Taovaya

The Taovaya were a Wichita people whose villages linked the southern plains to the river valleys of northern Texas. They grew crops near their settlements and sent hunting parties after bison, combining farming with seasonal movement. French traders found Taovaya, Tawakoni and Yscani communities on the Canadian River in 1719.

By 1759 the Taovaya had established a village on the upper Red River. The previous year they joined an attack on the Spanish mission of San Sabá, and in 1759 they successfully defended their settlement against Diego Ortiz Parrilla’s retaliatory expedition, forcing the Spanish troops to withdraw from the village. The village became an important centre of trade and diplomacy, where Wichita peoples and their allies dealt with Spanish and French interests on the frontier.