The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928 Page: 55
390 p. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Description of Tejas or Asinai Indians, 1691-1722
settlements on the way to the French bases which are at the mouth
of Rio del Misuri where it flows into Rio de la Palizada [Mis-
sissippi]. This first mission of Nuestra Padre de San Francisco
is in the 33d degree of north latitude in a due line to the north-
ward, while Queretaro is directly toward the south. It is in
degree 22.
[The Asinai and Their Country]
This nation is good humored and joyous, with good features
and thin faces. They are friendly to the Spaniards. They plant
corn, beans, and sunflowers of great size. The seed is like corn
and this is what they eat in pottage which they make of corn and
beans. There are calabashes, muskmelons, and watermelons.
They gather great quantities of nuts in the hulls and acorns for
a year's supply. The whole country is filled with different kinds
of trees, oaks, chestnuts, pines, cottonwoods, medlars, cherries, and
many other kinds of trees that I do not know the names of. The
country contains wild grape vines, passion flowers of Peru, red and
white mulberries, blackberry bushes of two kinds, and hemp and
flax in certain sections. There is some in this first mission and
along the road there are great quantities. There are many springs
and rivers, large and small. The whole country, as far as it has
been examined, is wooded. It contains many small open spaces,
and stretches of sand and marshes where the Indians live. No
places are found here suitable for gathering the Indians together
to settle except by cutting and clearing away the timber. There
are lagoons where different kinds of fish abound and also many
rivers. There are many wild chickens and deer and, in cold
weather, many ducks and geese. There are buffaloes to the north
and northwest, a little more than two days travel. These Indians
then have their enemies in sight. Here there are extensive plains
where every year the Assinai have wars with these Indians in
order to secure meat and because of the ancient hostility between
them.
[Customs and Beliefs]
The whole nation is idolatrous-as is at present recognized.
They have houses of worship and a perpetual fire which they
never let die out. They are very perverted and in their dances
they have the Indian braves or the Indian women who get drunk
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 31, July 1927 - April, 1928, periodical, 1928; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101088/m1/61/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.