Geography

• The geography of the Concho Indians' homeland had a significant impact on the tribe's lifestyle. While the lands near the Rio Concho River is adequately irrigated and somewhat fertile, the rest of Northern Mexico is arid and not suitable for farming. For these reasons, the Concho Indians had to live a combined existence as hunters, gatherers and farmers to survive.
  
  

History

• When the Spanish first arrived in northern Mexico the Concho Indians attempted to maintain peaceful relations with the newcomers. However, the relationship quickly soured as the Spanish sought to enslave the Concho Indians to work in the newly discovered silver mines of northern Mexico. Throughout much of the 1600s the Concho Indians revolted against the Spanish in an attempt to escape enslavement. During this time many Conchos died from the Spanish slave raids, European disease and drought and famine in the area. By the early 1700s the few Concho Indians that remained are believed to have joined their neighboring tribe to the north, the Jumanos.
  
  

Features

• The Concho Indians sustained their diet through a combination of farming, hunting and gathering. Those Concho Indians that lived closest to the rivers planted crops like corn and beans, but in such an arid climate these crops were not enough to feed an entire tribe. To supplement these crops, the Concho Indians hunted for deer and small game and gathered wild plants like the fruit of the native cactus plant.
  Most historians believe the Concho Indians were semi-nomadic, settled in villages during parts of the year and moving in search of game the rest. As a result, Concho Indian homes were simple grass huts that could be easily taken down and put back up when the tribe reached a new campsite.
  
  

Identification

• As with many Indian tribes of the American southwest and northern Mexico, the Concho Indians were organized into many smaller bands and their primary identification was to the band and not to the united tribe. Historians are not certain exactly how many bands the Concho Indians were divided into, but there were at least twenty identifiable bands. One band of Concho Indians, the Chizos, lived in far west Texas and the Chizos Mountains of that area were named for them.
  
  

Effects

• As with countless groups of indigenous peoples, European contact was ultimately disastrous for the Concho Indians. Epidemic European disease, increased population pressures and attempts at forced enslavement all plagued the Concho Indians after the Spanish arrived in their tribal lands, despite initial efforts to ally themselves with the newcomers. Less than 200 years after initial contact with the Spanish, the Concho Indians had been decimated to the extent that they no longer existed as an identifiable tribe.