Haynay

The Hainai lived along the Neches and Angelina rivers in the wooded country of eastern Texas. They were a leading people of the Hasinai confederacy, whose communities grew maize, beans and squash and lived in riverine settlements. The confederacy was centered on a Hainai village, where a religious leader known as the chenesi held authority among the chiefs of its constituent peoples. The chiefs met in councils to conduct important business.

In 1716 Spanish Franciscans established the mission of Nuestra Señora de la Purísima Concepción among the Hainai. The new mission struggled with shortages, drought and disease, while its agricultural neighbors continued to live in the surrounding country. Spanish and French interests both reached the Hasinai, who navigated their relations with the competing colonial powers.