Texas activist’s claims of Indigenous ancestry face scrutiny

An investigation by Grist scrutinizes the Indigenous ancestry claims of Juan Mancias, chairman of the Carrizo/Comecrudo tribe, which is not recognized by U.S. federal or state governments and which experts long believed had disappeared from the region.

Mancias has built a public career, including a 2017 campaign that pressured French banks to withdraw from oil and gas projects, on a family story of ancestors fleeing the Rio Grande in the 1940s and secretly preserving their culture. Grist reports his cited 1871 massacre document has never been produced, and genealogical records instead trace his ancestry to Mexico's Sierra Madre Oriental, not the Carrizo/Comecrudo homeland.

The tribe has since gained United Nations recognition and raised more than $5 million from foundations including Schmidt Family Foundation, Rockefeller Family Fund, and Sierra Club. An Indigenous rights advocate warns that unsubstantiated claims risk diverting funding and representation from tribes that are, in her words, really struggling to participate.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.