Texas Indians in 1528 - Atakapas

The earliest recorded contact between Europeans and Texas Indians came in November 1528, when members ofPánfilo de Narváez'sqv expedition landed near Galveston Island and encountered people who were probably Atakapas. One member of the expedition, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca,qv who spent more than six years traveling through coastal Indians of South Texas, penned vivid descriptions of the hunting and gathering groups that he encountered. Unlike many later observers, Cabeza de Vaca was not entirely disdainful of the Indians' culture, although his observations indicate their primitive lives.