For hundreds of years, the lowlands of northeastern Mexico and southern Texas were occupied by hundreds of small, autonomous Indian groups that lived by hunting and gathering. We call these Indians Coahuiltecans to denote the broader geographic range they shared. They spoke many languages, some of which were not believed to be related. As such, Coahuiltecan is not an ethnic classification.

This presentation will discuss the settlement and evolution of the Nuevo Santander Colony along the Rio Grande. José de Escandón’s Villas del Norte– established in the mid- Eighteenth Century – appeared like a string of pearls along the Lower Rio Grande River, where Spain was reinforcing the distant frontier of its American empire.

Learn to trace your indigenous roots in northeastern Mexico and south Texas. Historian, genealogist, and author John P. Schmal will discuss the various tribal groups inhabiting this region; research techniques for finding your ancestors in this area; and helpful websites.

Today, in the northeast corner of Mexico, there are two Mexican states, Tamaulipas and Nuevo León. When the Spaniards arrived in this area in 16th Century, they were confronted by a large number of hostile indigenous tribes. Over time, the Coahuiltecans – the dominant linguistic group in the region – were weakened by epidemics, warfare, the Spanish encomienda, forced slavery, dispersion and general demoralization. With the Spaniards coming from the south and Apaches and Comanches attacking from the north, the Coahuiltecans declined significantly within the period of a century, many of them seeking refuge in the Spanish missions.

This presentation discusses the native groups that occupied the regions adjacent to and on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border over the last three centuries. While some of these tribes are well-known to us today (i.e., the Yaquis, Tohono O'odham, Kumeyaay, etc.), tribal groups that have nearly disappeared as distinguishable cultural entities (i.e., Carrizos, Mansos, Jocome, Coahuiltecans, etc.) will also be discussed. In addition to the history of those tribes, we will explore the current status of some of the tribal communities that still exist today.

The state of Tamaulipas is located in the northeastern portion of the Mexican Republic. It shares common borders with the Mexican States of Nuevo León (to the west), San Luis Potosí (to the southwest) and Veracruz (to the south). It also shares its northern boundary with Texas. On its east, Tamaulipas also has a 458-kilometer long coastline along the Gulf of Mexico.

The State of Tamaulipas once boasted a very large number of indigenous groups. Most of the region was largely unexplored and unexploited until the middle of the 18th Century when Jose de Escandón established the colony of Nuevo Santander. Although Gabriel Saldivar’s “Los Indios de Tamaulipas” (1943) references four primary indigenous groups within the borders of the present-day state, the Coahuiltecans made up the bulk of the northern bands along the Rio Grande River. However, with Spaniards coming from the south and Apaches and Comanches attacking from the north, the Coahuiltecans declined significantly within the period of a century, many of them seeking refuge in the Spanish missions

The American state of Texas and the Mexican state of Tamaulipas share a long border along the Rio Grande River. For thousands of years, Native American tribes either lived along this river or passed over it on their way south (or north). This boundary was finalized in 1848, but a century earlier, much of the Rio Grande River area was being settled by Spanish and Mexican settlers who had come from other parts of Mexico to settle the lands that were already inhabited by many tribal groups.

In the aftermath of the Mexican revolution, Mexico’s Departamento de la Estadística Nacional administered a census that would be unique among Mexico’s census counts administered between 1895 and 2005. In this new census, the Mexican Government decided to ask Mexicans about their perception of their own racial heritage. In the 1921 census, residents of the Mexican Republic were asked if they fell into one of the following categories:

This presentation discusses the native groups that occupied the regions adjacent to and on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border over the last three centuries. While some of these tribes are well-known to us today (i.e., the Yaquis, Tohono O'odham, Kumeyaay, Cocopah, etc.), tribal groups that have disappeared as distinguishable cultural entities (i.e., Carrizos, Mansos, Jocome, Coahuiltecans, etc.) will also be discussed. In addition to the history of those tribes, we will explore the current status of the tribal communities that still exist today.

Among all the indigenous people of Mexico, understanding the Indians of Northeastern Mexico is very challenging, as nearly all of these tribal groups have disappeared as “distinguishable cultural entities.” The largest ethnic group ̶ the Coahuiltecans ̶ ranged through much of the northeast, including parts of Coahuila, Nuevo León, Tamaulipas and southern Texas. Today they do not exist.