Date: Sun, 07 Sep 1997
From: felipe guzman
Subject: Coahuila Indians info
To: bigchief@texasindians.com

I was wondering if you had any information concerning the Coahuila
Indians? My mother pasted away when I was two years old and my father
says she was a Coahuila Indian. I wanted to know how I could find out
if she was and how I could then get a Certification of Indian Blood. My
mother's parents are deceased, so my link to any family on her side is
nonexistent.
Thank you,

Felipe Guzman

There are Coahuiltecian Indians who lived all over South Texas. There are no surviving tribes. The Coahuiltecan Indians lived in hundreds of small bands (tribes)-- the Spanish missionaries recorded over 200 tribe names just in the San Antonio area alone. Most of the Mexican-Americans who have families that go back over 7 generations in south Texas have Coahuiltecian blood because the Spanish intermarried with the local Indians. Many families from the Espada Mission in San Antonio can trace thier families back to Indian ancestors in Spanish Mission times.

There are no living Coahuiltecan tribes anymore. There have not been for over a hundred years or more. So, there is no way to get Certified.

If your mother was from Old Mexico she might have been refering to one of the many surviving Indian tribes in Coahuila state Mexico. If so, this would have no standing here in the U.S.

My daughter has a school project that involves the research of the
Kickapoo indians. All that we have been able to discover was that they
were primarily in the Illinois area and later travelled to Texas and
Oklahoma. Is there any information that you could provide on this tribe?

sincerely, Abigail Torrey

We posted the Kickapoo page a little early in reply.

Date: Wed, 17 Sep 1997
From: "D'Ann G."
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: Jumanos

PLEASE FINISH YOUR JUMANO SITE A.S.A.P. When I got to your sight, I was
overjoyed to find, in my 2 days of searching, there was SOMETHING on the
Jumanos. I click on it, and it says file not found. PLEASE SEND ANY
INFORMATION OR WEB SITES YOU HAVE ABOUT JUST JUMANOS TO
JesusFREAK@hotmail.com

OK go back and look now. The Jumanos page is posted.
R.E. Moore

Date: Thu, 25 Sep 1997
From: "The Mitchell's"
Organization: Family
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: CADDO INDIAN FOODS

PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN, MY EMAIL IS :dmitch@gte.net
MY DAUGHTER IS DOING A REPORT ON THE CADDO INDIANS, AND FOR A PROJECT WE
THOUGHT IS WOULD BE NEAT IF WE COULD COOK AN INDIAN RECIPE, BUT COULD
NOT FIND ON IN YOUR SITE. CAN YOU THINK OF ANYTHING SEMI SIMPLE AN NOT
REAL EXPENSIVE?
THANKS FOR ANY HELP YOU CAN GIVE.
JANET

Roasted corn. Traditional Indian food is pretty plain stuff and unadorned. No spices or fancy sauces. The universal modern Indian fast food item is fry bread. The Caddo food I have been served is pretty bland stuff. Boiled bits of beef in a watery gravy served with fry bread. The same bits of beef are also served with hominy. Hominy is also a universal reservation Indian food staple.
You should be able to find a reciepe for fry bread, Try a health food or all natural food store with a book section. You might try the link on my site to the Caddo reservation internet site. Send them an E-Mail.

Good luck.

R.E. Moore

From: "Velasquez"
To: <bigchief@texasindians.com>
Subject: Information on Kiowa Indian tribe
Date: Mon, 22 Sep 1997

I must do a report on the Kiowa Indian tribe. This report is written along
with visuals on different aspects about the tribe. I cannot find any
information on this tribe. Can you help me? Please let me know. Thank
you

The Kiowa were much like the Comanches and Wichita. Just about anything you read about the Comanche material culture would be the same for the Kiowa. This means they were typical Southern Plains Indians. They hunted buffalo and lived in tee-pees and were nomadic hunter-gatherers. The one interesting thing about the Kiowa is that they are related to the Pueblo Indians of Northern New Mexico. They speak a Puebloan language. They are probably descended from Pueblo Indians who moved out onto the plains during the population explosion in the Rio Grande Pueblos around 1200 - 1400. We are working on the Kiowa page, but it will not be up anytime soon.

R. E. Moore

To: <bigchief@texasindians.com>
Subject: Alabama-Coushatta Indians
Date: Wed, 1 Oct 1997

Hi,

I am working on a 5th grade project about Indians. My project is about the
Alabama Indians. I have to find tons of information about the
Alabama-Coushatta Indians. I am having trouble finding out things like
their customs, occupations, stories, folklore... Can you help me? Is there
a book or books somewhere that I can get? I have contacted the tribe by
email, but I haven't gotten information yet other than a history line. My
notecards are due soon. Mom thought you might be able to help me. I can't
find much on the web either. Do you have any suggestions?

Desperately yours,

Sarah in Indiana

Sarah,

Here are a few suggestions. First, neither tribe is originally from Texas. Both are from the Southeast, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia. The Alabama are one tribe from Alabama and the Coushatta are another. Both were forced to move to Texas. The Alabama are a subtribe of the Creek Indian tribe, so anything you can find on the Creeks will be useful to you.

The record of the first contact with the Alabama comes from the De Soto expedition in 1641. Desoto found the "Alibamo" tribe in central Mississippi and attacked a killed many of them in a fierce battle. Later they moved east into present day Alabama where they lived at the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers. DeSoto also found the Coushata living on the Tennessee river. By the 1780s the English wanted the land in Alabama and the Alabama were forced to move west across the Mississippi river into Louisiana around Opelousa. Around 1803 they moved west again into across the Sabine river into Northeast Texas. They were settled in the region of the Hasinais Caddo Indians where they still live today. In 1858 they were given 1280 acres of land where their reservation is today. In 1955 the Federal Government turned the administration of the reservation over to the State of Texas. So, this is not an official reservation like other Indians have.

The Alabama Coushata are a culture of farmers who live in villages. They were very much like the Caddo and the other Southeastern Indian tribes. Look for info about the Creeks, Cherokees, or other southern Indians.

Good Luck

Now you need to tell me what school you are in, who your teacher is and you MUST let me know how your project turns out. Do a good one and we might post it to show other kids. Maybe I can help more when I have more time.

R. E. Moore

Hey I just remembered some things. Both tribes are Muskhogian, this is a language group and a larger cultural group, not a tribe. They were part of the Upper Creek Confederacy before they moved to Texas.

NOW for folklore and mythology. Ever hear of Ber Rabbit or the Uncle Remus stories?? These are supposed to be part of Black American folklore, but they aren't. The southern Blacks learned these stories from the Creek Indians. The Indians were captured and used as slaves alongside the Blacks. The Black slaves learned these stories from the Indians and passed them down to this day without remembering where they came from. If you can find a copy of the Ber Rabbit stories or Uncle Remus stories you will have Creek Indian stories. I always liked the story about Ber Rabbit and the briar patch.

From: "Sarah "
To: "Rolf Moore" <bigchief@texasindians.com>
Subject: Re: Alabama-Coushatta Indians
Date: Fri, 3 Oct 1997

Mr. Moore,

Thank you so very much for the information. It will help me greatly so I
can finish my project.

I attend Forest Glen International Elementary School located in Lawrence
Township in Indianapolis, Indiana. My 5th grade teacher's name is Mrs.
Granneman. She's real nice!

My mom noticed that some other Indian tribes posted Indian elementary
school projects done by other students elsewhere in the U.S. There are two
of us in my classroom researching your tribe. I plan to do a super job so I
can get an A+. Mom said she will help me send it to you when I am all done.
Thanks again for all of your help and have a great weekend!

Respectfully yours,

Sarah

Date: Sat, 04 Oct 1997
From: John Hathaway
To: Rolf Moore <bigchief@texasindians.com>
Subject: Re: Anticipating more stuff

I teach 7th grade Texas History, and I have enjoyed your website. I cannot wait for you to add more to this site. I am really interested in seeing all the Texas Natives on here, i.e. Tiguas, Coahuiltecans, Apaches, Cherokees. My students are about to do a Hyperstudio project
on the computer with your site as a source. I really need more information
on other groups. Can you suggest any more websites?

C. Hathaway


Check out my Links page. These are all I know of that are any good. There
are a few really bad sites out there on certain tribes. This is why I decided to set Texas Indians up, to provide quality info from a vocational anthropologist and archeologist for kids like yours. You might try the Texas Historical Commission for Archeological related material. Also check
out my badly neglected site Texas Archeology Journal at www.connecti.com/~texarch.html for a few more links. Surfing and finding them is half the fun and all the skill.

Tell me more about what a hyperstudio is.

R. E. Moore

HyperStudio is a program for the Mac. I hear they have an IBM version. Basically, the students are designing notecards on the computer. They can create as many cards as they like. The cards are stacked on one another. The student creates buttons and transitions to move to the next
card. The cards have text, graphics, colors, and sounds added by the student. They have a tribe and must design 10 cards. Each card will be a different topic about the tribe.

C. Hathaway

One day I opened my e-mail box and found 29 e-mails from one address. They were all questions from kids who had found Texas Indians, found the e-mail, and used it to ask questions -- smart kids at Miles I S D. I answered the questions and the schools system admin found all the answers in HIS mailbox :-P Here is the letter from the schools system admin :-)

Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997
From: "M. Brandon"
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: R.E. Moore

Sorry for all the e-mail confusion. I am Merl Brandon with Miles Independent School District. Miles is a small town just east of San Angelo Texas. I'm the elementary computer lab teacher and the Tech-Corr.

Our 4th Grade Social Studies teacher brought her class in to browse your internet home page. It looks like they got carried away with the e-mail. Next time, I'll have the teacher have the kids do much more searching on your page before all the "questions". Also, I'll have her
have the kids send one e-mail per group.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I don't know if I would have had that much patience.

The kids will be doing their Indian research for about two more weeks, so if you have any updates let me know.

Thanks again, Merl

Date: Mon, 06 Oct 1997
From: Jesse Carrillo
Organization: Home
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: Name

How did Texas get it's name?

Read the Caddo page. Texas is the Hasaini Caddo word for friend.

R.E. Moore

Date: Tue, 7 Oct 1997
From: Kara H
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: Teaching ideas

Hi! I am a student at the University of Texas at Austin, currently
student teaching fourth grade at BrykerWoods elementary. During my "total
teach" time of two weeks I will be teaching lessons about the Tonkawans,
Kiowas, and Aztecs. Do you have any information or ideas for me to use
with the students about these cultures? I already have information about
the Tonkawans. However, I am lacking information on the other two
cultures, and their relation (if any) to Texas. I would appreciate any
advice! Your site was very helpful. Thank you!

Kara H.
The University of Texas at Austin

The Kiowa were a very typical southern plains tribe. Just about anything you can find on the Comanche or Wichita Indians goes for the Kiowa. The Kiowa are related to the Taos Pueblo Indians and speak a language related to the Taos Puebloan Indian language. The lang group is Tanoan. They now live in and around Anadarko Oklahoma. Check out our Comanche page for a lot of info on Southern Plains Indian culture.

I am not posting anything on the Kiowa anytime soon. Sorry.

Aztecs??? Not in Texas. The only Aztec thing I can think of in Texas is a painting of Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god, on a rock at Hueco Tanks in extreme west Texas. Maybe the fact that the Aztects were a very civilized and advanced culture is what is the point here. Any library will have more Aztec stuff than you can handle.

R. E. Moore

Date: Wed, 08 Oct 1997
From: Harold Flynn
Organization: Deer Park ISD
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: GREAT SITE

THIS HAS GOT TO BE ONE OF IF NOT THE BEST INTERNET SITE ON TEXAS INDIANS THAT I HAVE FOUND. MY CLASS HAS USED THIS SITE FOR THEIR GROUP AS WELL AS THEIR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK.

SINCERELY
HAROLD C. FLYNN
TEXAS HISTORY TEACHER
DEER PARK JUNIOR HIGH

Thanx

If your kids do anything worth mentioning, maybe we could post it. I am looking for projects as examples for other kids to look at. Kids love to look at other kids and their stuff. I got a scanner if you got pictures :-). Even a well done report would be worth posting ( so other kids in El Paso can copy it verbatim and turn it in as their own, NOT )

R.E. Moore

Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997
From: Charlie S
Organization: trimofran
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: <no subject>

Thanks for doing the Karankawas. I had to do a project ,and found this.

Date: Sun, 12 Oct 1997
From: Gary
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: Thanks for the help man!

Hey your page realy helped me with my school project thanks !!

Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 01:16:34 -0500
From: Bob Skiles <b.skiles@ix.netcom.com>
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: Ultimate Caddo Website

Dear Rolf:
The website that you bill as the "ultimate" Caddo website was actually authored by me, rather than Jerry M. Sullivan. Jerry was the author of the original booklet that I converted to HTML and published on a site that I host on behalf of the Friends of Caddoan Mounds State Park, Inc. I don't mind that Jerry get credit for his work (Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, who originally published the booklet, would not allow the author to be credited in the original publication ... I found out who had done the work and added an appropriate credit on the credits
page that does not exist in the original booklet), but don't you think I should also get credit for mine! This particular site is one of the most popular that I have done, receiving a lot of hits for an archeological site, and is about to get a lot more hits since more and more links are being added to native, archeology, and history oriented sites around the state and country. Thanks for the link (even though I'm not credited) ...I've added a link to your Texas archeology e-journal [he really means Texas Indians. ed.] on our FNETA (Friends of Northeast Texas Archaeology) website links page ( http://skiles.net/fneta ). Keep up your good work on behalf of disseminating information about Texas archeology and Indians that schoolchildren can understand.

- Bob Skiles, webmaster
- http://skiles.net
- skiles@skiles.net

Date: Sun, 19 Oct 1997
From: Dean McIntyre
Subject: Thanks
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Reply-to: imdbm@ttacs1.ttu.edu

I'm an elementary school librarian--just found your site and offer you my blessings. The fourth grade teacher--wanted to introduce her kids to research and so she assigned them the texas tribes in their Social Studies book---great idea in theory---but most frustrating for them in
fact since most of the Texas Tribes are not covered in the popular literature--and especially not for those in primary grades.

I will see if I can obtain Newcomb's book. Do you have any other suggestions. I would like the kids to email you --if the teacher approves---I think they will really like this site.

P.S. could you provide some information about your formal education and how you came to be interested in Native Americans and their history.

Once, again, thanks for this great site!

Karen McIntyre --

Ramirez Elementary---Lubbock TX

I am a 44 year old senior anthropology major with a 3.85 gpa at SWTU. I have worked in this field for quite a few years. I had to go back to school to get the degree because one of my major grant providers found out I had none :-) and threatened to end my funding. I am a member of the South Texas Archeology Association and the Texas Archeology Society. If you will look at "Anthropology Rules" on the main page you will get some idea of my background complete with pictures. You will see that I also like to work in Biblical Archeology, in particular in the Quamram area where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. I specialize in the role of prophets and religious leaders in the change of cultural institutions and societal changes in general. If you will read the "For Adults" page it explains how this site started, what I want to do with it and my general philosophy about this site.

I am also a Cherokee by way of my father's family, although I do not "look" very Indian. I practice traditional Native American religion thru Orvile Looking Horse, who is the White Buffalo Calf bundle carrier and spiritual leader of the Lakota Sioux. I attend quite a few traditional ceremonies every year.

Rebecka Brush has a B.A in anthropology from SWTU and is planning on going to UO for her masters. She is half Mohegan Indian. Her major research project has been the Kickapoos, but she is studying other tribes as well.

We are just beginning to get more help from the Education Department at SWTU. The Dean of the school is a computer maven and thinks this kind of site is the future of much of education. Several of the chairs are also starting to help with resources and assistance.

Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997
From: "Cecilia Polasek"
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: Karankawa

We found you site in the web to be terrific and very interesting. My son
needed some info on these indians. It was perfect!! He had a project to
do for Texas History. It was very helpful! Thanks!!!

Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997
From: Dottie Vigus
Organization: NetQuarters, Incorporated
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: Howdy

Sorry, Im not a kid, well not a little young one anyway. I was trying
to find more information on the TEJAS Indians, and enjoyed reading what
you have published, on the CADDO tribe. My husband, and myself are from
Northeastern Texas, he is from Whitesboro, and I'm from Marshall. We
know his roots go back to the Tejas, but it's been difficult for us to
find what where looking for, mainly because were not real sure what were
looking for. We just know through the family talking, and the research
of roots, that somewhere in the line we/he started with a family member
of the TEJAS. Are their any kind of records that we can go to, or
books, your information is greatly appreciated. And the articles that
you have are outstanding. Thanks ..

Tejas is the Caddoan word for friend or ally. There were several independent tribes within the East Texas Caddoan alliance. None are or were named tejas. The collected East Texas Caddo tribes are called the Hasianis. They referred to themselves as being tejas or allied and friends. Sometimes, Europeans who did not know any better thought this was the name of the tribe.

Hope this helps

R.E. Moore

Date: Sat, 19 Jan
From: Ricky
Reply-To: usrental@swbell.net
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: "atakapans"

Thank-you for your help, my 4th grade son appreciates it greatly, as
we have found little information for his project.
R. Jones

From: Chet
To: "'BIGCHIEF@TEXASINDIANS.COM'" <BIGCHIEF@TEXASINDIANS.COM>
Subject: RECEIPE
Date: Tue, 28 Oct 1997

Dear Big Chief,
My group of 3 have deceided that we will report on the Coahuiltecan Indians and we will get extra points if we can come up with a receipe. Can you help us? We also need to know what kind of dwelling they lived in so we can recreate the dwelling. I would appreciate your help or any other info you can help us with in regrads to the Coahuiltecan Indians. We are currently working on this project and it is due November 5. Thanks,
Ryan M

First thing Ryan, you used your whole name. Kids should always use a first name only or nick name on e-mail to people the do not know. See Da Rules page.

There are no Coahuiltecan recipes. These are very primitive Indians who lived in an arid area with little in the way of resources. They ate a lot of lizards, ants and bugs. They ate several kinds of cactus. If they were lucky they might get a rabbit or a deer. Most of what they ate they ate raw. The deer or rabbit might get cut up and chunks of meat put on sticks over a fire. They often went hungry. They often ate dirt, really.

Here is the closest thing to a recipe I can find. They would dig a hole in the dirt. Then they would throw mesquite beans in the hole and pound them to a pulp with a stick. Of course, lots dirt from the hole got mixed in with the mashed beans. This dirt was part of the recipe. They would then take the mashed beans and dirt and put them in a container with water, mix it up, and then add special dirt to flavor things up. Then they would eat the whole thing with their hands.

Here is another recipe. They would catch a fish and then leave it sitting out for a week. When the fish was full of maggots and worms and insects they would eat the maggots, worms, and insects along with the rotten flesh of the fish. Sometimes they would dry the fish and grind the whole fish up into a powder to eat.

As for shelters they usually used the nearest tree. More often they made wind breaks or small temporary huts out of bent over saplings and brush. No tee pees, no big or well made houses. This is because they moved around all the time.

R. E. Moore

I am a 4th grade teacher in Seagraves, Texas. I am putting together a unit for my students to do in November and your information has been very helpful. I would like to know if you have any specific projects that might be of help to this unit. I intend to take approx. 4 weeks to
complete it and involve reading, social studies, science, writing, and art.

I am leaving the e-mail address here so you people out there can send her your ideas.

Yes we are working on several projects. Of course there is the old favorite the diorama. Try making travois with toy horses or dogs. We are working on a timeline-environment game. I saw a version of this game at the Teachers workshop at the Texas Archeology Society field school. wish I could find the name of the person who presented it.

I am working on a curriculum that would group the kids into environmental zones and then add technologies such as pottery and horses and use all the above to explain why different tribes lived the way they did. This way the kids begin to see that other cultures are not arbitrary in their social and cultural choices. This is also a good exercise in the newly emerging abstract thing of this age group.

Also received on the same subject

Date: Sun, 02 Nov 1997
From: jjjj@bitstreet.com (Jerry Johnson)
To: bigchief@texasindians.com
Subject: THE SITE

Hi! I,m a Texas History teacher in Abilene and just found your site. I enjoyed looking through it. I am on my Indian unit now and noticed your project section was probably just being built. I have used 2 x 12's and built four boxes that I've filled with fresh(and Loose) dirt from one of
the local nurseries. I spend a day talking about archaeology and the next day we have an archaeological dig using the four boxes. Each box is divided into one of the four specific culturees of the Indians of Texas.
The kids have to use spoons and brushes to "dig." After the dig, they have to decide which culture their box contained. Then, we rebury everything for the next class to find. They have a lot of fun. It can get messy sometimes with seventh graders.

First some background.

I did most of the following last year with a classroom of kids in Dallas. We played a running game with pottery vs baskets. Who used which and why. Nomads use little or no pottery because it is heavy and breaks when moving around. Farmers must have pottery to store grains and seeds and keep mice and insects out of the same.

We also played a game with, "why do you think the Comanches never settled down to farm"? OK, if buffalo hunting is so easy why didn’t the Caddo abandon their farms? And, why didn’t the Coahuiltecans farm or hunt buffalo?

The important skill here is learning to think critically about other cultures and why they are the way they are.

That was last year. This year we are adding the following that is much like the digging game Mr. Johnsons kids played.

One of the projects I am working on is very similar but requires no dirt. In the real world most artifacts are analyzed and identified in a lab, not in the field. ( But digging is so much fun for a kid like me !! ) The dug stuff is put in boxes and taken to the lab. Here is the premise or game. The kids are working in a archeology lab. They have just found four boxes someone forgot to label. They know that four boxes of stuff from four different sites are missing. Could these be the missing boxes? First make a big wall poster diagram, or use the blackboard, with the four sites on it. Label one corner archaic buffalo hunters. The next is Caddo farmers. The next is Comanche buffalo hunters. The last corner it frontier settlers. ( You can make the settlers Spanish missionaries with just a few changes. )
For the kids, put 4 collections of artifacts into four boxes.

The first box contains a cardboard cutout of a buffalo bone ( labeled 'buffalo bone' ) with cut marks on the ends ( butcher marks), a cardboard spear point ( large 5 inches or more), flint chips, and a piece of basketry.

The next box has flint chips, a corn cob, some broken pottery, a paper or cardboard arrow point, (small), maybe a few beans, and a few pieces of wood. ( You can put charred wood in all the boxes. )

The next has the same stuff as the first box BUT, with small arrow points instead of the larger spear point.

The last box has the same stuff as the farmer box but with some broken glass and rusted metal objects.

Now here are the identifiers and time lines.
1. The bow and arrow was not known to Texas Indians until about AD 100, the larger spear points are from a time frame earlier than this = archaic hunters.
2. Nomadic hunter gatherers did not use pottery. It was too heavy and broke when moving around. They did use baskets as containers because they are light and do not break. ( They did use a little pottery, but very little )
3. Pottery is essential to farmers. You can store seeds and grain in pots and rodents and insects cannot chew through the pottery to get to them. Farmers are sedentary so they do not worry about how heavy the pots are or breaking them when moving. Pottery was not known to Texas Indians until after A. D. 400
4. Here is a good exception to the above. The Karankawa made and used pottery, but did not farm. They were semi sedentary. This means they would camp in one place for a whole season before moving on. This is because they had so many resources available to them from the bays and sea. You could make a fifth box with Karankawa stuff -- pottery coated with black asphalt on the inside and sea shells and fish scales.
5 Glass and metal date after the Europeans. The very first would be De Soto in 1541 or Coronado in the same year.
Form the kids into groups. Have each group specialize in one of the types and time periods. Then let each group spend time with each box and put their interpretation on the diagram chart and tell everyone why. They should also date their entry.
Now that you got the general idea you can probably see some other variations that are possible.
Thanx again for your idea. I will post it in the letters section until I get the project page posted.

R. E. Moore

and here it is posted.

"Jose A. Acosta"
From: "Jose A. Acosta"
To: <bigchief@texasindians.com>
Subject: re: Jumano descendants
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 14:16:13 -0600

Greetings from West Texas;
My name is Jose A Acosta, or Temach-tiani. I am a descendant of the Pueblo
Jumanos that lived in the region of Presidio/Redford Tx, and Ojinaga Chih.
Mexico, not the El Paso region where Suma (enemies and sometimes friends) of
the Jumanos lived. It was a great pleasure reading your article. And as you
stated, much work is still left to be done. Currently another relative of
ours in the region is helping on archaeological work in Redford at one of
the oldest missions in the USA.
The Jumano descendants filed for federal recognition and Native American
status in 1996 and is still pending at the BIA. We are proud of our
heritage, however to say we simply vanished is not true. The late Dr Charles
Kelley always stated that to see Jumanos, "go to West Texas and Big Bend and
look up names like Acosta, Lujan, Carrasco, Levario, Bustamante, Zubiate,
Hernandez, Mendoza, etc. to see the descendants" We are still here.
A good page with limited info is www.ojinaga.com but a good pic is there of
Jumanos. My page has many good Native Links and is to be found at
www.elnuevosiglo.com
Currently the Jumano Tribe as it is known today and the Jumano descendants
are putting our home page together. Watch for it real soon. Also we are
staying in contact with the Cohuiltecan group that also filed for
recognition status. Some say they are extinct also, but one need only look
at the people of South Texas and see the descendants of this group.
On file we have records from Spanish, Texas, and American accounts to prove
our ancestory. In one 1750's census, many of the above mentioned names are
already showing up at the missions.
Anyway Thanks;
Please stay in contact and keep up the great job....Anything I may help with
let me know.
Jose A Acosta
Jumano Tribe
2707 Redwood
Odessa TX 79762