Apaysi Indians

In 1691 Damián Massanet listed Apaysi as one of thirteen Indian groups seen by him on lower Hondo Creek southwest of San Antonio, apparently near the boundary line between modern Frio and Medina counties. No recognizable variant of this name has been found in other primary documents. Massanet indicated that the Apaysis and their associates all spoke the same language, the one now known as Coahuilteco. The Apaysis were not the same people as the Apayxams, who were seen by Massanet on the Guadalupe River some 125 miles farther to the east. Unlike the Apaysis, the Apayxams were associated with Indian groups who, according to Massanet, spoke languages other than Coahuilteco. The Apaysis were probably few in number when seen by Massanet, and shortly thereafter they may have lost their identity by merging with one or more of the larger groups. This supposition is suggested by the fact that no Apaysi individuals were ever recorded as having entered Spanish missions. As some of the Hondo Creek groups are known to have hunted animals and collected wild plant products in an area that extended from Hondo Creek southwestward into northeastern Coahuila, it seems likely that the Apaysis originally ranged over some part of the same area.