There exists a multitude of eminent Karankawa men and women in history: Mateo, Jose Luis María, Manuel Alegre, Prudencia, Llano Grande, the daughter of Big Chief, to name a few. In past writings about these coastal Indians, authors often neglect to highlight these Natives.
In an on-going effort to reorient the Karankawas’ history away from the “Whites'” perspective and back to the Karankawas’, I have written an encyclopedia entry on Joseph María, the most prominent Karankawa figure during the Spanish-Karankawa war in the late eighteenth century. Joseph María united different Karankawa Peoples and demonstrated that the Karankawas held the most outstanding power on the Texas Coastal Bend.
Handbook of Texas encyclopedia entry on Joseph María
Beginning in December, I began a project to archive all extant primary sources related to the Karankawa Indians. A great deal of information on the Karankawas is dispersed and unknown. I want to consolidate all this information into a single location, all the while providing much needed historical context. In a few months’ time, all of the documents related to Joseph María will be made available for all manner of researchers.
If you require these sources now, please get in touch.
Karankawas 