SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Mission Indian Descendants organization announced a new initiative titled "Find Your Roots, Claim Your Story," designed to assist individuals in tracing their ancestry to Indigenous groups linked to the San Antonio missions. The initiative will hold a soft launch event on June 24, 2026, at The DoSeum in San Antonio.

The organization, founded in 2022, is partnering with six universities in the San Antonio area and Texas State University. Student interns from these institutions will begin conducting genealogical research for the project in the fall of 2026. The research will focus on five specific missions: Mission San Antonio de Valero, Mission San José, Mission Concepción, Mission San Juan, and Mission Espada.

Historical records indicate over 60 Indigenous groups were present in the region during the mission era. Estimates suggest between 100,000 and 300,000 descendants of mission-associated Indigenous people currently reside in Bexar County.

Diane Moreno Reyes, a group founder, said, "We had no clue that we were Native American, much less that we are descendants of the missions. We were created to help people like us who grew up not knowing who we were." Nehemiah Moreno, an organization member, said, "For generations, other people have told the story of the Native Americans who lived in the missions. It's time to take that story back. That story is ours to tell."

Reyes said, "As Indigenous people, we have been loyal to this country, even when they haven't been loyal to us. That's important. People need to know that." She added, "Without San Antonio, there would be no Texas. Without the missions, there would be no San Antonio. And without the Indigenous people, there would be nothing."