Culture and history of Native American peoples of south Texas

This study documents the origins and migrations of the Cuelgahen Nde Lipan Apache of Texas and the survival of Texas Indian culture among Mexican and Mexican American people. The study provided the data for three findings. First, Nde (Apache) buffalo hunters are ancestors of Chief Cuelga de Castro and the Cuelgahen Nde Lipan Apache of Texas are his descendants. Second, Cuelgahen Nde are historically and culturally affiliated with Native American anti-colonial alliances in south Texas and northeastern Mexico that constitute a historical context, through which the Lipan learned a form of ceremonial observance from the Carrizo that became the foundation for the Native American Church and other twentieth century examples of the religious use of peyote. Third, Native American people of South Texas affiliated with Mexican and Mexican American history and culture presently integrate family traditions into Native American purification lodges, dance traditions, and the religious use of peyote. In all, this study documents Native American cultural survival and revitalization among people known as Mexicanos, Mexicans, Chicanos, Mexican Americans, and American Indians by way of a common genealogical, historical, and cultural affiliation with prehistoric, colonial, and modern Mexican and Texas Indians.