The Eyeish were a Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 tribe from eastern Texas.

History

The Eyeish were part of the Caddo Confederacy, although their relationship to other Caddo tribes was ambiguous, and they were often hostile to the Hasinai

Hasinai

The Hasinai Confederacy was a large confederation of Caddo-speaking Native Americans located between the Sabine and Trinity rivers in eastern Texas...

. They historically lived on the Eyeish Creek

Ayish Bayou

-References:**USGS Hydrologic Unit Map - State of Texas...

, located between the Neches

Neches River

The Neches River flows for through east Texas to its mouth on Sabine Lake near the Rainbow Bridge. Two major reservoirs, Lake Palestine and B. A. Steinhagen Reservoir are located on the Neches. Several cities are located along the Neches River Basin, including Evadale, Tyler, Lufkin, Silsbee,...

 and Sabine River

Sabine River (Texas-Louisiana)

The Sabine River is a river, long, in the U.S. states of Texas and Louisiana. In its lower course, it forms part of the boundary between the two states and empties into Sabine Lake, an estuary of the Gulf of Mexico. The river formed part of the United States-Mexican international boundary during...

s.

Spanish explorers encountered the tribe in 1542 and reports large herds of buffalo in the area. The tribe was not on the best terms with tribes located west of the Trinity River

Trinity River (Texas)

The Trinity River is a long river that flows entirely within the U.S. state of Texas. It rises in extreme north Texas, a few miles south of the Red River. The headwaters are separated by the high bluffs on the south side of the Red River....

 or those to the north near the Red River

Red River (Mississippi watershed)

The Red River, or sometimes the Red River of the South, is a major tributary of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya Rivers in the southern United States of America. The river gains its name from the red-bed country of its watershed. It is one of several rivers with that name...

.

Francisco monks who traveled on Domingo Ramón's 1716-17 expedition through Texas founded Nuestra Señora de los Dolores Mission; however, the Eyeish were not generally accepting of Spanish missionary

Spanish missions in Texas

The Spanish Missions in Texas comprise a series of religious outposts established by Spanish Catholic Dominicans, Jesuits, and Franciscans to spread the Christian doctrine among the local Native Americans, but with the added benefit of giving Spain a toehold in the frontier land. The missions...

 efforts. After 50 years, the mission only recorded eleven baptisms, seven burials, and three marriages.

In the 18th century, the tribe contracted European diseases such as smallpox and measles from the French and Spanish explorers in the region. The populations decreased but rebounded, from a low of 20 tribal members recorded by John Sibley in 1805, to 160 families recorded in 1828. By then, they lived between the Brazos

Brazos River

The Brazos River, called the Rio de los Brazos de Dios by early Spanish explorers , is the longest river in Texas and the 11th longest river in the United States at from its source at the head of Blackwater Draw, Curry County, New Mexico to its mouth at the Gulf of Mexico with a drainage...

 and Colorado River

Colorado River

The Colorado River , is a river in the Southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico, approximately long, draining a part of the arid regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. The watershed of the Colorado River covers in parts of seven U.S. states and two Mexican states...

s.

Ultimately, they joined the Wichita

Wichita (tribe)

The Wichita people are indigenous inhabitants of North America, who traditionally spoke the Wichita language, a Caddoan language. They have lived in Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas...

 and Caddo

Caddo

The Caddo Nation is a confederacy of several Southeastern Native American tribes, who traditionally inhabited much of what is now East Texas, northern Louisiana and portions of southern Arkansas and Oklahoma. Today the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma is a cohesive tribe with its capital at Binger, Oklahoma...

 tribes in Indian Territory

Indian Territory

The Indian Territory, also known as the Indian Territories and the Indian Country, was land set aside within the United States for the settlement of American Indians...

.

Synonymy

The tribe is also known as the A'-ish, Aiaichi, Aliche, Aliches, Ayays, Hais, Ays, or Ahijitos. They are not, however, considered to be the same tribe as the Aijados encountered by the Mendoza Expedition of 1683-84, nor are they the same as the Ais

Ais (tribe)

The Ais, or Ays were a tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the Atlantic Coast of Florida. They ranged from present day Cape Canaveral to the St. Lucie Inlet, in the present day counties of Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and northernmost Martin...

 tribe from Florida.

Language

Explorer John Sibley wrote that the Eyeish language was one of three unique languages spoken by the Eyeish, Adai

Adai

Adai is the name of a Native American people of northwestern Louisiana with a Southeastern culture...

, Yatasi

Yatasi

The Yatasi are a Native American people from northwestern Louisiana that are part of the Natchitoches Confederacy of the Caddo Nation...

, and Natchitoches

Natchitoches

Natchitoches may refer to:*Natchitoches , an American Indian people*Natchitoches, Louisiana, a city*Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana...

 people. The Eyeish language was mutually intelligible to the Adai language and part of the Caddoan language

Caddoan languages

The Caddoan languages are a family of Native American languages. They are spoken by Native Americans in parts of the Great Plains of the central United States, from North Dakota south to Oklahoma.-Family division:...

family.

External links

• Eyeish Indian History, from Access Genealogy