TAP PILAM

The stories of these lands are laced with the reflections of the Coahuiltecans, who made up numerous tribes dispersed throughout what is now south texas and northern mexico - also referred to as aridoamerica.  ‘Coahuiltecos’  was a  name created by Mexican linguists in the 19th century to those living in the northernmost part of aridoamerica. Spaniards called natives of this region nación, and described them according to their relationship with major terrain features or with Spanish settlements

Outsider narratives and perspectives worked to change the names and identities of Coahuiltecans, but it is undeniable that coahuiltecans were actually related to all other Chichimecah throughout aridoamerica. They moved with the seasons, following migration patterns and food sources. Deer, bison, rabbits, birds, armadillos, javelinas, mesquite, pecans, maguey, and tunas were all major food sources of this region. Given the warm climate and nomadic lifestyle, shelters consisted of small temporary huts formed by woven mats made from brush or grass. They’re bodies were often marked by tattoos or body paint. With every marking, each stretch of the bow, and each pound of the mesquite pod, there lies the reflections of the lands and waters that birthed them.

These lands store and elaborate on ancient memory - once existing as an ocean floor, scarring under mighty shifts & faulting, and undergoing mass states of erosion. These feats seem to have coincided to create the springs that have served as a life force for all of the wild life that surrounds us today. We, people, hold this memory and reflect this nature, too.

 For thousands of years the Coahuiltecans walked alongside the deer, hikuri and sacred springs. People have followed these springs south on a Peyote pilgrimage, leading to the peyote gardens. The Coahuiltecans story of creation speaks of their emergence into the above world through the San Marcos Springs. Our ancestors were born from these waters. 

The Payaya tribe, the people of Yanawana (San Antonio river), held reverence for the sacred blue hole, the headwaters of the Yanawana. The stories tell of an anhinga bird who found the spring, an abundant cavern of water, during an extreme drought. Within the cavern lived a blue panther who pushed the bird out. The bird's wings, full of water, dripped down on the land as the bird flew away. This quenched the thirst of all the plants and animals of the land, and got the springs flowing again, feeding the rivers. This created sustenance and breathed life into these lands.

Many of these stories are acknowledged and depicted in a 4,000+ year old pictograph found in the lower pecos canyonlands, named today as the White Shaman Mural. This complex cosmological mural represents numerous stories spanning across mexico, texas, and beyond, bridging beliefs and narratives of people far and wide. A portion of the painting shows a white arch, which some believe to represent the balcones escarpment. Running perpendicular to the arch is a line connecting four water sources, believed to be the four sacred springs - san antonio springs, comal springs, san marcos springs and barton springs. 

It is clear that these waters have been held sacred for thousands of years prior to colonization. Life of this region, while robust and sturdy, is intricately reliant on the springs. These waters are a life force that millions of people today still benefit from. All life in this region, including the people in the current towns and metropolitan cities rely on the abundant aquifer for survival.