The Ocana people were a Native American people of

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...

, possibly a northern

Coahuiltecan The Coahuiltecan were various small, autonomous bands of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Native Americans who inhabited the Rio Grande valley in what is now northeastern Mexico and southern Texas. The various Coahuiltecan groups were hunter ga ...

subtribe.

History

Spanish explorers including

Juan Domínguez de Mendoza ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

, Fernando del Bosque, and

Gregorio de Salinas Varona Gregorio de Salinas Varona (1647 or 1650 in Tormé, Burgos, Spain – 1720 in Mexico City, New Spain, Spanish Empire) was a noble and Spanish people, Spanish public administration, administrator who served as governor in Spanish Texas, Texas, C ...

reported meeting the Ocana along the

Rio Grande The Rio Grande ( or ) in the United States or the Río Bravo (del Norte) in Mexico (), also known as Tó Ba'áadi in Navajo language, Navajo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the Southwestern United States a ...

and south of the

Nueces River The Nueces River ( ; , ) is a river in the U.S. state of Texas, about long. It drains a region in central and southern Texas southeastward into the Gulf of Mexico. It is the southernmost major river in Texas northeast of the Rio Grande. ''Nu ...

. They lived in areas of present-day

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

including Maverick County, Dimmit County, and Zavala County, as well as throughout the

Edwards Plateau The Edwards Plateau is a geographic region forming the crossroads of Central, South and West Texas, United States. It is named in honor of Haden Edwards. It is bounded by the Balcones Fault to the south and east; the Llano Uplift and the Lla ...

. In the 18th century, the Ocana entered missions including Mission San Bernardo,

Mission San Francisco Solano Mission San Francisco Solano was the 21st, last, and northernmost mission in Alta California. It was named for Saint Francis Solanus. It was the only mission built in Alta California after Mexico gained independence from Spain. The difficult ...

, Mission San Felipe Valladares, and Mission San Antonio de Valero. Surviving records of their language and culture were compiled by

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friar

Damián Massanet Damián Massanet was a Spanish Franciscan priest who co-founded the College of Santa Cruz de Querétaro, the first missionary college in New Spain. Biography Not much is known of Massanet's early life, but he is trusted to have been born in Maj ...

References

{{reflist Coahuiltecan Extinct Native American peoples Native American tribes in Texas