Total population | |
---|---|
Unknown | |
Regions with significant populations | |
Central Mexico (Zacatecas, Guanajuato, and San Luis Potosí) | |
Languages | |
Guachichil, Spanish | |
Religion | |
Roman Catholic | |
Related ethnic groups | |
Other Chichimecas |
The Guachichil, Cuauchichil, or Quauhchichitl are an exonym for an Indigenous people of Mexico. Prior to European and African contact, they occupied the most extensive territory of all the Indigenous Chichimeca tribes in pre-Columbian central Mexico.
The Guachichiles settled a large region of Zacatecas; as well as portions of San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, and northeastern Jalisco; south to the northern corners of Michoacán; and north to Saltillo in Coahuila.
Considered both warlike and brave, the Guachichiles played a major role in provoking the other Chichimeca tribes to resist the Spanish settlement. The historian Philip Wayne Powell wrote: [1] [2]
These warriors were known to fight fiercely even if mortally wounded and were a key component in the Spanish defeat during the Chichimeca Wars. The children learned to use the bow at walking age and the hunters were such good shots that if they missed the eye and hit the eyebrow they would be extremely disappointed. The Chichimeca bow and arrow was expertly crafted allowing for penetration of Spanish armor.
Two Spanish accounts of the Chichimeca's archery skill: "On one occasion I saw them throw an orange into the air, and they shot into it so many arrows that, having held it in the air for much time, it finally fell in minute pieces” (Powell 48). “One of don Alonso de Castilla’s soldiers had an arrow pass through the head of his horse, including a crownpiece of double buckskin and metal, and into his chest, so he fell with the horse dead on the ground ‘this was seen by many who are still living’ (Powell 48).
The Chichimeca were nomadic making them very mobile and experts of the rough vegetation filled (mostly cactus) land in which they always looked for hiding spots. “His long use of the food native to the Gran Chichimeca gave him far greater mobility than the sedentary invader, who was tied to domesticated livestock, agriculture, and imported supplies. The nomad could and did cut off these supplies, destroy the livestock, and thus paralyze the economic and military vitality of the invaders; this was seldom possible in reverse” (Powell 44). They attacked in small groups ranging from five up to two-hundred braves. They highly valued animal furs and highly treasured European scalps. The most valued of those being red hair due to their cultural importance of the color red. The Chichimeca were easily willing to trade seized gold and silver for red haired women as noted by an extremely small percentage of the population in that territory today having brownish-reddish hair, more noticeably when mixed with whites of non-red haired origin. Red haired women and children were a large incentive used to obtain peace within the region.
The Guachichil would outsmart/deceive their adversaries instead of relying on brute force. “He sent spies into Spanish-Indian towns for appraisal of the enemy’s plans and strength; he developed a far-flung system of lookouts and scouts (atalays); and, in major attacks, settlements were softened by preliminary and apparently systematic killing and stealing of horses and other livestock, this being an attempt, sometimes successful, to change his intended victim from horseman to foot soldier” (Powell 46). When they attacked they used a very good tactic that terrified the animals and scared the Spanish. The Guachichil would disguise themselves as grotesque animals using animal heads and red paint then yelled like crazed beasts making the Spanish lose control of the livestock. The 50-mile (80-km) mountain range, from currently La Montesa to Milagros, Zacatecas, was known as "El Camino Del Infierno" or "The Path of Hell" by the Spanish. The caravans were required to pass through that 50-mile mountain range because a detour would be very lengthy. Within "The Path of Hell" the most ferocious attacks took place. Ancient Guachichil murals of the region paint the indigenous accounts of these events.
The chieftain of the tribe was also the military leader. The Spaniards observed that they attacked in gangs of few members who differed from the other Chichimecas by painting their heads and hair red.
They attacked their enemies warlike with obsidian swords, spears, darts, and arrows.
They first selected the place of attack, preferably a desert but mountainous plain, a rock, a ravine, a swamp, or they simply waited until it was midnight. At midnight they would stealthily position themselves in the attack zone and suddenly let out loud and terrible howls and screams that perplexed their enemies at the same time that they began the attack by running directly towards the target, at the same time that they produced a shower of arrows.
The political organization of the Guachichiles was very rudimentary when the Spanish arrived. It was patriarchal and consisted of the most powerful warrior who managed to overthrow the chief who ruled at that time would be the chief. If he failed to overthrow the chief, he separated from the tribe with some families and settled elsewhere. Although tribes could also unite and thus become more powerful through inter-tribal marriages. At the arrival of the Spanish there were hundreds of tribes throughout the territory, but four were the most powerful.
The region currently occupied by the city of San Luis Potosí was, until before the arrival of the Spaniards, a Guachichil-Chichimeca post.
Since 1550, Guachichil, Guamares and other Chichimecas assaults began to be registered, so Viceroy Don Luis II de Velasco commissioned Herrera to punish the robbers. Thus began the bloodiest and most extensive of all Spanish companies in America.
Pedro de Anda founded the Real del Cerro de San Pedro and Minas del Potosí on March 4, 1592. Given the lack of water in the place, it was necessary to locate a nearby territory that did have it to support human stay. The place was located east of the Anahuac table.
In order for the Spanish to settle widely, the local Guachichiles and the Tlaxcalans were displaced. The hostility of the Tlaxcalans, backed by the Spanish, against the Guachichiles would not take long to manifest.
The community of San Luis Potosí originated with the well-differentiated gathering of Guachichiles, Tlaxcaltecas, Tarascos, Zacatecos Chichimecas, Chichimecas-Pames de Santa María del Río, Otomí and Spaniards from Extremadura or of uncertain origin.
Under the protection of mining wealth, the city of San Luis Potosí was born in November 1592 and its foundation occurred when the fierce Cuachichil Indian named Moquamalto surrendered to Fray Diego de la Magdalena, and Captain Miguel Caldera, in the place we now know as the square of the founders. Great people from many cities and royal mines came to the lure of gold, which gave rise to a unique culture and joined the presence of the Guachichiles, Spaniards, Otomi, Tarascos, Mulattoes, Blacks and Tlaxcalans, thus creating a unique miscegenation in Mexico.
The Guachichiles occupied the entire Potosino Altiplano, part of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Zacatecas and Tamaulipas. This area extended from the south, along the Lerma or Grande river, in Michoacán and Guanajuato, to the Comanja mountain ranges and, on the border with the Rioverde area, the boundary rose to the north. Gonzalo de las Casas observed: "They occupy a lot of land and that is how the most people of all the Chichimecas are and who have done the most damage. There are many partialities and not all are well known." The Guachichiles were not a solid kingdom or political state in the 16th century, but rather a set of tribes and chiefdoms, the Spaniards observed three groups: those of Mazapil (where the Mazapiles predominated) to the north, in the mountains that border the town from Parras, from Las Salinas, to the center of San Luis Potosí and finally from Tunal Grande (where the Xales predominated), where the largest food supply place for the Guachichiles was located; These three groups were not political or cultural units, they were the inhabitants of the three geographical areas where the Guachichiles were centralized. Regardless of the three groups of guachichiles, there were a large number of tribal groups, many of them only mentioned once by the Spaniards: Bózalos or negritos, Macolias, Samúes, Maticoyas, Alaquines, Capiojes, Machipaniquanes, Leemagues, Mascorros, Caisanes, Coyotes, Guanchenis, Uaxabanes, Guenacapiles, Alpañales, Pisones, Cauicuiles, Alacazauis, Guazancores and los Chanales.
The Guachichiles were known to paint their bodies, hair, and faces in red dye. For this reason they were called "guachichile" by the Mexica; from the nahuatl kua-itl (head) and chichil-tic (red), meaning "heads painted red".
This article may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's quality standards.(September 2024) |
Cuachichil | |
---|---|
Guachichil | |
Native to | Mexico |
Region | Zacatecas |
Ethnicity | Guachichil |
Extinct | 17th century |
Revival | 2020s |
unclassified (Corachol Uto-Aztecan?) | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | None (mis ) |
0w6 | |
Glottolog | None |
Guachichil |
Practically nothing is known about the language of Guachichil [3] [4] (just two words survived [5] ). Wick Miller hypothesized that it was based on Uto-Aztecan languages, [6] but there is no evidence for this. [3] Rosa Herminia Yáñez Rosales suggests that it was closer to other Chichimeca languages, like Zacateco, Chichimeco Jonaz, and Guamare. [3]
The structural and morphological information can only be guessed from proper names and place names. Guachichil was divided into 3 dialects or varieties, the Bozalo (or vocalo), the Negrito and another called simply Guachichil,[ citation needed ] and was closely related to the language of the Quinigua. [7] [ failed verification ] It has been classified without providing more details within the Uto-Aztecan languages. Others are inclined to relate it to the hypothetical Coahuiltecan family, which would include Guachichil, Quinigua, Maratino, Naolan, Karankawa and Coahuilteco, having an even more distant relationship with Comecrudo and Cotoname, based on the structure of proper names. Examples of Guachichile proper names are Aiguaname, Analale, Apamatacaliname, Atapi, Ayoaname, Clonemua, Cuaguilo, Guamala, Juquianame, Malioname, Micolaqui, Mohelo, Nochicaguitaname, Omoahxi, Quiguama, Saitoa, Taesani, Tepuchi, etc. [8] Examples of place names are zapalinamé (a mountain range), guanamé (a hacienda), hipoa (a town), mapimí, matehuala (a city).[ citation needed ]
They are characterized by frequently starting with the morpheme ma-, and ending with the form -amé, -qui, -ane, -lo, -na or -al, it contains a series of frequent diphthongs which are ai as in aiguaname, ua as in clonemua, au as in cuutaquelaux, in nauque or in quepinao, or as in omoahxi, or in saitoa. Several words can be related to languages such as Quinigua, like the name xilaguani, it can be divided into xila "snake" and guani "like", interpreting "like a snake", guani "like", in turn it can be associated with the Maratino "niwa / chigger" of equal meaning. The frequent ending -amé can be associated with the Coahuilteco "am é" used to create participles and adjectives, -le in Comecrudo and -né in Quinigua. [9] [ failed verification ]
As of 2023, the Guachichil Nation, centered in San Luís Potosí, Mexico, (composed of many affiliated Guachichil groups spread across Mexico and the United States) announced ongoing work to revitalize and reconstruct the Guachichil language. A dictionary containing preserved Guachichil words and words added through reconstruction efforts currently exists and is growing. [10]
San Luis Potosí, commonly referred to as San Luis, or by its initials SLP, is the capital and the most populous city of the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí. It is the municipal seat of the surrounding municipality of San Luis Potosí. The city lies at an elevation of 1,864 metres. It has an estimated population of 824,229 in the city proper and a population of approximately 1,221,526 in its metropolitan area, formed with the neighbour city of Soledad de Graciano Sánchez and other surrounding municipalities, which makes the metropolitan area of Greater San Luis Potosí the eleventh largest in Mexico.
Chichimeca is the name that the Nahua peoples of Mexico generically applied to nomadic and semi-nomadic peoples who were established in present-day Bajío region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the same meaning as the Roman term "barbarian" that described Germanic tribes. The name, with its pejorative sense, was adopted by the Spanish Empire. In the words of scholar Charlotte M. Gradie, "for the Spanish, the Chichimecas were a wild, nomadic people who lived north of the Valley of Mexico. They had no fixed dwelling places, lived by hunting, wore little clothes and fiercely resisted foreign intrusion into their territory, which happened to contain silver mines the Spanish wished to exploit." Gradie noted that Chichimeca was used as a broad and generalizing term by outsiders, writing, "[it] was used by both Spanish and Nahuatl speakers to refer collectively to many different people who exhibited a wide range of cultural development from hunter-gatherers to sedentary agriculturalists with sophisticated political organizations." They practiced animal sacrifice, and they were feared for their expertise and brutality in war.
The Tlaxcallans, or Tlaxcaltecs, are an indigenous Nahua people who originate from Tlaxcala, Mexico. The Confederacy of Tlaxcala was instrumental in overthrowing the Aztec Empire in 1521, alongside conquistadors from the Kingdom of Spain. The Tlaxcallans remained allies of the Spanish for 300 years until the Independence of Mexico in 1821.
The Zacatecos are an indigenous group, one of the peoples called Chichimecas by the Aztecs. They lived in most of what is now the state of Zacatecas and the northeastern part of Durango. They have many direct descendants, but most of their culture and traditions have disappeared with time. Large concentrations of modern-day descendants may reside in Zacatecas and Durango, as well as other large cities of Mexico.
The Caxcan are an ethnic group who are Indigenous to western and north-central Mexico, particularly the regions corresponding to modern-day Zacatecas, southern Durango, Jalisco, Colima, Aguascalientes, Nayarit. The Caxcan language is most often documented as an ancient variant of Nahuatl and is a member of the Uto-Aztecan language family. The last generation of natively fluent Caxcan language speakers came to an end in the 1890s. Despite this having long been conflated by anthropologists with an extinction of the Caxcan people themselves, much of Caxcan culture has persisted via oral tradition. There is currently an ongoing revitalization of Caxcan language, scholarship, and culture.
The Mixtón War (1540–1542) was a rebellion by the Caxcan people of northwestern Mexico against the Spanish conquerors. The war was named after Mixtón, a hill in Zacatecas which served as an Indigenous stronghold.
The Chichimeca War (1550–90) was a military conflict between the Spanish Empire and the Chichimeca Confederation established in the territories today known as the Central Mexican Plateau, called by the Conquistadores La Gran Chichimeca. The epicenter of the hostilities was the region now called the Bajío. The Chichimeca War is recorded as the longest and most expensive military campaign confronting the Spanish Empire and indigenous people in Aridoamerica. The forty-year conflict was settled through several peace treaties driven by the Spaniards which led to the pacification and, ultimately, the streamlined integration of the native populations into the New Spain society.
Matehuala is a city in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí, situated at an elevation of about 1,500 m. Matehuala is also the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name, located in the northern part of the state, on the border with the southwestern corner of Nuevo León. The municipality of Matehuala has a population of 102,199, and an area of 1,302 km2 (503 sq mi).
The Bajío is a cultural and geographical region within the central Mexican plateau which roughly spans from northwest of Mexico City to the main silver mines in the northern-central part of the country. This includes the states of Querétaro, Guanajuato, parts of Jalisco, Aguascalientes and parts of Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí and Michoacán.
Miguel Caldera (1548–1597) was an important figure in the colonization of Mexico's northern frontier immediately following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire.
The Guamare people were an indigenous people of Mexico, who were established mostly in Guanajuato and at the border of Jalisco. They were part of the Chichimecas, a group of a nomadic hunter-gatherer culture and called themselves Children of the Wind, living religiously from the natural land. As a tradition, they would cremate their dead and spread their ashes into the wind back to 'Mother Earth'. The Guamare people were politically united with the Chichimeca Confederation, but like other Chichimeca nations were independent. The Chichimeca were established in the present-day Bajio region of Mexico.
The Chichimeca Jonaz are an indigenous people of Mexico, living in the states of Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí. In Guanajuato, the Chichimeca Jonaz people live in a community in San Luis de la Paz municipality. The settlement is 2,070 m above sea level. They call this place Rancho Úza or Misión Chichimeca. They are descendants of the Pame people, who fought in the Chichimeca War (1550-1590) in the Chichimeca Confederation.
Guadalupe is a town in the state of Zacatecas, Mexico. It is located in the central region of the state and is the head of the Municipality of Guadalupe. With a population of 170,029 inhabitants, it is the most populated city in the state and with the city of Zacatecas and surrounding towns it forms a metropolitan area. On August 1, 2010, the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro was inscribed by UNESCO on the World Heritage List, being the former Apostolic College of Propaganda Fide of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the sites on the cultural itinerary that reached this title, for its architectural richness and contribution to the evangelization of the north of New Spain. On June 30, 2015, the Legislative Branch of the State of Zacatecas approved that the city of Guadalupe Zacatecas be declared a Historical City, a title that came into effect on Thursday, September 3 of that same year after its promulgation in decree number 400 published in the Official Newspaper of the State of Zacatecas. On October 11, 2018 at the Fifth National Fair of Pueblos Mágicos held in the city of Morelia, Michoacán, Guadalupe received incorporation into the Pueblos Mágicos program, being the sixth to have this registration in the state of Zacatecas.
San Luis de la Paz is a city, and the surrounding municipality of the same name, located in the northeastern part of the state of Guanajuato in Mexico. San Luis de la Paz was founded on August 25, 1552, as a defensive town on the Spanish Silver Road, which linked the Zacatecas mines with Mexico City during the Spanish domination. It owes its name to the peace treaty between Otomi Indians, who were Spaniard allies, and the native Chichimecas, on the day of Saint Louis of France, August 25. San Luis de la Paz is also known as the Chichimeca Nation.
Peralta is a prehispanic mesoamerican archaeological site located in Abasolo Municipality, Guanajuato, just outside the village of San Jose de Peralta in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. The site is reached via Fed 90 from Irapuato. Approximately 15.5 km south of the intersection with Fed 45, take the Irapuato-Huanimaro route southeast (left). Follow the route for about 12.5 km, then turnoff southwest (right) to San Jose de Peralta. Cross the bridge and turn right, and then follow the road out of the village northwest about 1 km. The site is on the left.
San Esteban de Nueva Tlaxcala was a Tlaxcalan municipality in what is now the Mexican state of Coahuila. San Esteban was the northernmost of the six Tlaxcalan colonies established in 1591 at the behest of the Viceroy of New Spain, Luis de Velasco; its founders came from Tizatlan. In 1834, San Esteban was merged into the adjoining city of Saltillo.
Francisco Tenamaztle, also Tenamaxtlan, Tenamaxtli or Tenamaxtle, was a leader of the Caxcan Indigenous peoples in Mexico during the Mixtón War of 1540–1542. He was later put on trial in Spain. With the support of Bartolomé de las Casas he defended the justice of his cause by appealing to King Carlos I.
El Cóporo is a prehispanic archaeological site at the northern frontiers of the Mesoamerican cultural area, located at an elevation of 150 meters on the western slopes of the Santa Bárbara range, near the San José del Torreón community, and lies some 15 kilometres (9 mi) due south of its municipal seat and largest township, on the northwestern corner of Guanajuato state, Mexico.
El Teúl is an important archaeological Mesoamerican site located on a hill with the same name in the municipality of Teúl in the south of the Mexican state of Zacatecas, near the border with the state of Jalisco.