<P> The name given to the Coahuiltecan is derived from Coahuila, the state in New Spain in which some lived when first encountered . This name was derived by the Spanish from a Nahuatl word . </P> <P> The Coahuiltecan lived in the flat, brushy, dry country of southern Texas, roughly south of a line from the Gulf Coast at the mouth of the Guadalupe River to San Antonio and westward to around Del Rio . They lived on both sides of the Rio Grande . Their neighbors along the Texas coast were the Karankawa, and inland to their northeast were the Tonkawa . Both tribes were possibly related by language to some of the Coahuiltecan . To their north were the Jumano . Later the Lipan Apache and Comanche migrated into this area . Their indefinite western boundaries were the vicinity of Monclova, Coahuila, and Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, and southward to roughly the present location of Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, the Sierra de Tamaulipas, and the Tropic of Cancer . People of similar hunting and gathering cultures lived throughout northeastern Mexico . </P> <P> Although living near the Gulf of Mexico, most of the Coahuiltecan were inland people . Near the Gulf for more than 70 miles (110 km) both north and south of the Rio Grande, there is little fresh water . Bands thus were limited in their ability to survive near the coast, and were deprived of its other resources, such as fish and shellfish, which limited the opportunity to live near and exploit coastal resources . </P> <P> In the mid-20th century, linguists theorized that the Coahuiltecan belonged to a single language family and that the Coahuiltecan languages were related to the Hokan languages of present - day California, Arizona, and Baja California . Most modern linguists, however, discount this theory for lack of evidence; instead, they believe that the Coahuiltecan were diverse in both culture and language . At least seven different languages are known to have been spoken, one of which is called Coahuiltecan or Pakawa, spoken by a number of bands near San Antonio . The best known of the languages are Comecrudo and Cotoname, both spoken by people in the delta of the Rio Grande and Pakawa . Catholic Missionaries compiled vocabularies of several of these languages in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the language samples are too small to establish relationships between and among the languages . (See Coahuiltecan languages) </P>

How did geography influence the way indian tribes in texas lived
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