All about the ancient tribes
Nomadic Jumanos used skin tepees. Stone circles near La Junta de los Ríos and elsewhere have been tentatively interpreted as evidence of this type of housing. Those living at more permanent rancherías built houses of reeds or sticks, while those in the pueblos of New Mexico had masonry houses.
Jumano -lived in permanent houses made of adobe along the Rio Grande. They were able to grow corn and other crops because they settled near the river. They also hunted buffalo and gathered wild plants for food. The Jumano lived in large villages.
About 30 – 40 lived in each house. Inside the house, the rooms were painted with red, yellow, and white stripes. Although the region was dry, they settled along the Rio Grande and used irrigation to grow corn, squash, beans other vegetables, and possibly ctn order to trade their crops, jewelry or feathers.
The Jumano lived in what is now New Mexico and west of the Pecos River in Texas. They were farmers and traders who grew corn, squash, and beans for food. They grew cotton and wove it into blankets and cloth. They were also hunters to supply meat for their people.
The Arapaho, Assiniboine, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Plains Apache, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwe, Sarsi, Shoshone, Sioux, and Tonkawa. and were all nomadic tribes who followed the buffalo herds and lived in tipis.
European-American scholars have long considered the Jumano extinct as a people. In the 21st century some families in Texas have identified as Apache- Jumano. As of 2013, they have registered 300 members in the United States and seek to be recognized as a tribe.
More is known of the Karankawa, who existed as a people in Texas until about 1850. The Karankawas lived in the same nomadic lifestyle as the Coahuiltecans, living in small bands, hunting with bow and arrow, eating whatever was available, and living in huts made of a simple wooden framework covered by skins or mats.
In fishing tribes, Native American fishermen would either catch fish and hunt marine mammals from their canoes, or else set fish nets and wooden traps for them. The Tlingit and Salish are two examples of Northwest Indian tribes who got most of their meat through fishing.
Little is known of the Jumano Indians’ spiritual or religious practices, although the historical record indicates it may have involved hallucinogens, such as peyote, as part of Jumano ritual. In the 1600s, Spanish priests witnessed Jumano catzinas, a kind of ritual dance performed for religious reasons.
The Karankawas lived in wigwams – circular pole frames covered with mats or hides. The Karankawas were unusually large for Native Americans. The men grew as tall as six feet and were noted for their strength.
According to some sources, the Karankawa practiced ritual cannibalism, in common with other Gulf coastal tribes of present-day Texas and Louisiana. The Karankawa people were shocked at the Spanish cannibalism, which they found to be repugnant.
Jumano were traders and hunters and were known to take on the role as middlemen between the Indian tribes and Spanish settlers. The term Jumano came about when Antonio de Espejo used the term to describe those living at La Junta in 1581.
The Wichita band of Indians was one of several bands that composed the Wichita confederacy. The Wichita called themselves Kitikiti’sh, meaning “raccoon eyes,” because the designs of tattoos around the men’s eyes resembled the eyes of the raccoon.
The Jumano were known for their tattooed or painted bodies and as successful bison hunters whose original homelands included areas of the southern Plains and northwestern Edwards Plateau that were frequented by bison herds.
Facts about the Jumano They were a peaceful tribe and covered themselves with tatoos. These Jumanos were nomadic, and wandered along what is known today as the Colorado, the Rio Grande, and the Concho rivers. The Jumanos were good hunters. They hunted wild buffalo.