Athapaskans They Weren't: the Suma Rebels Executed at Casas Grandes in 1685

Summary

Two decades ago Jack D. Forbes proposed that the Suma, Janos, Jocome and Mansos Indians were the southernmost true Athapaskans in North America. Inhabiting northern Chihuahua, far western Texas, and the southwestern fringes of New Mexico, these groups were described by Spaniards in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as primitive, loosely related bands of nomadic hunters and gatherers. Beginning in the later seventeenth century and continuing through most of the eighteenth, these same groups became closely identified with the Apache. The reason for this is clear - from the time of the 1684 revolt onward, those bands had not permanently settled at the Fanciscan missions in the El Paso and Casas Grandes districts increasingly joined with and adopted the way of life of the Apache. By the last part of the eighteenth century these raiding Sumas, Janos, Jocomes and Mansos were completely assimilated by Apaches. They lost their own individual tribal identities and henceforth were simply referred to as Apaches. But contrary to Forbes' contentions, they were not originally Athapaskan. A list of Sumas executed at Casas Grandes in 1685 conclusively shows they were linguistically not Athapaskan, but Uto-Aztecan.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Digital Archive of Huhugam Archaeology (DAHA)   •
• Amerind DAHA Resources

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Contact(s): Amerind Museum

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MS(s): 377

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