Adai (Native American Culture)
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The Adai were a Native American people of northwestern
Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...
and northeastern
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. They were an
Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, Southeastern cultures, or Southeast Indians are an ethnographic classification for Native Americans who have traditionally inhabited the area now part of the Southeastern United States and the no ...
and part of the
Caddo Confederacy The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...
.


Name

The name ''Adai'' derives from the
Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...
word ''hadai'' meaning 'brushwood'.Thomas N. Campbell, "Haqui Indians,"
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br>
accessed July 12, 2012. Published by the Texas State Historical Association.
French explorer
Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville (16 July 1661 – 9 July 1706) or Sieur d'Iberville was a French soldier, explorer, colonial administrator, and trader. He is noted for founding the colony of Louisiana in New France. He was born in Montreal to French ...
called them the Natao. Adai's name has also been written Adaizan, Adaizi, Adaise, Adahi, Adaes, Adees, Atayos, and Nadais.


Language

The extinct Adai language was once thought to be Caddoan,Donald Ricky, ''Encyclopedia of Texas Indians'', 91. but may be a
language isolate A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu and Burushaski in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê in South America, and Tiwi ...
and remains unclassified because of a lack of attestation. John Sibley wrote that the Adai language "differs from all others, and is so difficult to speak or understand that no nation can speak ten words of it." A list of approximately 250 words in Adai was recorded.


History


16th century

The Adai were among the first peoples in
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to experience European contact and were profoundly affected. In 1530,
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (; 1488/90/92"Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Núñez (1492?-1559?)." American Eras. Vol. 1: Early American Civilizations and Exploration to 1600. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 50-51. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 December ...
wrote of them using the name ''Atayos''.


17th century

Some Adai joined the Mission of San Francisco de los Tejas, that the Spanish founded in 1690 in
San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
. In 1699, Iberville encountered the Adai in Louisiana along the Red River.


18th century

In 1716,
Spanish colonists Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern and ...
founded the Mission of San Miguel de Linares, also known as the Mission of Adayes, to convert the Adai, Natchitoches, and other
Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...
people to Roman Catholicism. The French and their Native allies destroyed that mission in 1719 but the Spanish rebuilt in 1721. The Spanish later built the Presidio of Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Los Adaes, near
Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; , ), officially the City of Natchitoches, is a small city in, and the parish seat of, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 United States census, the city's population was ...
. French explorer
Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe Jean-Baptiste Bénard de la Harpe (4 February 1683 in Saint-Malo – 26 September 1765) was a French explorer who is credited with using the name "Little Rock" in 1722 for a stone outcropping on the bank of the Arkansas River used by early travele ...
wrote in 1719 that the Adai were helpful to French traders. Then, they lived in villages along the Red River from Louisiana into Texas past the Sabine River. Conflicts between the French and Spanish, introduced diseases, and alcohol took a toll on the Adai, and they are almost gone by 1778. Archaeologists have identified their pottery styles in the 1770s as being increasingly tempered with bone and named their ceramic types "Patton Engraved" and "Emory Incised". Around 1792, 14 Adai families migrated to Presidio San Antonio de Béxar in
San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...
, where they assimilated into other tribes. Surviving Adai families near
Nacogdoches, Texas Nacogdoches ( ) is a city in East Texas and the county seat of Nacogdoches County, Texas, United States. The 2020 U.S. census recorded the city's population at 32,147. Stephen F. Austin State University is located in Nacogdoches and special ...
, merged into the Caddos.


19th century

American
Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the U.S. government. Agents established in Nonintercourse Act of 1793 The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the Un ...
John Sibley recorded a small Adai village that became known as the Lac Madon site, which was populated through 1820. He wrote that there were only "twenty men of them remaining, but more women," while Rev.
Jedidiah Morse Jedidiah Morse (August 23, 1761June 9, 1826) was an American geographer and preacher whose textbooks became a staple for students in the United States. He was the father of the telegraphy pioneer and painter Samuel Morse, and his textbooks earned ...
recorded only 30 surviving Adai by 1820. Ethnographer Henry Rowe Schoolcraft recorded 27 Adai in 1825, and ethnographer John Reed Swanton wrote, "they are now entirely merged with the other Caddo. ... Although the tribal name is remembered, the tribe itself is now wholly merged with the peoples which go under the name of 'Caddo.'"


State-recognized tribe

The State of Louisiana designated the Adai Caddo Indians of Louisiana based in Robeline, Louisiana, as a state-recognized tribe.


Notes


References

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External links


Caddo Nation


Texas Beyond History {{DEFAULTSORT:Adai People Caddoan peoples Extinct Native American tribes Native American history of Louisiana Native American tribes in Louisiana Native American tribes in Texas Pre-statehood history of Louisiana Pre-statehood history of Texas