Juan Sabeata

Juan Sabeata
Born	ca. 1645
Died	ca. 1692
Occupation	Native American leader

Juan Sabeata (c. 1645–c. 1692) was a Jumano Indian leader in present day Texas who tried to forge an alliance with the Spanish or French to help his people fend off the encroachments of the Apaches on their territory.

Sabeata (also written Xaviata) was born after 1640 at Las Humanas, the Tompiro Pueblo now called Gran Quivira. Sabeata later made his way to the city of Parral in northern Mexico. There, he was baptized a Catholic as an adult and given the Christian name of Juan. When he first came to prominence in 1683 he was a leader of the Jumano Indians and their allies. Sabeata apparently did not speak Spanish well as he communicated through an interpreter.

In 1683, the Spanish on the northern frontier were vulnerable. The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, led by Popay, resulted in more than 400 Spanish deaths and their expulsion from New Mexico. The 2,000 survivors retreated to El Paso, Texas Thus, when a delegation of friendly Indians, headed by Sabeata, came to El Paso in October 1683 the Spanish were welcoming.

Sabeata said that he lived at La Junta, the junction of the Rio Grande and Conchos rivers near the present day town of Presidio, Texas. He said he had been sent by several Indian nations to request that the Spanish establish Christian missions in their territory. He also requested Spanish aid to the Jumanos and their allies against the depredations of the Apaches. The majority of his tribe, he explained, lived eastward from La Junta and were menaced by the Apache who lived nearby. Sabeata said that the Jumanos had good trade relations with 36 different tribes. Among those he named which can be identified are the Tejas, the Caddoan tribe that would give the state of Texas its name. Moreover, Sabeata mentioned that "other Spaniards"—meaning the French—were trading with the Tejas

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