Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma

The Caddo Indian Tribe of Oklahoma recently changed its official name to the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. The oral traditions of the Caddo suggest that they developed their culture in Arkansas and spread out to the south and west from there. At one time both the Wichita and Pawnee were part of the same nation as the Caddo. The Caddo tribes were divided into three confederacies, which were linked by a common language; the Hasinai, Kadohadacho, and the Natchitoches. The Haisinai and Kadohadacho migrated to what is now East Texas and the Natchitoches lived in what is now Northwestern Louisiana.

The Caddo first encountered Europeans in 1542 when the Hernando de Soto Expedition came through their lands, and two subsequent smallpox epedemics reduced their tribe to less than 1,000. In 1859, the state of Texas removed the remaining Caddo from its territory to a reservation in Oklahoma and in 1874 the Caddo officially united as a distinct tribe.