert (1850).
Houechas, Huanchane, by French writers, possibly intended for this
tribe.
Connections
The Waco
were most closely related to the Tawakoni of the Wichita group of tribes
belonging to the Caddoan Stock.
Location
They appear first in connection with
their village on the site of the present Waco, Tex.,
though their original home was in Oklahoma with the
Wichita.
Villages
Quiscat, named
from its chief, on the west side of the Brazos on a bluff or plateau above
some springs and not far from the present Waco.
History
According to native informants as reported by Lesser and Weltfish (1932), the Waco are
formerly supposed to have constituted a part of the Tawakoni without an
independent village. It has also been suggested that they may have been
identical with the Yscani, but Lesser and Weltfish identify the Yscani
with another band. Another possibility is that the Waco are descendants of
the Shuman tribe. (See
Texas.) In later times the Waco merged with the
Tawakoni and Wichita.
Population
In 1824 the Waco had a village of 33 grass houses and about
100 men, and a second village of 15 houses and an unnamed number of men. In
1859, just before their removal from Texas, they numbered 171. They are usually
enumerated with the Wichita, but the census of 1910 returned 5 survivors.
Connection in which they have become noted
Almost the sole claim to special remembrance enjoyed by the
Waco is the fact that its name was adopted by the important city of Waco, Tex.
It also appears as the name of places in Sedgwick County, Kans.; Madison County,
Ky.; Jasper County, Mo.; Smith County, Miss.; Haralson County, Ga.; York County,
Nebr.; Cleveland County, N. C.; Stark County, Ohio; and in Tennessee; but it is
uncertain whether the designations of all these came originally from the Waco
tribe.
Additional Resources:
Notes About the Book:
Source: The Indian Tribes of North America, by John R. Swanton, 1953, Bureau of
American Ethnology, Bulletin 145, US Government Printing Office, Washington DC.
Online Publication: The manuscript was scanned and then ocr'd. Minimal editing
has been done, and readers can and should expect some errors in the textual
output.
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