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Discover the Unexpected: Top 4 Fun Facts About the Mysterious Jumano Tribe!

illustration of the-jumano-tribe
Dive into the fascinating world of the Jumano Tribe, where intriguing stories and compelling facts weave together to create an incredible tapestry of culture and history.

1. Crop Game Champs

Who said a farmer's life was all work and no play? Why, the Jumano tribe had a crop game that was even better than FarmVille: These agricultural geniuses from Texas, New Mexico, and Mexico grew crops like corn, beans, squash, and cotton, while skillfully trading turquoise, bison hides, and salt with neighboring tribes and Spaniards for useful loot such as cloth and metal tools.
Source => byrdie.com

2. Spanish BFFs

While the Jumano tribe never got a chance to swipe right on a Spanish dating app, they sure knew how to forge a real-life alliance back in the day: By counter-intuitively cozying up to Spanish priests and soldiers, the Jumano tribe managed to maintain a positive relationship with the Spanish for several decades, inviting them to their lands and even bravely fighting alongside them against other tribes despite the Spanish's notorious history of violence towards Native Americans.
Source => texasbeyondhistory.net

3. Rio Grande Lifestyle

In a stunning reenactment of a classic children's nursery rhyme, the Jumano tribe truly mastered the art of living by the river: This group of La Junta Indians perfected floodplain cultivation along the Rio Grande, mainly growing the drought-resistant tepary bean and supplementing their diets with hunting, gathering, and trade.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

4. Striped Face Swag

Talk about making a statement: The Jumano tribe members donned horizontal facial stripes that were either tattoos or a mixture of scarification and paint, to stand out as a commerce-savvy symbol of intertribal trading and ensure they'd be the talk of the trade routes.
Source => tshaonline.org

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