The Karankawa People of the Gulf Coast

Presented by: Tim Seiter

Tim Seiter is a Ph.D. candidate from Southern Methodist University. He is currently putting the finishing touches on his manuscript about Spanish Texas presidial soldiers. Seiter also works closely with the Karankawa peoples of Texas. His dissertation will be a general history of these tribes. His research for that dissertation has appeared in the Southwestern Historical Quarterly and Texas Highways.

The Karankawa People of the Gulf Coast

In 2009, a seventy-five-year-old Vietnam veteran reached out to the Brownsville Herald and claimed that he was the last living Karankawa person. For over a century, academics had declared this Texas Gulf Coast cultural group extinct and were therefore skeptical of his claims. “To say that he believes he’s descended from Native American groups in the area is plausible,” voiced one professor, “but to say they are Karankawas is a stretch, and I don’t believe it and I don’t think he can prove it.” My presentation furnishes that proof. With the use of oral histories and mission records, I trace these coastal peoples from their supposed extinction point in the mid-nineteenth century to the present. I demonstrate that the Karankawa people still persist, even after genocide, cultural assimilation, and academic denial.

There  is no admission fee for this event. As a reminder, the Galveston County Museum is INSIDE the Galveston County Courthouse. Parking is free surrounding the county building, and the courthouse is handicap accessible. Please feel free to submit an RSVP via email to galveston.co.museum@gmail.com or contact the museum at 409.766.2340 with any questions. 

We hope to see you on Oct. 20th for the presentation!