Texas
At various times, the area that is now Texas was home to the Pueblo, the Mound Builders of the Mississippi culture and Mesoamerican civilizations, centered to the south. In time, the Caddoan peoples spread throughout the Red River watershed, forming confederacies: Natchitoches, Hasinai, Wichita, Kadohadocho. The name of Texas comes from taysha, a word in the language of the Hasinai which means “friends” or “allies.” The Caddoans are descended from the Mississippian culture. They built large earthen structures, leveled off at the top, around flat, open plazas. Surplus maize allowed dense settlement and the arts flourished during the 12th and 13th centuries. The unbroken cultural tradition survives to this day in the Caddo Nation, which was forced onto a reservation in Texas and then forcibly removed once more to Oklahoma.
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