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The Bidai, who referred to themselves as the Quasmigdo,Hodge, p. 146 were a tribe of American Indians from eastern Texas.Sturtevant, 659John Reed Swanton, The Indians of the Southeastern United States, page 96.
The name Bidai is Caddo language term for "brushwood".
They had three distinct villages or bands in the 18th century. The Deadose were the northernmost band of Bidai, who broke off in the early 18th century. The 18th-century population of Bidai was estimated to be 600 with 200 additional Deadoses.Sturtevant, 662
In the mid-18th century, some Bidai settled at Mission San Francisco Xavier de Horcasitas. In 1770, the Bidai colluded with French settlers to sell guns to the Lipan Apaches, as all parties were enemies with the Spanish.
The Bidai suffered several epidemics during 1776–77, reducing their population by at least half, from about 100 to 50. The survivors joined neighboring tribes, such as the and Koasati.
Before contact, the Bidai made their own ceramics but quickly adopted metal utensils from European trade. They still made pottery into the 19th century and also wove a variety of baskets. In 1803, Dr. John Sibley wrote that Bidai had "an excellent character for honesty and punctuality."
The structure of their altered the shape of their skulls. They also enhanced their appearance through body and facial tattooing.
Bidai medicine men were herbalists and performed sweatbathing. Patients could be treated by being raised on scaffolds over smudging fires. While other Atakapan bands are known for their ritual cannibalism, the practice was never recorded among the Bidai.
19th century
Some settled on the Brazos Indian Reservation in present-day Young County, Texas, and were removed with the Caddo to Indian Territory. The remaining Bidai formed one village about 12 miles from Montgomery, Texas, growing corn and picking cotton for hire in the mid-19th century.
20th century
The Univerity of Chicago Press Journals. Southwestern Journal of Anthropology, Vol. 7, No. 4, Winter 1951. Pages 391-400.
Lifeways
The Bidai hunted, gathered, fished, grew maize, and bartered their surplus maize. They snared game and trapped them in cane pens. During the summer months, they lived along the coasts, but in winters they moved inlandSturtevant, 661 in which they lived in bearskin tents.
Language
Bidai language was a possible language isolate that became extinct by the end of the 19th century. The only attested Bidai words are: "Bidai Word Set." native Languages. (retrieved 14 March 2010)
Name
Bidai has been spelled Biday, Bedies, Bidaises, Beadweyes, Bedies, Bedees, Bidias, Bedais, Midays, Vidais, Vidaes, Vidays. Their name could be Caddo language, meaning "brushwood", and having reference to the Big Thicket near the lower Trinity River about which they lived. Their autonym was Quasmigdo.
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