Jumano were an Indigenous (native) people of southwestern North America. The name has been spelled many different ways, including Humano and Xumano. The Jumano are known chiefly from descriptions by Spanish explorers from the 1500’s through the 1700’s. Modern scholars are not sure whether the Jumano formed a single nation or were made up of people from multiple tribes. Their homeland may have extended between the Pecos and Conchos rivers, from what is now southeastern New Mexico and western Texas into northern Mexico.
Way of life.
The Jumano were nomadic bison hunters and traders. They hunted with bow and arrow. The Jumano traveled east seasonally to hunt bison on the Southern Plains hunting grounds shared by several Indigenous tribes. They also traveled to trade the products of the hunt with peoples farther east.
Jumanos were known for their distinctive striped facial markings. These designs might have been tattooed, scarred, or painted. The Jumano wore clothing and shoes of tanned skins. They probably wore moccasins. They wore capes or cloaks. Women wore skirts or aprons and sleeveless tunics. Men wore their hair short and decorated with paint, with one long lock tied with feathers. Women might have worn their hair long or in braids.
The nomadic Jumano lived in tipis. Some may have lived in small communities called rancherias in more permanent houses made of reeds or sticks. Jumanos likely visited and sometimes lived among neighboring tribes they traded with. They may have shared similar clothing and language with their trading partners. Jumano people also lived among the Humanas pueblos (Indigenous villages of apartment-style dwellings) in eastern New Mexico, which the Spanish encountered in 1598. The Spanish called these dwellings the Humanas pueblos for their close association with the Jumano. Jumanos also had good relations with the La Junta people of western Texas.
Trade.
Jumano traveled far and wide to trade their wares over the Southwest, cultivating vast trading and information networks. They became trade partners with the Caddo, Wichita, and other peoples along the Rio Grande, including the Pueblo. Jumanos served as the dominant couriers of trade goods in the Southern Plains. They held occasional trade fairs in central Texas, bringing together many peoples from the surrounding regions. They traded in bison meat and products and produce from farming villages. They brought horses, pottery, salt, and Spanish goods to exchange with Texas tribes. They supplied these tribes with arrows and possibly bows.
History.
In 1535, the Spanish explorer Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca led an expedition in Nueva Viscaya, in what is now northern Mexico. He visited the “People of the Cows,” which were believed to be a Jumano group. In 1583, the Spanish encountered Jumanos on a journey from New Mexico to Mexico. The Jumano hosted the Spanish in their camps and shared food, music, and dancing with the explorers. They guided the explorers to where the Conchos River joins the Rio Grande.
The Jumano historically clashed with the Apache people. The Apache also had horses and wished to replace the Jumano as the primary traders on the Southern Plains and along the Rio Grande. The Apache cut off Jumano routes and attacked their camps. By the 1680’s, the Jumano lived near La Junta, beside the Rio Grande. Their lands continued between the Pecos River and the Conchos River. In the summers, they traveled east to the bison-rich plains of the Guadalupe and Colorado rivers, but they were forced south on the Colorado River by the Apache. The Apache also forced Jumanos out of parts of the Southern Plains in eastern New Mexico. Twelve Jumano leaders petitioned the Spanish to establish Catholic missions and presidios (military settlements) in the Jumano homelands. By the end of the 1600’s, Apaches occupied land along the Rio Grande south of El Paso, Texas. The Jumanos began supplying Spanish goods to Indigenous peoples for trade.
Little was recorded of the Jumano after the 1700’s. Around this time, the Jumano allied with the Apache and became enemies of the Spanish. Some may have become incorporated into Apache groups, taken refuge with eastern tribes, or joined the Indigenous people of the Rancheria Grande site, near what is now Austin. Some horse-herding Jumano may have survived to become the Kiowa people.
