Chichimeca: Difference between revisions
imported>HaeB Reverted 1 edit by CottonsPoint (talk): Please cite sources for added/changed information, explain the deletions, avoid redundacy (see e.g. "Etymology" section below - please read articles before expanding them) and note WP:CIVILITY |
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[[File:ChichimecNations.png|thumb|right|400px|Chichimeca peoples in Central Mexico at the start of the [[Chichimeca War]] {{circa|1550}}]] | [[File:ChichimecNations.png|thumb|right|400px|Chichimeca peoples in Central Mexico at the start of the [[Chichimeca War]] {{circa|1550}}]] | ||
[[File:Aridoamérica.jpg|thumb|Aridoamerica|300x300px]] | [[File:Aridoamérica.jpg|thumb|Aridoamerica|300x300px]] | ||
'''Chichimeca''' ({{IPA|es|tʃitʃiˈmeka|lang|ChichimecaPronunciation.ogg}}) is the name that the [[Nahua peoples]] of Mexico generically applied to [[nomadic]] and semi-[[nomad]]ic peoples who were established in present-day [[Bajío]] region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the same meaning as the Roman term "[[barbarian]]" that described [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]]. The name, with its pejorative sense, was adopted by the [[Spanish Empire]]. | '''Chichimeca''' ({{IPA|es|tʃitʃiˈmeka|lang|ChichimecaPronunciation.ogg}}) is the name that the [[Nahua peoples]] of Mexico generically applied to [[nomadic]] and semi-[[nomad]]ic peoples who were established in present-day [[Bajío]] region of Mexico. Chichimeca carried the same meaning as the Roman term "[[barbarian]]" that described [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]]. The name, with its pejorative sense, was adopted by the [[Spanish Empire]]. "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 clothing and fiercely resisted foreign intrusion into their territory, which happened to contain [[silver mine]]s the Spanish wished to exploit."<ref name=":0">Gradie, Charlotte M. "Discovering the Chichimecas" ''Academy of American Franciscan History'', Vol 51, No. 1 (July 1994), p. 68</ref> 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."<ref name=":0" /> They practiced animal sacrifice, and they were feared for their expertise and brutality in war.<ref>{{Citation |title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures |date=2001 |work=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195108156.001.0001/acref-9780195108156 |access-date=2025-01-22 |publisher=Oxford University Press |language=en-US |doi=10.1093/acref/9780195108156.001.0001/acref-9780195108156 |isbn=978-0-19-510815-6}}</ref> | ||
The [[Chichimeca War]] ( | The [[Chichimeca War]] (1550–1590) ended with the Spanish making favorable peace terms with the Chichimeca. Spanish/Chichimeca interaction resulted in a "drastic population decline in population of all the peoples known collectively as Chichimecas, and to their eventual disappearance as peoples of all save the [[Pame people|Pames]] of [[San Luis Potosí]] and the related [[Chichimeca Jonaz people|Chichimeca-Jonaz]] of the [[Sierra Gorda]] in eastern [[Guanajuato]]."<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas, Vol. 2: Mesoamerica, Part 2|publisher=Cambridge University Press|year=2000|isbn=9780521652049|pages=111–113}}</ref> In modern times, only one ethnic group is customarily referred to as Chichimecs, namely the Chichimeca Jonaz, a few thousand of whom live in the state of [[Guanajuato]]. | ||
== Etymology == | == Etymology == | ||
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==Ethnohistorical descriptions== | ==Ethnohistorical descriptions== | ||
In the late sixteenth century, Gonzalo de las Casas wrote about the Chichimec. He had received an ''[[encomienda]]'' near Durango and fought in the wars against the Chichimec peoples: the [[Pame people|Pame]], the [[Guachichil]], the [[Guamare]] and the [[Zacateco]], who lived in the area known at the time as "[[La Gran Chichimeca]]." Las Casas' account was called ''Report of the Chichimeca and the Justness of the War Against Them.'' He described the people, providing ethnographic information. He wrote that they only | In the late sixteenth century, Gonzalo de las Casas wrote about the Chichimec. He had received an ''[[encomienda]]'' near Durango and fought in the wars against the Chichimec peoples: the [[Pame people|Pame]], the [[Guachichil]], the [[Guamare]] and the [[Zacateco]], who lived in the area known at the time as "[[La Gran Chichimeca]]." Las Casas' account was called ''Report of the Chichimeca and the Justness of the War Against Them.'' He described the people, providing ethnographic information. He wrote that they covered only their genitalia with clothing; painted their bodies; and ate only game, roots and berries. He mentioned, in order to prove their supposed barbarity, that Chichimec women, having given birth, continued traveling on the same day without stopping to recover.<ref>As cited in Gradie (1994).</ref> | ||
In the late 16th century, according to the Spanish, the Chichimeca did not [[idol worship|worship idols]] as did many of the surrounding indigenous peoples.<ref>http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/Chichimecas.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> | In the late 16th century, according to the Spanish, the Chichimeca did not [[idol worship|worship idols]] as did many of the surrounding indigenous peoples.<ref>http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/Chichimecas.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> | ||
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{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
== | ==Further reading== | ||
* {{cite book |author=Andrews, J. Richard |year=2003 |title=Introduction to Classical Nahuatl |edition=Revised |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman}} | * {{cite book |author=Andrews, J. Richard |year=2003 |title=Introduction to Classical Nahuatl |edition=Revised |publisher=University of Oklahoma Press|location=Norman}} | ||
* De las Casas, Gonzalo (1571). [https://books.google.com.mx/books/about?id=EDYjEQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y The War of the Chichimecas]. | * De las Casas, Gonzalo (1571). [https://books.google.com.mx/books/about?id=EDYjEQAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y The War of the Chichimecas]. | ||
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* {{cite book |author=Lockhart, James |author-link=James Lockhart (historian)|year=2001 |title=Nahuatl as Written |publisher=Stanford University Press}} | * {{cite book |author=Lockhart, James |author-link=James Lockhart (historian)|year=2001 |title=Nahuatl as Written |publisher=Stanford University Press}} | ||
* {{cite book |author=Lumholtz, Carl |author-link=Carl Sofus Lumholtz |year=1987 |orig-year=1900 |title=Unknown Mexico, Explorations in the Sierra Madre and Other Regions, 1890-1898. 2 vols |edition=reprint |location=New York |publisher=Dover Publications}} | * {{cite book |author=Lumholtz, Carl |author-link=Carl Sofus Lumholtz |year=1987 |orig-year=1900 |title=Unknown Mexico, Explorations in the Sierra Madre and Other Regions, 1890-1898. 2 vols |edition=reprint |location=New York |publisher=Dover Publications}} | ||
* {{cite book |author=Powell, Philip Wayne |year=1969 |title=Soldiers, Indians, & Silver: The Northward Advance of New Spain, 1550-1600 | * {{cite book |author=Powell, Philip Wayne |year=1969 |title=Soldiers, Indians, & Silver: The Northward Advance of New Spain, 1550-1600 |publisher=University of California Press}} | ||
* {{cite web |author=Secretariá de Turismo del Estado de Zacatecas |year=2005 |title=Zonas Arqueológicas |url=http://www.zacatecas.gob.mx/ |language=es |access-date=2006-04-25 |archive-date=2005-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051207015632/http://www.turismozacatecas.gob.mx/ |url-status=dead }} | * {{cite web |author=Secretariá de Turismo del Estado de Zacatecas |year=2005 |title=Zonas Arqueológicas |url=http://www.zacatecas.gob.mx/ |language=es |access-date=2006-04-25 |archive-date=2005-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051207015632/http://www.turismozacatecas.gob.mx/ |url-status=dead }} | ||
* {{cite journal |author=Smith, Michael E. |author-link=Michael E. Smith (archaeologist) |year=1984 |title=The Aztlan Migrations of Nahuatl Chronicles: Myth or History? |url=http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/1-CompleteSet/MES-84-Aztlan.pdf |format=[[PDF]] online facsimile |journal=[[Ethnohistory (journal)|Ethnohistory]] |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=153–186 |location=Columbus, OH |publisher=[[American Society for Ethnohistory]]|issn=0014-1801 |oclc=145142543 |doi=10.2307/482619 |jstor=482619}} | * {{cite journal |author=Smith, Michael E. |author-link=Michael E. Smith (archaeologist) |year=1984 |title=The Aztlan Migrations of Nahuatl Chronicles: Myth or History? |url=http://www.public.asu.edu/~mesmith9/1-CompleteSet/MES-84-Aztlan.pdf |format=[[PDF]] online facsimile |journal=[[Ethnohistory (journal)|Ethnohistory]] |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=153–186 |location=Columbus, OH |publisher=[[American Society for Ethnohistory]]|issn=0014-1801 |oclc=145142543 |doi=10.2307/482619 |jstor=482619}} | ||
Latest revision as of 16:43, 18 October 2025
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Chichimeca (Script error: No such module "IPA".) 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. "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 clothing and fiercely resisted foreign intrusion into their territory, which happened to contain silver mines the Spanish wished to exploit."[1] 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."[1] They practiced animal sacrifice, and they were feared for their expertise and brutality in war.[2]
The Chichimeca War (1550–1590) ended with the Spanish making favorable peace terms with the Chichimeca. Spanish/Chichimeca interaction resulted in a "drastic population decline in population of all the peoples known collectively as Chichimecas, and to their eventual disappearance as peoples of all save the Pames of San Luis Potosí and the related Chichimeca-Jonaz of the Sierra Gorda in eastern Guanajuato."[3] In modern times, only one ethnic group is customarily referred to as Chichimecs, namely the Chichimeca Jonaz, a few thousand of whom live in the state of Guanajuato.
Etymology
The Nahuatl name Chīchīmēcah (plural, pronounced Script error: No such module "IPA".; singular Chīchīmēcatl) means "inhabitants of Chichiman," Chichiman meaning "area of milk." It is sometimes said to be related to chichi "dog", but both i's in chichi are short, and both in Chīchīmēcah are long. That changes the meaning, as vowel length is phonemic in Nahuatl.[4]
Ethnohistorical descriptions
In the late sixteenth century, Gonzalo de las Casas wrote about the Chichimec. He had received an encomienda near Durango and fought in the wars against the Chichimec peoples: the Pame, the Guachichil, the Guamare and the Zacateco, who lived in the area known at the time as "La Gran Chichimeca." Las Casas' account was called Report of the Chichimeca and the Justness of the War Against Them. He described the people, providing ethnographic information. He wrote that they covered only their genitalia with clothing; painted their bodies; and ate only game, roots and berries. He mentioned, in order to prove their supposed barbarity, that Chichimec women, having given birth, continued traveling on the same day without stopping to recover.[5]
In the late 16th century, according to the Spanish, the Chichimeca did not worship idols as did many of the surrounding indigenous peoples.[6]
Wars with the Spanish
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Chichimeca military strikes against the Spanish included raidings, ambushing critical economic routes, and pillaging. In the long-running Chichimeca War (1550–1590), the Spanish initially attempted to defeat the combined Chichimeca peoples in a war of "fire and blood", but eventually sought peace as they were unable to defeat them. The Chichimeca's small-scale raids proved effective. To end the war, the Spanish adopted a "Purchase for Peace" program by providing foods, tools, livestock, and land to the Chichimecas, sending Spanish to teach them agriculture as a livelihood, and by converting them to Catholicism. Within a century, the Spanish and Chichimeca assimilated.[7]
References
De las Casas, Gonzalo. (1571). The War of the Chichimecas
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- ↑ a b Gradie, Charlotte M. "Discovering the Chichimecas" Academy of American Franciscan History, Vol 51, No. 1 (July 1994), p. 68
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- ↑ See Andrews 2003 (pp.496 and 507), Karttunen 1983 (p.48), and Lockhart 2001 (p.214)
- ↑ As cited in Gradie (1994).
- ↑ http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/Chichimecas.pdf Template:Bare URL PDF
- ↑ Powell, Phillip Wayne (1952), Soldiers, Indians & Silver, Berkeley: U of California Press, pp. 182-199; LatinoLA | Comunidad :: Indigenous Origins Template:Webarchive
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Further reading
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- De las Casas, Gonzalo (1571). The War of the Chichimecas.
- Gradie, Charlotte M. "Chichimec." In Davíd Carrasco (ed).The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures. : Oxford University Press, 2001. Template:ISBN
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