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Kadohadacho Indian Tribe
Kadohadacho (Kä'dohadä'cho,
real Caddo "Caddo proper' ). A tribe of the Caddo confederacy, sometimes
confused with the confederacy itself. Their dialect is closely allied to that of
the Hainai and
Anadarko, and is one of the two dialects dominant today among the remnant of the
confederacy.
The Kadohadacho seem to have developed, as a tribe, on Red river of Louisiana
and in its immediate vicinity, and not to have migrated with their kindred to an
distance either north or south. Their first knowledge of the white race was in
1541, when De Soto and his followers stayed with some of the subtribes on
Washita river and near the Mississippi. The Spaniards never penetrated during
the 16th and 17th centuries to their villages in the lake region of north west
Louisiana, but the people came in contact with Spanish soldiers and settlers
from the west by joining the war parties of other tribes. Various articles of
European manufacture were brought home as trophies of war. The tribe was not
unfamiliar with horses, but had not come into possession of firearms when the
survivors of La Salle's party visited them on their way 1687. For nearly two
years La Salle had previous direct relations with tribes of the Caddo
confederacy who were living in what is now Texas, so that when the approach of
the French
was reported the visitors were regarded as friends rather than as strangers. The
chief of the Kadohadacho, with his warriors taking the calumet, went a league,
to meet the travelers, and escort them with marks of honor to the village on Red
river. On arrival, the women, says Douary "as is their wont, washed our heads
and feet in warm water and then placed us vas is their wont washed our heads and
feet in warm water and then placed us on a platform covered with very neat white
mats. Then followed banquets, the calumet dance, and other rejoicing day and
night."
The friendly relations then begun with the French were never abandoned. A
trading post was established and a flour mill built at their village by and the
French early in the 18th century, both were given up in a few years owing to the
unsettled state of affairs between the Spaniards and the French. These
disturbances added to the enemity of tribes who were being pushed from their
homes by the increasing number of white settlers, together with the introduction
of new diseases, particularly smallpox and measles, brought about much distress
and a great reduction in the population. During the last quarter of the 18th
century the Kadohadacho abandoned their villages in the vicinity of the lakes in
north west Louisiana, descended the river, and settled not far from their
kindred, the Nachitoches. By the beginning of the 19th century their importance
as a distinct tribe was at an end, the people became merged with the other
tribes of the confederacy and shared their misfortune. In customs and ceremonies
they resembled the other Caddo tribes.
The tribes of the Caddo confederacy, including the
Kadohadacho, have 10 clans, according to Mooney, viz.:
Suko (Sun),
Kagahanin ( Thunder)
Iwi (Eagle) ,
Kishi (Panther) ,
Oat (Raccoon),
Tao Beaver),
Kagaih (Crow),
Nawotsi (Bear),
Tasha (Wolf), Tanaha (Buffalo).
The Buffalo clan was sometimes called Koho (Alligator),
"because both animals bellow in the same way." The members of a group did not
kill the animal from which the group took its name, except the eagle, whose
feathers were necessary for regalia and in sacred ceremonies; but the bird was
killed only by certain men initiated to perform this ceremonial act. The rituals
and songs attending the rite of preparation for the killing of eagles have
passed away with their last keeper, and the people have now to depend on other
tribes for the needed feathers.
The books presented are for their
historical value only and are not the
opinions of the Webmasters of the site.
Handbook
of American Indians, 1906
Index of Tribes or Nations
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