the shore. Their campsites were always close to the shoreline of the nearby body of water. They constructed houses by arranging willow branches in a circle, bending the tops of the branches toward the center, and interlocking them in wickerwork. This wickerwork was fastened with deerskin. Upon this framework, the Karankawa lay deer, wildcat, panther or bear skins, again fastened with deer hide thongs. The next step was to make a fire. After European contact, the Karankawa sought matches or tinderboxes from settlers; otherwise, they resorted to the traditional method of using their firesticks, which they always carried in a package of deerhide thongs. The fire was always made in the center of their dwellings and kept burning day and night. They used animal hides and pelts to sit and sleep on within their dwellings. Their household goods and utensils included wooden spoons, ceramic vessels, fishbone needles, and fine deer sinew. Environment The Karankawa traveled to the coastal region. They hunted and gathered food from rivers and by the mountains. In the region that the Karankawa inhabited, numerous small chunks of asphaltum have been found along the coast from oil seepage beneath the Gulf of Mexico. These chunks were used to bind arrowheads to their shafts; as a coating for pottery such as ollas, jars, and bowls; and as a way to waterproof woven baskets. Cuisine Karankawa cuisine included venison, rabbit, fowl, fish, oysters and other shellfish, and turtles. Their cuisine also included food gathered from the wild, such as berries, persimmons, wild grapes, sea-bird eggs, tuna and nopales (prickly pear cactus fruit and paddles, respectively), and nuts. They boiled food in ceramic pots or roasted entrés and seasoned their dishes with chile. After European contact, the Karankawa made wheat flour with water, laid the dough upon a flat stone, and baked it on the open fire. They enjoyed imported sweet coffee. The Karankawa were skilled at obtaining pure, fresh water. White settlers did not know where they obtained it, because the wells of the whites had a brackish taste. Culture Language Little is known of the extinct Karankawa language. They also possessed a gesture language for conversing with people from other Native American tribes. Smoke signalling The Karankawa were noted for their skill of communicating with each other over long distances using smoke. The Karankawa could make the smoke of a small fire ascend toward the sky in many