Nabedache

The Nabedache were a Native American tribe from eastern Texas.^[1] Their name, Nabáydácu, means "blackberry place" in the Caddo language.^[2] An alternate theory says their original name was Wawadishe from the Caddo word, witish, meaning "salt."^[3]

The Nabedache was the western branch of the Hasinai branch of the Caddo Confederacy. Their traditional territory was located between the Neches and Trinity Rivers.^[1]

In 1686, French explorer, Henri Joutel, encountered the tribe living at the headwaters of the Neches River, near present-day Houston County, Texas. In 1690 Spanish Francisco monks accompanying explorer Domingo Ramon founded a mission, San Francisco de los Tejas Mission in Nabedache territory. European contact brought devastating diseases, and the Nabedache suffered an epidemic in 1690-91. In the ensuing century, their principal village, was 12–15 miles west of the Neches River.^[4] The village was called San Pedro for the nearby Arroyo San Pedro.^[3]

Spanish chroniclers observed that women, as well as men, could be priests and hold high ranks. In the late 18th century, polyandry was also observed.^[5]

The tribe moved further up the Neches between 1779 and 1784.^[4] Ultimately, they were forced to relocate to the Wichita Reservation in Indian Territory in the 19th century.^[4] Today they are enrolled in the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.

The tribe is also known as the Nabadacho, Nabaydacho, Nabordakhes, Inecis, Ynecis,^[2] Navedacho, and Naoudiche.^[4]

• Bolton, Herbet E. The Hasinais: Southern Caddoans As Seen by the Earliest Europeans. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002. ISBN 978-0-8061-3441-3.
• Sturtevant, William C., general editor and Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast. Volume 14. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004. ISBN 0-16-072300-0.

• Nabedache Indian Tribe. Access Genealogy.
• Nabedache Indians from the Handbook of Texas Online