this is basically the same info that can be found in one of the
articles found at the website:
http://www.houstonculture.org/mexico/states.html
Jalisco is "La Madre Patria" (the Mother
Country) for millions of Mexican Americans. Given this fact, it makes
sense that many sons and daughters of Jalisco are curious about the
cultural and linguistic roots of their indigenous ancestors. Jalisco
made up almost one-half of the Spanish colony of Nueva Galicia (New
Galicia) and was an important cultural and economic force in the
evolution of Mexico from a Spanish colony to a new nation. Even today,
some say Jalisco - whose capital city Guadalajara is the second largest
city in all of Mexico - is the heart and soul of Mexico.
The
Jalisco of pre-Hispanic times was the home to many indigenous peoples.
Domingo Lázaro de Arregui, in his "Descripción de la Nueva Galicia" -
published in 1621 - wrote that 72 languages were spoken in the Spanish
colonial province of Nueva Galicia. But, according to the author Eric
Van Young, "the extensive and deep-running mestizaje of the area has
meant that at any time much beyond the close of the colonial period the
history of the native peoples has been progressively interwoven with
(or submerged in) that of non-native groups."
The author José
Ramirez Flores, in his work, "Lenguas Indígenas de Jalisco," has gone
to great lengths in reconstructing the linguistic map of the Jalisco of
the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries. It must be remembered that,
although Jalisco first came under Spanish control in the 1520s, certain
sections of the state remained isolated and under Amerindian control
until late in the Sixteenth Century.
According to Señor Flores,
the languages of the Caxcanes Indians were widely spoken in the
northcentral portion of Jalisco along the "Three-Fingers Border Zone"
with Zacatecas. It is believed that the Caxcanes language was spoken at
Teocaltiche, Ameca, Huejúcar, and across the border in Nochistlán,
Zacatecas. A a cultural group, the Caxcanes ceased to exist during the
Nineteenth Century.
The Coras inhabited what is most of
present-day Nayarit as well as the northwestern fringes of Jalisco. The
word "mariachi" is believed to have originated in their language.
Today, the Coras, numbering up to 15,000 people, continue to survive,
primarily in Nayarit and Jalisco. The Cora Indians have been studied by
several historians and archaeologists. One of the most interesting
works about the Cora is Catherine Palmer Finerty's "In a Village Far
>From Home: My Life Among the Cora Indians of the Sierra Madre"
(Tucson:
University of Arizona Press, 2000).
The Coca Indians inhabited
portions of central Jalisco, in the vicinity of Guadalajara and Lake
Chapala. The Guachichile Indians - so well known for their fierce
resistance towards the Spaniards in the Chichimeca War (1550-1590) -
inhabited the areas near Lagos de Moreno, Arandas, Ayo el Chico, and
Tepatitlán in the Los Altosregion of northeastern Jalisco. The
Guachichiles, however, also occupied a large swatch of territory
through most of present-day eastern Zacatecas. The Guachichile Indians
received their name from the Náhuatl language. The name is derived from
the combination of quaítl (head) and chichiltic (red), thanks to their
custom of painting their bodies with red dye. After the end of the
Chichimeca War, the Guachichiles were very quickly assimilated and
Christianized and no longer exist as a distinguishable cultural entity.
The
Cuyutecos - speaking the Nahua language of the Aztecs - settled in
southwestern Jalisco, inhabiting Talpa, Mascota, Mixtlán, Atengo, and
Tecolotlán. The population of this area - largely depleted by the
epidemics of the Sixteenth Century - was partially repopulated by
Spaniards and Indian settlers from Guadalajara and other parts of
Mexico. Other Nahua languages were spoken in such southern Jalisco
towns as Tuxpan and Zapotlán.
Some historians believe that the
Huichol Indians are descended from the nomadic Guachichiles, having
moved westward and settled down to an agrarian lifestyle.inhabited a
small area in northwestern Jalisco, adjacent to the border with
Nayarit. The Huichol, seeking to avoid confrontation with the
Spaniards, became very isolated and thus we able to survive as a people
and a culture. Today, the Huichols number approximately 20,000 in both
northeastern Nayarit and northwestern Jalisco.
The survival of
the Huichol has intrigued historians and archaeologists alike. The art,
history, culture, language and religion of the Huichol have been the
subject of at least a dozen books. Carl Lumholtz, in "Symbolism of the
Huichol Indians: A Nation of Shamans" (Oakland, California: B.I.
Finson, 1988), made observations about the religion of the Huichol.
Stacy B. Schaefer and Peter T. Furst edited "People of the Peyote:
Huichol Indian History, Religion and Survival" (Albuquerque: University
of New Mexico Press, 1996), discussed the history, culture and language
of these fascinating people in great detail.
The Purépecha
Indians - also referred to as the Tarascans, Tarscos, and Porhé -
inhabited most of present-day Michoacán and boasted a powerful empire
that rivaled the Aztec Empire during the Fifteenth and early Sixteenth
Centuries. As recently as 1990, the Purápecha numbered 120,000
speakers. This language, classified as an isolated language, was spoken
along the southern fringes of southern Jalisco, adjacent to the border
with Colima.
The Tecuexes Indians occupied a considerable area
of Jalisco north of Guadalajara and western Los Altos, including
Mexticacan. The Tecuexes also occupied the central region near Tequila,
Amatltán, Cuquio, and Epatan. The Tzaulteca language was spoken in
several towns southwest of Lake Chapala, including Ataceo and Sayula.
The Tecuexes have been studied by Dr. Phil Weigand, who wrote articles
on them. They no longer exist as a cultural group.
In
pre-Hispanic times, the Tepehuán Indians inhabited a wide swath of
territory that stretch through sections of present-day Jalisco,
Nayarit, Durango and Chihuahua. However, their territory was gradually
encroached upon by the Spaniards and indigenous migrants from central
Mexico. After they were crushed in their rebellion of 1616-1619, the
Tepehuán moved to hiding places in the Sierra Madre to avoid Spanish
vengeance.
Today, the Tepehuán retain elements of their old
culture. At the time of the Spanish contact, the Tepehuanes language
was spoken in "Three Fingers Region" of northwestern Jalisco in such
towns as Tepec, Mezquitic and Colotlán. The Tepehuanes language and
culture are no longer found in Jalisco, but more than 25,000 Tepehuanes
still reside in southern Chihuahua and southeastern Durango. The revolt
of 1616 was described in great detail by Charlotte M. Gradie's "The
Tepehuán Revolt of 1616: Militarism, Evangelism and Colonialism in
Seventeenth Century Nueva Vizcaya (Salt Lake City: University of Utah
Press, 2000). The author Campbell W. Pennington also wrote about the
Tepehuán in "The Tepehuán of Chihuahua" (Salt Lake City: University of
Utah Press, 1969).
The history of Jalisco from the beginning of
the Spanish administration to the present has been a subject of many
studies over the decades. This emphasis on the more recent history has,
for the most part, ignored or bypassed the indigenous aspects of
Jalisco's colorful and fascinating history. Part of the reason for this
is that it is simply impossible to reconstruct the cultures and
histories of an area so devastated by epidemics and military upheaval.
Another
reason is that the history of Jalisco from the time of independence to
the present has been a dynamic force in the story of the nation of
Mexico. Nevertheless, the sources listed in the bibliography below may
be able to provide the reader with a new window to the indigenous
peoples of Jalisco.
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