Upcoming Exhibits - Tejas: The Life and Times of the Caddo in Texas

Caddo construction techniques, as envisioned by muralist Nola Davis. In this scene, workers erect enormous yellow pine poles as the framework for a typical Caddo beehive-shaped structure. Original mural on display at Caddoan Mounds State Park. Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Grand Chenesi, political and religious leader of the Caddo. Painting by Reeda Peel, based on descriptions of Caddo leaders by Spanish explorers in the 1600s.

The excavated remains of a large circular structure at the Davis Site, now Caddoan Mounds State Park. Note mound remnant in the distance. Photo from TARL archives.

Human effigy pipe made by early Caddo potters. Davis Site collections, TARL. Photo courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Seal of the Caddo Nation, governing body of the Caddo people. Caddo tribal headquarters is in Binger, Oklahoma.

Caddo Burial Scene. In this moving depiction by artist Nola Davis, a Caddo priest leads a burial procession to a grave prepared at the top of a large earthen mound. Original mural on display at Caddoan Mounds State Park; photo courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Upcoming Exhibits
Tejas: The Life and Times of the Caddo in Texas
Caddo construction techniques, as envisioned by muralist Nola Davis. In this scene, workers erect enormous yellow pine poles as the framework for a typical Caddo beehive-shaped structure. Original mural on display at Caddoan Mounds State Park. Photo courtesy of Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.	The Caddo, the people who gave Texas its very name (from taysha meaning friend), once occupied virtually all of the piney woods of east Texas. These sophisticated farming peoples lived in settled villages and towns and created towering wooden temples atop great earthen platform mounds. Today, the remaining mounds provide silent clues of the Caddo era of greatness (ca. A.D. 1200-1700). During historic times, the Caddo withstood disease, colonization, forced relocation, and acculturation. Today Caddo culture is on the upswing; most Caddo people live in Oklahoma where the Caddo Nation maintains its headquarters. Grand Chenesi, political and religious leader of the Caddo. Painting by Reeda Peel, based on descriptions of Caddo leaders by Spanish explorers in the 1600s.
A team of Caddo scholars, Caddo elders and schoolchildren, professional educators, photographers, and artists are working together to create a compelling series of exhibits and curricula that will tell the story of the Caddo from their East Texas origins more than a thousand years ago up to the present.
Major exhibits include: Caddo Ancestors: The Early Archeological Legacy, A.D. 800-1300 This exhibit will be developed by Dr. Darrell G. Creel (TARL Director) in concert with Dr. Dee Ann Story (Professor Emerita, UT Austin), both noted Caddo archeology scholars. It will summarize what is known about the earliest archeological remains we can definitely attribute to Caddo peoples in Texas, dating roughly between A.D. 800-1300. Caddo Farmers: The Native History of the Caddo, A.D. 1300-1859 This exhibit will be developed by Dr. Timothy K. Perttula, an independent scholar who serves as the Caddo Nation's consulting Tribal Archeologist, and who has written extensively on Caddo archeology and history. This will continue the fascinating story of the prehistory and early history of the Caddo people in Texas, concentrating on how the Caddo lived and thrived both before and after the arrival of Europeans in the United States. Caddo Voices: Yesterday and Today This exhibit will be developed by Cecile E. Carter, a member of the Caddo tribe and author of Caddo Indians: Where We Come From (University of Oklahoma Press, 1995). This will present the Caddo as they see themselves through a series of stories told by Caddo elders of yesterday and today. The content of this exhibit will be developed in consultation with the Caddo Nation. Red Clay: Ancient and Modern Caddo Pottery Multi-dimensional images will be presented of a series of Caddo vessels, some ancient, and some modern ones made by Jerri Redcorn, a Caddo woman who has revived the ceramic traditions of her forbears. Sharon Mitchell, a former public school teacher, anthropologist, and photographer who has developed digital techniques for capturing and displaying three-dimensional images of Caddo pottery, will develop this exhibit. Who Are the Caddo? This exhibit for children will be a new edition to the Kids Only section of Texas Beyond History. Drawing on materials from the first four exhibits, it will present an overview written at the 4-7th grade levels explaining who the Caddo are and were. Rather than having all this written by adults for kids, we will work through one or several schools in Oklahoma to let Caddo children tell others what it means to them to be Caddo. Teaching about the Caddo This will be a new addition to the Teachers section of Texas Beyond History. It will provide a guide to teachers to both the Caddo exhibits elsewhere in the website and source materials available elsewhere—books, links, videos, etc. There will also be five or more lesson plans available for downloading that incorporate the cultural heritage of the Caddo into Texas history and other mandated subject areas. These will be developed by TBH Education Editor, Dr. Mary Black, in consultation with Cecile Carter and other project members.		The excavated remains of a large circular structure at the Davis Site, now Caddoan Mounds State Park. Note mound remnant in the distance. Photo from TARL archives. Human effigy pipe made by early Caddo potters. Davis Site collections, TARL. Photo courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Seal of the Caddo Nation, governing body of the Caddo people. Caddo tribal headquarters is in Binger, Oklahoma.
Caddo Burial Scene. In this moving depiction by artist Nola Davis, a Caddo priest leads a burial procession to a grave prepared at the top of a large earthen mound. Original mural on display at Caddoan Mounds State Park; photo courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
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