La Junta Indians and Jumanos were two distinct groups of people who inhabited the Trans-Pecos and Big Bend region of west Texas prior to the arrival of the white man. A relatively sedentary, farming, pottery-making people, the La Juntas

were present in villages along the Rio Grand dating from A.D. 1100 or earlier. These people were found up into the 1800s.

In contrast, the true Jumanos were nomadic who spent the winters in villages along the Rio Grande, but then left to hunt across Texas as far as eastern Texas. These people disappeared by about 1700. There are various theories about what happened to the Jumanos. Some historians conclude that they moved to the plains were they traditionally traded, while others believe they were driven out of the area by incoming Apache/Athabascan peoples who were the forerunners of the modern Mescalero, Jicarillo and Lipan Apaches.

The Spaniards, who came to the area in the 1500s, called both the Jamanos and the La Junta peoples Jumanos.