Otomoaco

Tomoacas
Tomoaca territory in Texas, circa 1500 CE
Total population
Extinct
Regions with significant populations
Southwestern Texas, USA (La Junta de los Ríos, Big Bend area), and Chihuahua, Mexico
Languages
Amotomanco language
Religion
Indigenous religions (unspecified)
Related ethnic groups
Jumanos, other La Junta Indians

The Otomoaco were an Indigenous people of the Americas who lived in present-day Southwest Texas and Chihuahua, Mexico. They lived in the Big Bend region, La Junta de los Ríos, and Río Conchos, part of the Aridoamerica cultural region.

The Otomoaco are believed to have been affiliated with the Jumanos.

Name

The Otomoaco were also known as the Tomoacas, Amotomancos, Omotomoacos, Otomacos, Conchos, and Patarabueyes. Patarabuey was a pejorative Spanish term that translated as "ox kicker".

Territory

In the 16th century, the Otomoaco and Jumanos were primary tribes in the area of Southwestern Texas that is now Big Bend Ranch State Park. They also lived along the Rio Grande and the Río Conchos in Chihuahua, Mexico.

European contact

In 1583, early Spanish explorers (including Antonio de Espejo) encountered the Otomoaco at La Junta de los Ríos, a regional hub of Indigenous settlement and agriculture. Spanish chroniclers described the Tomoacas as wearing only well-tanned buffalo hides for clothing, and as skilled bow-and-arrow hunters of the buffalo.

Language

They spoke the Amotomanco language, which is poorly attested but likely was a Uto-Aztecan language.

References

  1. ↑ French, Laurence Armand; Manzanarez, Magdaleno (2017-01-06). North American Border Conflicts: Race, Politics, and Ethics. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-351-99851-2.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Schmal, John. "The Indigenous Groups Along the Lower Rio Grande". Indigenous Mexico. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  3. ↑ Campbell, Thomas N. (1976). Patarabueye Indians. Texas Almanac.
  4. 1 2 "La Junta de los Rios". www.texasbeyondhistory.net. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
  5. ↑ "Big Bend Ranch State Park". PeakVisor. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
  6. ↑ Barnes, Randy L. (2019). Facts of Truths Concerning the Demise of the Original Inhabitant Nations of Texas. Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
  7. ↑ A Sampling of Archeological Resources in Big Bend National Park, Texas (PDF). Center for Big Bend Studies. 2022. p. 143.
  8. ↑ "At Big Bend Ranch, Archeology Reveals Region's Cosmopolitan Past". Marfa Public Radio. 2016-12-08. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
  9. 1 2 Schroeder, Eric Austin (2013). The Jumano in the First Century of Colonial Contact: Ethnohistoric and Archaeological Perspectives. The University of Texas at Austin.
  10. ↑ "Big Bend NP: Administrative History (Chapter 1)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2025-03-06.