High Temple Mound

Story

 

“At the heart of Hasinai existence are the cultural traditions that carry people through space and time. In the movement of the dance and the language of the song, the reality of existence is projected into the future.”   

 

~Vynola Beaver Newkumet, Hasinai: A Traditional History of the Caddo Confederacy  

 

Stories are not only carried by spoken word, but also in song. Every time Cah-kit-em’-bin, the Drum Dance, is performed the Caddo origin story is relived through song and movement connecting contemporary people with their ancestors. After their emergence from E’-wah’-dah-dut, Mother Dirt, some of the early Caddo settled for more than 500 years in the place known today as Caddo Mounds State Historic Site. The resourcefulness of the people, the richness of natural resources, and the successful cultivation of wild plants and corn supported the development of a major civic and ceremonial complex. The High Temple Mound is regarded as an important element in the spiritual practice of the early Caddo. Archeologist Dr. De Ann Story called the area around The High Temple Mound the inner precinct. This was a popular area for dwellings with evidence of 26 structures that were built and occupied nearby.

 

When we talk about Mound A (the High Temple Mound) at Caddo Mounds State Historic Site, we talk about it as the heart of this large early Caddo civic and ceremonial center. While much of the activity that took place at this spot over 1,000 years ago remains a mystery, archeology does reveal the presence of special structures (including one often referred to as “the maze”), ceremonial objects, and the presence of colored soils that all point to the ceremonial importance of the High Temple Mound.