![Map of Indians Texas 1500](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Map_of_Indians_Texas_1500.png)
The Payaya people were Indigenous people whose territory encompassed the area of present-day
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
. The Payaya were a
Coahuiltecan
The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now southern Texas and northeastern Mexico. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter-gatherers. First encountered by Europ ...
band and are the earliest recorded inhabitants of
San Pedro Springs Park
San Pedro Springs Park is located in the Bexar County city of San Antonio in the U.S. state of Texas. Surrounding the source of the springs, the 46-acre park is the oldest in the state of Texas. It is the location of a Payaya Indian village known ...
, the geographical area that became San Antonio.
History
The band are known to have inhabited the areas of the San Antonio River, the
Frio River
The Frio River is a river in the U.S. state of Texas. The word ''frío'' is Spanish for ''cold'', a clear reference to the spring-fed coolness of the river.
Geography
The Frio River has three primary tributaries; the East, West, and Dry Frio Ri ...
to the west, near the
Pastia tribal lands; and
Milam County
Milam County is a county located in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, its population was 24,754. The county seat is Cameron. The county was created in 1834 as a municipality in Mexico and organized as a county in 1837. Milam Coun ...
to the east, where they lived among the
Tonkawa
The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe indigenous to present-day Oklahoma. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct, is a linguistic isolate.
Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the federally recognized Tonkawa Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma.
...
.
The Payaya called their village
Yanaguana. It was located next to the river which the Spanish named the
San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
. Some historians believe the band referred to the river as Yanaguana, but the Spanish Franciscan priest
Damián Massanet Damián Massanet was a Spanish Franciscan priest who co-founded the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, the first missionary college in New Spain.
Biography
Not much is known of Massanet's early life, but he is trusted to have been born in Majo ...
recorded this as the name of their village.
The Payaya first made contact with
Spanish colonists in the 17th century, when the tribe had ten different encampments.
By the year 1706, the Spanish had converted some Payaya among the Indigenous converts baptized at
Mission San Francisco Solano
Mission San Francisco Solano was the 21st, last, and northernmost mission in Alta California. It was named for Saint Francis Solanus. It was the only mission built in Alta California after Mexico gained independence from Spain. The difficulty of ...
, from the
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico.
The length of the Rio G ...
in
Coahuila
Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico.
Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. Today's municipality of
Guerrero
Guerrero is one of the 32 states that comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and its largest city is Acapulcocopied from article, GuerreroAs of 2020, Guerrero the pop ...
is the approximate location of Mission San Francisco Solano. The Payaya were a small band of sixty families by 1709.
In 1716, the Payaya befriended Franciscan priest
Antonio de Olivares
Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares or simply Fray Antonio de Olivares (1630 - 1722) was a Spanish Franciscan who officiated at the first Catholic Mass celebrated in Texas, and he was known for contributing to the founding of San Antonio and t ...
. They became the mission Indians at San Antonio de Valero Mission, founded in 1718, later known as the
Alamo Mission in San Antonio
The Battle of the Alamo (February 23 – March 6, 1836) was a pivotal event in the Texas Revolution. Following a 13-day siege, Mexican troops under President General Antonio López de Santa Anna reclaimed the Alamo Mission near San Ant ...
.
The mission began assimilation of the Payaya by teaching them Spanish and trade skills. The tribe had an elected form of self-government within the mission. Infectious diseases took a high toll of the mission Payaya during the eighteenth century.
Culture
The Payaya, like other Coahuiltecan peoples, were a
hunter-gatherer
A traditional hunter-gatherer or forager is a human living an ancestrally derived lifestyle in which most or all food is obtained by foraging, that is, by gathering food from local sources, especially edible wild plants but also insects, fungi, ...
society. The Spanish recorded their nut-harvesting activities. Historians have speculated that the band's movements in the
Edwards Plateau
The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region at the crossroads of Central Texas, Central, South Texas, South, and West Texas. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east, the Llano Uplift and the Llano Estacado to the north, and the ...
is an indication that
pecans
The pecan (''Carya illinoinensis'') is a species of hickory native to the southern United States and northern Mexico in the region of the Mississippi River. The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, ...
were a substantive diet source to the Payaya.
Spanish Franciscan priest Damián Massanet wrote his impressions of the Payaya in the June 13, 1691 entry to his diary. He described an indigenous people who were friendly toward the Spanish, but warlike and combative within their own group. Massanet described a tribal war dance, deerskin clothing, and practice of stealing horses and women from other groups. He said the Payaya were adept at learning the Spanish language, and had a fondness for Spanish clothing.
Massanet portrayed the Payaya as having a respectful attitude towards a higher spiritual power, and noted they had erected a wooden cross in their village. Massanet recounted that the day after the Spanish arrived, he and his group observed the
Feast of Corpus Christi
The Feast of Corpus Christi (), also known as the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, is a Christian liturgical solemnity celebrating the Real Presence of the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ in the elements of ...
with a
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
, during which the Payaya were present.
Language
The Payaya language is not sufficiently attested to classify.
See also
*
Acequia Madre de Valero
References
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History of San Antonio
Indigenous peoples of Aridoamerica
Native American history of Texas
Native American tribes in Texas
Unclassified languages of North America