The following list of resources was compiled for people that want to learn more about Haseenay (Caddo) people, history, language, and culture but aren't sure where to begin. This list of resources is meant to be a guide for beginners, and it is not exhaustive. Please be mindful in your research that there are some websites, books, and videos on the internet with inaccurate information about Haseenay matters and they have not been vetted by our cultural authorities. The Haseenay community strongly advises all researchers against perpetuating the spread of misinformation about Haseenay hahyahno by taking into consideration whether the source can be traced back to a real Haseenay informant. For the sake of clarity, people who are members and descendants of the federally recognized Caddo Nation of Oklahoma are considered appropriate Haseenay informants.
Haseenay authors are marked with an asterisk *.
Texas Beyond History Website
Steve Black, Tim Perttula, and Dee Ann Story
The authors recorded information about the Caddo from Haseenay informants and historical research.
Notes on the Caddo
Elsie Worthington Clews Parsons
The author recorded information about the Caddo from Haseenay artist Michael Martin, who also went by the names White Moon and Silver Moon.
Traditions of the Caddo
George A. Dorsey
Traditions of the Caddo is a collection of traditional Haseenay stories and folklore.
Caddo Indians: Where We Come From
* Mary Cecile Elkins Carter
This narrative history of the Caddo Indians creates a vivid picture of daily life in the Caddo Nation. Using archaeological data, oral histories, and descriptions by explorers and settlers, Cecile Carter introduces impressive Caddo leaders past and present. The book provides observations, stories, and vignettes on twentieth-century Caddos and invites the reader to recognize the strengths, rooted in ancient culture, that have enabled the Caddos to survive epidemics, enemy attacks, and displacement from their original homelands in Louisiana, Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. This book is highly recommended as one of the few books created by a Caddo person about Caddo people.
Hasinai: A Traditional History of the Caddo Confederacy
* Vynola Beaver Newkumet & Howard L. Meredith
Authors Vynola Beaver Newkumet and Howard L. Meredith culled traditional lore and scholarly research to survey the major landmarks of the Haseenay experience. The book presents the modern Haseenay view of their origin and traditional lifeways. It is based primarily on oral traditions and secondarily on published and archival material. There is a small dictionary in the back. This book is highly recommended as one of the few books created by a Caddo person about Caddo people.
Tsa Ch'ayah: How The Turtle Got Its Squares, A Traditional Caddo Indian Children's Story
* Sadie Bedoka Weller Translated by Wallace Chafe
This book was produced through the efforts of the Kiwat Hasinay Foundation. This book was also illustrated by Caddo/Wichita artist Robin Williams. It is the first Haseenay language book ever published.
Source Material on the History and Ethnology of the Caddo Indians
John R. Swanton
This is a good book for those that would like to know more about the Caddo before and at the point of contact with Europeans. The author compiles the original accounts of early French, Spanish, and English colonizers.
The Caddo Language: A grammar, texts, and dictionary based on materials collected by the author in Oklahoma between 1960 and 1970
Wallace Chafe
This book is a compilation of linguistic research the author collected with his Haseenay informant, Sadie Bedoka Weller. It includes a small dictionary and Haseenay stories in the Haseenay language with English translations. The section of this book that focuses on grammar is meant to be read with the book Caddo Verb Morphology by Dr. Lynette Melnar.
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