Last of the Akokisas

Written by Mark Kramer

Akokisas Spearpoint Photo from ABNC file footage

I sit on a shell midden on the edge of the Armand Bayou. Most Houstonians aren’t aware that these middens are scattered around the Galveston Bay area. Most Houstonians aren’t aware that these shell piles accumulated over thousands of years, left behind by the native peoples of our area. Most Houstonian’s aren’t aware that Native Americans ever lived here. There were a handful of linguistically distinct groups of native peoples once living around Galveston Bay. Now gone, with only the faintest trace of their footsteps remaining.

Archaeologists estimate the Akokisas occupied these sites along Armand Bayou for approximately 8,000 years. Sitting and overlooking the bayou, it’s easy to imagine the small band of hunter-gatherers. Easy to imagine a smoldering fire and clams being tossed into the coals. It’s harder to imagine how they endured for thousands of years. I thought I wanted to live the back-to-the-land “Indian” lifestyle once. Six months in a tent taught me the harshness of wet winter cold and the relentless nature of mosquitoes at “Red Alert Levels”. I sit here now with a fragment of Akokisas pottery shard in my hand and wonder, are our people living a lifestyle capable of sustaining us for that long? Can we live this modern lifestyle supporting eight billion people and be here 8,000 years in the future as they were? They were a group of poorly understood people whose story has never been told. 

Akokisas Ceramics Photo from ABNC file footage

The Galveston Bay complex was once home to numerous Native American bands. The Coco, Cujuane, Guapite, Atakapa, and Tonkawa all spoke their own language and occurred along the Bay shores. Karankawa Indians are Texas’ most well-known coastal group of native Americans. Once, it was believed that they lived around Galveston Bay. Today, most experts believe that they primarily occurred further south on barrier islands down the Texas coast. In fact, some previous excavations of Karankawa sites are now determined to have actually been the Akokisas. The Akokisas lived an egalitarian lifeway with no chief, no religion, no permanent housing, no clothing, and no written language. They were among the simplest native cultures in North America.

Joan Few Excavating Akokisas Campsite

My understanding of the Akokisas has grown through the years. Conversations with archeologist, Joan Few, and also the book titled “The Karankawa Indians” by Robert A. Ricklis were major sources of valuable information. I had the opportunity to hear Ms. Few speak at the ABNC Volunteer Meeting in March 2008 and collected extensive notes from her presentation. Ms. Few had previously worked on a series of excavations on sites located on Armand Bayou. Her stories were spellbinding, and I’ll recount several of them here. Further information was gained from reading the technical reports of archeologists, Robert Hole, Charles Chandler and Lawrence Aten who also conducted excavations and field surveys along Armand Bayou in the early 1970’s. 

Clams (Rangia cuneata) were a dietary staple and still thrive in Armand Bayou Photo by Mark Kramer

The native peoples living along Armand Bayou lived a seasonally nomadic lifestyle. Archeologists estimate their peak population to have been around 2000 people. It’s believed that they ranged from West Bay to the Sabine River. They lived a hand-to-mouth lifeway with their movements being driven by the seasonal availability of food resources. They were a coastal people occurring largely on the eastern shore of Galveston Bay and rarely traveled more than 30 miles inland. Every Spring and Summer, they visited Armand Bayou. They did not visit the same campsite every year.

Wild plants, berries, nuts, fish, and wildlife were key components of their diet. A detailed faunal survey of the Armand Bayou midden contents includes evidence of oyster, clam, bison, deer, gray wolf, raccoon, gray squirrel, opossum, box turtle, soft-shelled turtle, snake, drum, catfish, alligator, waterfowl, bobcat, and rodent. Oysters and clams were a critical dietary component based on excavation evidence. It appears that 3-4-year-old Rangia clams were preferred. Clams were a constant dependable food resource. Clam beds always occurred in the same location. They were easy to capture and collect. Preparation was as simple as tossing them into the fire. A returning tribe could arrive at a campsite with confidence clams would be ready and available whenever needed. Once consumed, the shells were tossed into a pile which may have accumulated for thousands of years. I have memories from the 1970’s of a massive pile of clam and oyster shells (shell midden) in Seabrook near where McHale Park is now. Some archeologists believe that middens were trash piles. Others believe the shell piles provided enhanced drainage and the people lived on top of the shells. Both theories have evidence to support the claims. Note also that oysters were present in the Armand Bayou middens during the excavation. Today, oysters do not occur in Armand Bayou or Mud Lake due to low salinity levels. Oysters in the archeological record are a biological indicator reflecting heightened salinity during different climatic conditions in a previous era.

Yaupon (Ilex vomitoria) is the dominant understory shrub in the forest and was used to make a beverage consumed in seasonal gatherings Photo by Mark Kramer

During seasons of abundance, different tribal bands would hold large gatherings or “mitotes”. Part of the Mitote feast and celebration included the brewing of a “black drink” made from the leaf of the yaupon. Yaupon is closely related to the popular South American beverage yerba mate. Yaupon leaves contain caffeine and it is reported that the tea produced was very thick, strong, and potent. Often, the beverage was consumed to the point of Indians becoming sick and vomiting. It is written that gatherings would often proceed around the clock for several days.

Pottery shards account for the bulk of the artifacts found during excavations. On occasion, I have found fragments of these broken pots during walks along the bayou’s edge during the low tides of winter. It stirs my imagination to hold an artifact made by a human hand from so long ago. Made by a person that lived their whole life on the shores of this bayou. Someone who paddled their canoe to catch fish in these waters. Someone who found beauty in the sun setting over that same portion of prairie. The rising emotions of the similarities of a lifetime of mud beneath my toenails is not lost on me.

Remnants of fine ceramic pottery uncovered during excavation Photo from ABNC file footage

Archeologists uncover discarded contents of cooking pots Photo from ABNC file footage

No pottery wheel was used for the ceramic formation. A type of “coil construction” whereby a “rope” of clay was looped upon itself and then smoothed to create a vessel. Portions of small bowls, large jars, and deep vases were uncovered. Ms. Few recounted that it was theorized that a vessel would remain positioned in a cooking fire for a large portion of the day. As hunters would return to the camp, they would add their contribution to the pot creating an “Indian gumbo”. After a period of time, the contents would cook beyond being edible. The pot would then be removed from the fire, carried to the edge of camp and the contents tossed. Ms. Few recounted “peeling back” the layers of soil to expose different horizons of cook pot contents being scattered at different angles! Almost as if you could see that someone different had spread the contents on different days from different angles!

Francois De Bellisle, who was shipwrecked on Bolivar Peninsula in 1722, indicated that the Akokisas also raised a “superfine” variety of maize. Further interesting reading from him of his time with the natives includes the description of a prairie fire ignited by Indians, collecting hundreds of bird eggs on islands in the bay, and a winter bison hunt. Of particular note is an eloquent narrative regarding the beauty of coastal prairie landscapes. Cabeza De Vaca was a Spanish explorer shipwrecked on Galveston Island in 1532. His accounts of living among the natives is journaled in “Adventures Into The Unknown Interior” and provides further insight into the culture.

Painting, Karankawa Native Americans by Frank Weir. Courtesy of Texas Beyond History.

I could find little evidence of Akokisas portraits or sketches. However, descriptions of their appearance offer that they were short in stature, had large heads, protruding lips, dark skin, and stained teeth. Body and facial tattooing were common in both sexes. They lived in small dome shaped wiki-ups thatched in palmetto leaf in winter.  A small central fire aided in managing biting insects. Summer dwelling was the chickee, which consisted of a raised floor, open walls, and overhead roof.

Stone does not commonly occur locally and was considered a precious resource Photo from ABNC file footage

Dugout canoe made of cypress or cedar was the primary mode of transportation for the Akokisas. The boats were long, shallow draft, fast, and stable. The boats were versatile and carried the entirety of village possessions. Reports describe the boats also being used for hunting fish and wildlife. Early settler’s anger was often driven by Indian raids where these canoes allowed escape into the shallow marshes and estuaries where pursuit was not possible. Vessels were designed for bay and bayou navigation and were not designed or used in the open Gulf of Mexico. 

Archeological evidence indicated a technological transition through the significant passage of time. Spear and dart points transitioned to the bow and arrow. The bow and arrow were the primary tool for hunting everything from fish to bison in more modern times. Bows were described as being as tall as a man and made from southern red cedar. The Indians prized stone as a very valuable resource recognizing that it does not occur frequently around Galveston Bay. Arrowhead, spear point, and tool-making artifacts found in excavations were primarily made of local chert. In my 45 years of hiking and exploring along Armand Bayou, I have found only one arrowhead. Stone was treated as a very valuable material. Fish were harvested with bow and arrow. They were also collected with cane weir fish traps and nets. There was sexual division of labor with men hunting and women collecting edible plants.

Early settlers on Armand Bayou

Early settlers on Armand Bayou

The Armand Bayou Archeological District was established to recognize, research and preserve the unique cultural heritage of the first people of Armand Bayou

It is estimated that the population of North American Indians declined by 75%-95% within the first one hundred years of European contact. Cabeza de Vaca reported that during the first winter, half of the natives died from dysentery having been infected by the Spaniards. European disease brought by the colonists introduced further illness for which native peoples had no immunity and were unable to survive. Smallpox and measles were known to have devastated native people’s populations. Colonization and expansion accelerated around Galveston Bay in the early 1800’s. Native peoples were viewed as a hinderance to that process. Numerous conflicts, combats, and eradication campaigns were documented. Those Indians not killed in combat died from European infectious disease for which they had no immunity. Sadly, by 1850, all native peoples around Galveston Bay had completely disappeared.

Armand Bayou is rich in evidence of the native people that once lived here. There are twelve known archeological sites located along Armand Bayou and its tributaries. For this reason, the area received a special designation as The Armand Bayou Archeological District. The designation acknowledges the unique historical nature of the native American sites in the region. Most of the sites are remnant campsites and shell middens. However, one of the sites is more sacred.

Akokisas burial Photo from ABNC file footage

An Akokisas burial site exists on the eastern shore of Mud Lake adjacent to Clear Lake Park. The site is located within the Harris County Youth Village. Referred to as The Harris County Boys Home Cemetery, it is one of the few known burial sites of native peoples on the Texas coast. The site was excavated by Lawrence Aten and Charles Chandler in 1971. Thirty-two native people are buried there. The people resting there were all buried in the sitting position, as was the native custom. Several of the graves contained personal items which indicated the person’s unique tribal skill. Some contained bead making items another included a flint knapping tool kit used to make arrowheads. Other graves contained jewelry made of shell or bone.

Ceremonial flute Photo from ABNC file footage

A flute was also recovered from one of burial sites. Interestingly the flute was crafted from the leg bone of a whooping crane. Ms. Few recounted that many native peoples used the flute as part of the matrimonial ceremony. Other native cultures use the flute as part of the burial rites. Often the flute would be intentionally broken and then placed into the grave, as if to indicate that the persons song had been played and would never play again. In either case it harkens back to a time long past when whooping cranes still walked the marshes of Armand Bayou. Forensic research into skeletal remains revealed no significant disease or pathology. Teeth were shown to have extensive wear as evidence of the gritty nature of their shellfish diet. Of special interest is that none of the skeletal remains had evidence of violent death. There are historic reports of what was once a much larger burial ground located near the mouth of Clear Lake. Late in the 19th century large amounts of shell (middens) were removed from the site to provide foundation for rail road track. Over one hundred burials were destroyed as part of the shell removal. It is widely believed that this site served as the primary burial ground for native peoples of the Clear Lake region.

Wild places have always served as a place for personal reflection. Their value may also be measured as a sanctuary to reflect on our story as a culture and our own personal story. I’m sitting in an Akokisas campsite beneath the trees overlooking the bayou. The burial grounds are directly across the water. Even though the burial ground is not visible it somehow seems to dignify the view. The southerly breeze in the tree tops allows me to almost feel their presence. I imagine voices in an extinct language that will never be spoken again. They tell me from where we came and perhaps where we’re going. The pottery shard in my hand is a final crumbling piece of a culture’s technology and history. It’s a tangible connection to a people’s struggle in the face of overwhelming adversity. It deepens the impact of this poignant moment for me as an American.