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Hasinai

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hasinai
Angelina River,west ofNacogdoches, Texas,ancestral Hasinai homeland
Total population
under 5,757[1]
Regions with significant populations
formerlyLouisiana,Texas,
currentlyOklahoma
Languages
Hasinai,English
Religion
Native American Church,Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Hainai,Nabedache,Nabiti,Nacogdoche,Nacono,Nadaco,Nasoni(Lower),Nechaui,Neche,and otherCaddo people

TheHasinai Confederacy(Caddo:Hasíinay[2]) was a large confederation ofCaddo-speakingNative Americanswho occupied territory between theSabineandTrinityriversin eastern Texas. Today, their descendants are enrolled in theCaddo Nation of Oklahomaand theNatchitochesTribe of Louisiana.

Name

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The nameHasinaimeans "our own people" in Caddoan. The Spanish knew the Hasinai as theTejasorTexas,from a form of greeting meaning "friend", which gave the state of Texas its name.[3]

Variants ofHasinaiinclude:Hasini,Asenai,Asinai,Assoni,Asenay,Cenis,Senis,Sannaye,[3]Asinaiz,Asinayes,Assinais,Azinais,Azinays.[4]

Government

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When the Spanish and the French encountered the Hasinai in the 1680s, they were a centrally organized chiefdom under the control of a religious leader, known as the Grand Xinesi. He lived in a secluded house and met with a council of elders.

The chieftainship consisted of several subdivisions, which have been designated "cantonments". Each was under the control of a Caddi. There were also men designated as Canahas and Chayas, who helped the Caddi run the system.[5]

History

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The historic domain of the Hasinai and other Caddo tribes

During the 17th century, the Hasinai traded with theJumanoat the western Hasinai city of Nabedache.[6]Some consider the residents of Nabedache to have been a distinct people designated by that name.

Historic populations

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It is estimated that in 1520, the people who would become the Hasinai, theKadohadachoand theNatchitoches,numbered about 250,000.[7]Over the next 250 years, the population of these Caddoan-speaking peoples was severely reduced by epidemics of endemic diseases carried by Spanish and French colonists and spread through indigenous trading networks. Native Americans had no acquired immunity to the new diseases, and suffered high mortality.

In 1690, the Hasinai numbered in the vicinity of 10,000 people or a little more. By 1720, as a result of infectious diseases such assmallpox,the Hasinai population had fallen to 2,000.[8]

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^2011 Oklahoma Indian Nations Pocket Pictorial Directory.Archived2012-04-24 at theWayback MachineOklahoma Indian Affairs Commission.2011: 7. Retrieved 20 Aug 2013.
  2. ^Edmonds 27
  3. ^ab"Hasinai Indians".Texas State Historical Association.
  4. ^Barnes, Thomas C.; Naylor, Thomas H.; Polzer, Charles W.Northern New Spain: A Research Guide.University of Arizona.Retrieved10 May2024.
  5. ^Gary Clayton Anderson,The Indian Southwest, 1580-1830: Ethnogenesis and Reinvention(Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999) p. 44
  6. ^Anderson,The Indian Southwest,p. 47
  7. ^Juliana Barr,Peace Came in the Form of a Woman: Indians and Spaniards in the Texas Borderlands(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2007) p. 20
  8. ^Anderson,The Indian Southwest,p. 57

References

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  • Edmonds, Randlett.Nusht'uhtiʔtiʔ Hasinay: Caddo Phrasebook.Richardson, TX: Various Indian Peoples Publishing, 2003.ISBN1-884655-00-9.
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