The Jumano Indians

In the American Southwest, a once‑thriving people left behind only scattered clues of a vibrant society that seemed to vanish almost overnight. This study delves into the puzzling fate of the Jumano, a tribe that played a notable role in early Spanish exploration yet left no clear record of war, epidemic, or other obvious cause for its decline. The author examines archaeological remnants, missionary reports, and early travel narratives to piece together what might have happened to them.

The narrative begins with the harrowing 1535 journey of Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, whose party first encountered the Jumano—referred to then as the “Cow Nation”—along the Rio Grande near the Conchos confluence. Their settlements, described as permanent houses where families cultivated beans, squash, and occasionally maize, reveal a community adept at buffalo hunting and generous in trade. Through careful reading of these early accounts, the book invites listeners to picture daily life among the Jumano and to consider the larger forces that may have erased their presence from history.