The Bidai were a tribe of

Atakapa The Atakapa Sturtevant, 659 or Atacapa were an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who spoke the Atakapa language and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico in what is now Texas and Louisiana. They included several distinct band ...

Indians from eastern

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

.Sturtevant, 659

History

Tribute to Bidai Tribe in Huntsville, Texas

Their oral history says that the Bidai were the original people in their region."Bidai Indian History."
''Access Genealogy''. (retrieved 14 March 2010) Their central settlements were along

Bedias Creek Bedias Creek is a creek in Texas. The creek rises in Madison County and flows east into Houston County, where it empties into the Trinity River. See also *List of rivers of Texas The list of rivers of Texas is a list of all named waterways, ...

, but their territory ranged from the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 11th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...

to the

Neches River The Neches River () begins in Van Zandt County west of Rhine Lake and flows for through the piney woods of east Texas, defining the boundaries of 14 counties on its way to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, ...

.Sturtevant, 659 The first written record of the tribe was in 1691, by Spanish explorers who said they lived near the

Hasinai The Hasinai Confederacy (Caddo: ) was a large confederation of Caddo-speaking Native Americans who occupied territory between the Sabine and Trinity rivers in eastern Texas. Today, their descendants are enrolled in the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma an ...

. French explorer François Simars de Bellisle described them as agriculturalists in 1718 and 1720."Bidai Indians."
''Texas State Historical Association.'' (retrieved 14 March 2010) They had three distinct villages or bands in the 18th century. The Deadose were the northernmost band of Bidai, who broke off in the early 18th century. The 18th century population of Bidai is estimated to be 600 with 200 additional Deadoses.Sturtevant, 662 In 1770, the band colluded with French settlers to sell guns to the

Lipan Apache Lipan Apache are a band of Apache, a Southern Athabaskan Indigenous people, who have lived in the Southwest and Southern Plains for centuries. At the time of European and African contact, they lived in New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and ...

s, as all parties were enemies with the Spanish. The Bidai suffered several epidemics during 1776-77, reducing their population by at least half. The survivors joined neighboring tribes, such as the

Akokisa The Akokisa were the indigenous tribe that lived on Galveston Bay and the lower Trinity and San Jacinto rivers in Texas, primarily in the present-day Greater Houston area.Campbell, Thomas N. "Akokisa Indians.''The Handbook of Texas Online.''(ret ...

s and Koasati. Some settled on the

Brazos Indian Reservation The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 11th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater Dr ...

in present-day

Young County, Texas Young County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 17,867. Its county seat is Graham. The county was created in 1856 and organized in 1874. It is named for William Cocke Young, an early Texas ...

and were removed with 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, w ...

Indian Territory The Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the United States Government for the relocation of Native Americans who held aboriginal title to their land as a sovereign ...

. Those that remained formed a village twelve miles from

Montgomery, Texas Montgomery is a city located in Montgomery County, Texas. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 1,948. History The town of Montgomery was founded in the middle of the Lake Creek Settlement by W. W. Shepperd in July 1837 on 200 ...

, growing corn and picking cotton for hire in the mid-19th century. Andre Sjoberg published an ethnohistory of the Bidai in 1951.Sturtevant, 663

Lifeways

The Bidai hunted, gathered, fished, grew

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American English, North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples of Mexico, indigenous ...

, and bartered their surplus maize. They snared game and trapped them in cane pens. During the summer months, they lived along the coasts, but in winters they moved inlandSturtevant, 661 in which they lived in bearskin tents. Before contact, the Bidai made their own ceramics, but quickly adopted metal utensils from European trade. They still made ceramic pots into the 19th century, and they also wove a variety of baskets. In 1803, Dr. John Sibley wrote that Bidai had "an excellent character for honesty and punctuality." The structure of their

cradleboard Cradleboards (, se, gietkka, sms, ǩiõtkâm, smn, kietkâm, sje, gietkam) are traditional protective baby-carriers used by many indigenous cultures in North America and throughout northern Scandinavia amongst the Sámi. There are a variety ...

s altered the shape of their skulls. They also enhanced their appearance through body and facial tattooing. Bidai medicine men were herbalists and performed sweatbathing. Patients could be treated by being raised scaffolds over smudge fires. While other

Atakapan The Atakapa Sturtevant, 659 or Atacapa were an indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who spoke the Atakapa language and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico in what is now Texas and Louisiana. They included several distinct band ...

bands are known for their ritual

cannibalism Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, b ...

, the practice was never recorded among the Bidai.

Language

Bidai was a possible Atakapan language, which is now extinct. Below are some of the few Bidai words ever recorded. *Namah: one *Nahone: two *Naheestah: three *Nashirimah: four *Nahot nahonde: five *Nashees nahonde: six *Púskus: boy *Tándshai: corn"Bidai Word Set."
''native Languages.'' (retrieved 14 March 2010)

Name

Bidai has been spelled Biday, Bedies, Bidaises, Beadweyes, Bedies, Bedees, Bidias, Bedais, Midays, Vidais, Vidaes, Vidays. Their name could be

, meaning "brushwood", and having reference to the

Big Thicket The Big Thicket is the name given to a somewhat imprecise region of a heavily-forested area of Southeast Texas in the United States. This area represents a portion of the mixed pine-hardwood forests of southeast US. The National Park Service esta ...

near the lower Trinity River about which they lived. Their

autonym Autonym may refer to: * Autonym, the name used by a person to refer to themselves or their language; see Exonym and endonym * Autonym (botany), an automatically created infrageneric or infraspecific name See also * Nominotypical subspecies, in zo ...

was Quasmigdo.

Notes

References

* Sturtevant, William C., general editor and Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. ''Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast''. Volume 14. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004. .

External links

Bidai Indians
Texas State Historical Association

Access Genealogy *

List of Native American peoples in the United States This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States of America. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes were legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bidai Atakapa Extinct Native American tribes Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Native American tribes in Texas Native American history of Texas Unclassified languages of North America