- The Karankawa Indians were first seen in the 16th century, but it wasn't until the 1800s that their language was recognized. Alice Williams Oliver lived in the same area during the 1830s and became friends with several members of the tribe. She learned their language and in 1880 recorded what she knew. This record is considered the definitive record of Karankawa language, and historians still use it today. Following the death of the last member of the tribe in the 1850s, the language officially died.
- Historians today label the Karankawa language as a dead language, which means that no one speaks it. Members of the tribe spoke a combination of several languages that was only known to others from the same group. A white woman was allowed access to their ranks during the 1830s, and it was she who would later record what she knew and remembered. As the Karankawa were fighters, the tribe slowly began dying off in the 19th century. By 1860, the last member of the tribe was killed, and 20 years later, a book was published on their language.
- There are some historians and linguists who believe the records completed by Alice Oliver Williams should be looked at in a skeptical light. By the time she sat down to write the words and meanings, she was already in her sixties, and some believe she may not have had an accurate memory. There are others that point out this is only one woman's memories of a language and not someone actually related to the tribe. However, this is the only record that exists of the Karankawa language.
- Alice Williams Oliver is regarded as the definitive expert on the Karankawa language. As a child, she interacted frequently with the tribe and was looked upon as a friend. Eventually, she picked up pieces of their language, enough to talk with those living around her family. As an older woman she sat down with a representative from the Peabody Museum to map out the words she remembered and different facets of the tribe. Historians base their research on the words identified by Oliver during the 1800s.
- Historians have identified roughly 100 words used by the Karankawa tribe over the years. These words mainly relate to things in nature as well as a few emotions. The word Karankawa itself has been identified as relating to dogs, in part because members of the tribe frequently traveled with dogs and kept them as companions. There are some who believe the language grew out of the Tonkawa tribe or possibly the Carib languages. Some of the Karankawa words share similar sounds and meanings as the words used by those tribes.
