Karankawa People of the Gulf Coast
By Alexandria O’Brien
Please join us at the Galveston County Museum for a fascinating presentation by Tim Seiter, who has traced the history of the Karankawa people from the mid-nineteenth century to the present day. This event will take place next month, on October 20, 2023. Registered participants are to meet at the museum entrance and be guided to a conference room for the presentation. A tour of the Galveston County Museum will follow. The event will begin at 10 AM and end at 12 PM.
The Karankawa People of the Gulf Coast
According to Tim Seiter, in 2009, a 75-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 Karankawa’s 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.
Image Source: Painting, Karankawa Native Americans by Frank Weir. Courtesy of Texas Beyond History
Presenter, 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.
For more information about this event
Please visit our website linked below or contact the Galveston County Museum.
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.
About Galveston County Museum
The Galveston County Museum cares for over 25,000 artifacts and archives. The vast majority of the artifacts have been donated by current and former county residents. The museum staff is always happy to talk with people interested in donating artifacts to the collection.
For more information, visit https://www.galvestoncountyhistory.org/
