posted by Savanah on Jun 20
It’s stunning just to consider a town where 24 of its 36 miles are one long, glorious beach. It’s also stunning to consider that this, South Padre Island, is still a bit of a hidden treasure in the tourism industry, but the word is starting to get out. People are finding out why this was a favorite fishing spot of President Harding, along with all the other glorious luxuries it has to offer the locals. It’s also right across the border, making it a wonderful beginning for an international journey, and also a great place to come back to, enjoying the beach one more time before heading home.
It has all the makings of a wonderful paradise, with a ready supply of fresh seafood, and gorgeous and luxurious hotels. South padre has a lot to recommend it for the present, and it was also a very hospitable spot in the past as well. The Karankawa , a tribe that has been much maligned, had spent a considerable amount of time here, as evidence of their dwellings and other artifacts demonstrate. When Cabeza de Vaca passed through here in the 16th century, he was struck by their very compassionate demeanors, and remarked that he’d never met a culture before who were so kind to their children.
Some elements of his story are recounted in a rather brilliant and altogether disturbing film, Cabeza de Vaca , although information about the bands that lived here is very scarce. It is becoming more widely acknowledged that the theories about their practice of cannibalism are vastly misunderstood. It was a practice of most of the peoples in the area at the time, and didn’t set the Karankawa apart as a particularly brutal people. The evidence that is there, in fact, supports quite the opposite. By 1858, it is believed, they were wiped out completely, leaving behind only stories of a very complex culture who adapted very successfully to scores of difficulties, all the way to the end.
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