While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
Coahuiltecan Tribes. The name was derived from that of the Mexican State
of Coahuila, the tribes of this group having extended over the eastern
part of that province as well as a portion of Texas. Also called:
Tejano, an alternative name for the group.
Connections. As Coahuiltecan are included all of the tribes known to have
belonged to the Coahuiltecan linguistic family and some supposed on
circumstantial evidence to be a part of it. It is probable that most of
the so-called Tamaulipecan family of Mexico were really related to this,
and that the Karankawan and Tonkawan groups were connected as well, though
more remotely.
Location. The Coahuiltecan tribes were spread over the eastern part of Coahuila, Mexico, and almost all of Texas west of San Antonio River and
Cibolo Creek. The tribes of the lower Rio Grande may have belonged to a
distinct family, that called by Orozco y Berra (1864) Tamaulipecan, but
the Coahuiltecans reached the Gulf coast at the mouth of the Nueces.
Northeast of that point they were succeeded by Karankawan tribes. Toward
the north it is probable that the Coahuiltecans originally extended for a
long distance before they were displaced by the Apache and Comanche. (See
also Mexico.)
Subdivisions
In considering the Coahuiltecan stock it has been found necessary to
change the original plan of giving separate consideration to each tribe
because we are here confronted by an enormous number of small tribal or
band names, of many of which we do not know even the location. In lieu of
subdivisions, therefore, we shall give as complete a list as possible of
these small tribes or bands, as far as they are known. They are as
follows:
As indicated, some of these were perhaps Tonkawan,
Karankawan, or of other affiliations. Some were represented by single
individuals and no doubt many of the names are synonyms or have become
distorted in the process of recording. The exact nature of these groups
can now never be known. The above list does not include a great many names
given only by Cabeza de Vaca or La Salle and his companions in the same
region. The multiplicity of tribes and confusion in names is not so
serious in any other region north of Mexico.
History. The Coahuiltecan tribes were first encountered by Cabeza de Vaca
and his companions who passed through the heart of their country, and by
the Spaniards when they invaded Coahuila and founded Parral. From the
early part of the seventeenth century onward, their country was traversed
repeatedly. In 1675 the Coahuiltecan country on both sides of the Rio
Grande was invaded by Fernando del Bosque, and in 1689 and 1690 the Texas
portion was again traversed by De Leon and Manzanet. In 1677 a Franciscan
mission for Coahuiltecan tribes was established at Nadadores and before
the end of the century others were started along the Rio Grande and near
San Antonio. Great numbers of Indians were gathered into these missions
during the first part of the eighteenth century but the change of life
entailed upon roving people, disease, and the attacks of hostile tribes
from the north reduced their numbers rapidly. Today none of these Indians
are known to survive in Texas. In 1886 Dr. A. S. Gatschet found remnants
of two or three tribes on the south side of the Rio Grande and some of
their descendants, survive, but they are no longer able to speak their
ancient language.
Population. Mooney (1928) estimated that in 1690 the Coahuiltecan peoples
totaled 15,000; no figures embracing all of them occur in the various
narratives.
