The history of Texas is an ongoing conflict of cultures starting with the mission system. In this lesson plan, students will understand the difficulties that the missionaries had in converting the Natives to the Roman Catholic religion and Spanish culture. The lesson will also show how hard it was for the Caddo and other tribes to give up their ways of life. This lesson can be taught after You May Not Want It..., also by Brenda Beaven, which discusses the establishment of the missions, starting with San Francisco de los Tejas in 1690, through the missions and presidios built in 1718.
Created by Brenda Beaven, December 2007
The student understands traditional historical points of reference in Texas history. The student is expected to identify the major eras in Texas history and describe their defining characteristics.
§113.23. Social Studies, Grade 7. (b)(1)(A)
The student understands how individuals, events, and issues prior to the Texas Revolution shaped the history of Texas. The student is expected to identify important individuals, events, and issues related to European exploration and colonization of Texas, including the establishment of Catholic missions.
§113.23. Social Studies, Grade 7. (b)(2)(B)
Begin by giving students background information about the establishment of the missions in East Texas. Explain that after finding the ruins of Fort St. Louis, Don Alonso de Leon, Governor of Coahuila, continued his search into East Texas for any remaining French intruders. In response to the French activity in the area, Father Massanet established San Francisco de Los Tejas in 1690 in the Caddo territory along the Trinity River. Even though this mission only lasted a few years, the Spanish would return in 1716 to occupy the region and spread not only the Roman Catholic religion but also the culture and customs of the Spanish.
Texas Indians were expected to live in the missions and learn the Spanish way of life. Daily patterns were established. These patterns were varied between prayer and work from dawn to dusk. The Indian men tended to the fields which took away from their traditional way of life – hunting and fishing. The Caddo men believed that farming was women’s work. In the mission, women made the pottery, did the weaving of material, and prepared and cooked the food. Life was hard. The missionaries found the natives difficult to control. They never only worshipped as the Catholic priests dictated, but continued to also worship their gods. By 1729, the Indians had returned to their villages and deserted the missions.
“When the ministers are not watching them, they (the Indians) go off to the woods, and there hold their dances.” Unknown priest
“The labor of the Indians is to plant the fields. Look after the cattle, to water the crops, to clear away weeds, and to gather their grain, to (build) their dwellings and other buildings… some work in weaving… and as carpenters and bricklayers.” – Isidro Felix de Espinosa
The students’ job, should they choose to accept it, is to practice different skills under the supervision of the Padre. The students will go around the classroom and stop at four different stations, participating in some different form of mission work at each.
The teacher will assume the character and dress of a priest and welcome the students to missionary school. The teacher will then explain that the students will spend ten minutes at each station before moving to the next station by circling clockwise around the room. The teacher should show that she or he expects the students to learn the skills quickly so that they can be put to work as soon as possible, and the students should pick up on this. At each station, one student will impersonate a priest in a jumbo dark garbage bag and will aid in helping the natives learn their new skills. The other students will be natives to the area in the early 1700s.
Skill numero uno (1) Calligraphy – Learn the art of calligraphy by using the paper and pen provided. Copy the lines, written in Spanish, from the document from Spanish Conquest Era, 1546. (Remember that copying the lines does not mean that you understand what it means.)
Skill numero dos (2) Making masa – Use the mano (grinding pestle) to crush the corn into masa, add enough water to form a dough-like consistency, and then roll into ball and flatten. Eat a corn tortilla provided.
Skill numero tres (3) – Weaving – Use the yarn provided to weave a small piece of material; an example of which is shown in the photograph from the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City.
Skill numero cuatro (4) Pottery – Use the clay furnished to make your own pot, similar to this example on TIDES: Drawing of a Caddo pot
The student may choose to write a letter as a priest would to another priest in Spain or Mexico City telling about the problems he is encountering.
orThe student may assume the Indian character and write a story, from his point of view, as he would tell it to other tribe members.
