Hasinais

Hasinai

Angelina River west of Nacogdoches, Texas, ancestral Hasinai homeland
Total population
(under 5,757)
Regions with significant populations
formerly  Louisiana,  Texas, currently  Oklahoma
Languages
Hasinai, English
Religion
Native American Church, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Hainai, Nabedache, Nabiti, Nacogdoche, Nacono, Nadaco, Nasoni (Lower), Nechaui, Neche, and other Caddo people

The Hasinai Confederacy (Caddo: Hasíinay) was a large confederation of Caddo-speaking Native Americans located between the Sabine and Trinity rivers in eastern Texas. Today they are enrolled in the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma.

Hasinai is also spelled Hasini. The Caddo word táyshaʼ, meaning "friend," became the name of Texas. Earlier Spanish explorers called the Hasinai Tejas, old Spanish spelling—by Spanish explorers. They are also referred to as Hasini, Asenai, Asinai, Assoni, Asenay, Cenis, Senis and Sannaye.

At the time of the Spanish and French encounter with the Hasinai in the 1680s the Hasinai were a centrally organized chiefdom under the control of a religious leader known as the Grand Xinesi. The Xinesi lived in a secluded house. He met with a council of councilors. The Hasinai chieftainship consisted of several sub-divisions which have been designated "contonments". Each of these was under the control of a Caddi. There was also men designated as Canahas and Chayas who helped the Caddi run the system.

During the 17th century the Hasinai carried on trade with the Jumanos at the western Hasinai city of Nabedache. Some consider the residents of Nabedache to have been a distinct people designated by that name.

It is estimated that in 1520 the people who would become the Hasinai, the Kadohadacho and the , numbered about 250,000. Over the next 250 years the population of these Caddoan-speaking peoples was severely reduced by epidemics of diseases brought by Spanish and French coming to the Americas and spread by indigenous trading networks.

In 1690 the Hasinai numbered in the vicinity of 10,000 people or a little more. By 1720 as a result of diseases such as smallpox brought by the Spanish the Hasinai population had fallen to 2,000.