Who were the Coahuiltecans?
Click on the image to explore the Native American tribe's culture and customs.
Coahuiltecans
The Coahuiltecans lived a hard life in the barren semi-desert country of South Texas. They wore little clothing-only a loin cloth, fiber sandals, and a cloak or robe during bad weather. Food was difficult to find; they ate bulbs of different plants, mesquite beans, and pricly pear tunas. Frequently the food was mixed with dirt to "sweeten" it and make it go further. With bow and arrow they killed javelina, deer, and occasionally bison - through when game was scarce they would eat ant eggs, worms, lizards, snakes, and rotten wood. They lived in low circular huts made by placing reed mats over bent saplings. Diseases brought in by the white men rapidly cut down the Coahuiltecans. Hostile Apaches and Comanches killed many more. By 1800 most of the survivors of this South Texas trie have been asorbed ito the Mexican population.
Hunting and Gathering on the South Texas Plains
Click on the image to learn the various plants and animals hunted and gathered by the Coahuiltecans.
The Papaya
Click on the image to explore a group of the Coahuiltecan tribe.
The Mariames: Hunters & Gatherers over Diverse Terrain
Click on the image to explore another distinct group of the Coahuiltecan tribe, the Mariames.
Absorption & Extinction
Click on the image to learn about the decline and eventual wipe out of the Coahuiltecan population.