Bidai

The Bidai lived between the Brazos and Trinity rivers in southeastern Texas, among forests, streams and open country. Their communities spoke an Atakapan language and cultivated crops as well as using the resources of the surrounding land. They maintained ties with neighbouring Deadose, Patiri and Akokisa people.

Spanish records mentioned the Bidai by 1691. In the eighteenth century some entered missions on the San Gabriel River, including San Ildefonso, alongside related peoples. The missions struggled to hold their residents and were abandoned by 1755. A new mission near the lower Trinity was established for Bidai and Akokisa people in 1756–1757. These encounters brought the Bidai into contact with Spanish and French traders, while their communities continued to move across their homeland. Their trading relationships reached beyond the river valleys of southeastern Texas.