An investigative report by Grist examined the funding and recognition mechanisms surrounding Juan Mancias, chairman of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, who gained prominence in the climate movement after helping pressure French banks to divest from oil and gas projects in South Texas in 2017. The investigation determined that the historical and genealogical evidence supporting Mancias’ assertion that he serves as hereditary chief of the unrecognized tribe cannot be independently verified. A key document he has cited for two decades as proof of his lineage and the tribe’s connection to the region could not be located despite extensive searches of relevant archives, and Mancias did not produce it when requested multiple times. Historians identified multiple anachronisms in the document’s timeline and provenance that they characterized as making its existence improbable.
Mancias’ prominence in international climate advocacy led to substantial philanthropic support for the tribe. After the organization incorporated as a nonprofit in 1999 and operated with minimal resources for two decades, funding increased significantly following his high-profile activism around the Standing Rock Indian Reservation protests. Philanthropic donations, legal assistance from environmental nonprofits, and media coverage contributed to the tribe’s expanded resources and land acquisitions. Using these funds, the organization purchased properties it describes as ancestral territory, a claim that also cannot be independently verified. This process circumvented the lengthy federal procedures that federally recognized tribal nations must navigate to reacquire land.
The investigation revealed a broader pattern in which environmental organizations, journalists, and international bodies have created what researchers describe as an unofficial parallel recognition system for unverified Indigenous groups and leaders in climate advocacy. While these arrangements have produced tangible environmental outcomes—Mancias and his allies successfully hindered liquefied natural gas expansion in South Texas—experts indicated that this parallel system often disadvantages legitimate Indigenous peoples and federally recognized tribes. The unrecognized tribe gained access to international platforms typically reserved for established tribal nations, including accreditation to the United Nations Environment Assembly and partnerships that provided access to U.N. processes and decision-making bodies. This elevated status contrasts sharply with the limited recognition and resources available to federally recognized tribes navigating official channels for land recovery and international representation.
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