By John P. Schmal

The State of Michoacán de Ocampo, located in the west central part of the Mexican Republic, occupies 59,864 square kilometers (23,113 square miles) and is the sixteenth largest state in Mexico, taking up 3% of the national territory. With a population that was tallied at 3,985,667 in the 2000 census, Michoacán is divided into 113 municipios and has a common border with Jalisco and Guanajuato (to the north), Querétaro (on the northeast), the state of Mexico (on the east), Guerrero (to the southeast), and Colima (to the west). In addition, Michoacán's southeast border includes a 213-kilometer (132-mile) shoreline along the Pacific Ocean.

Dominated by the mountains of the Sierra Madre Occidental, Michoacán extends from the Pacific Ocean northeastward into the central plateau. The climate and soil variations caused by this topography make Michoacán a diverse agricultural state that produces both temperate and tropical cereals, fruits, and vegetables. Mining is a leading industry in the state, with significant production of gold, silver, zinc, and iron.

The Purhépecha

For more than a thousand years, Michoacán has been the home of the Purhépecha Indians (more popularly known as the Tarascans). The modern state of Michoacán preserves, to some extent, the territorial integrity of the pre-Columbian Kingdom of the Purhépecha. This kingdom was one of the most prosperous and extensive empires in the pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican world. The name Michoacán derives from the Náhuatl terms, michin (fish) and hua (those who have) and can (place) which roughly translates into "place of the fisherman."

Because the Purhépecha culture lacks a written language, its origin and early history are shrouded in mystery. Its stories, legends and customs pass from one generation to the next through oral traditions. A Tarascan origin myth relates the story of how Curicaueri, the fire god, and his brother gods founded the settlements along Lake Pátzcuaro. The primary source of information about the cultural and social history of the Purhépecha Indians is Relación de Michoacán (published in English as The Chronicles of Michoacán), which was dedicated as a gift to Don Antonio de Mendoza, the first Viceroy of Nueva España (1535-1550). Professor Bernardino Verástique's Michoacán and Eden: Vasco de Quiroga and the Evangeliztion of Western Mexico, frequently cites "The Chronicles" in his publication and is an excellent source of information about the history of Michoacán in general.

The Tarascans of Michoacán have always called themselves Purhépecha. However, early in the Sixteenth Century, the Spaniards gave the Purhépecha a name from their own language. The name of these Indians, Tarascos, was derived from the native word tarascué, meaning relatives or brother-in-law. According to Fray (Friar) Martín Coruña, it was a term the natives used mockingly for the Spaniards, who regularly violated their women. But the Spaniards mistakenly took it up, and the Spanish word Tarasco (and its English equivalent, Tarascan), is commonly used today to describe the Indians who call themselves Purhépecha. Today both the people and their language are known as Tarasca. But Professor Verástique comments that the word Tarasco "carries pejorative connotations of loathsomeness and disgust."

"The Purhépecha language," writes Professor Verástique, "is a hybrid Mesoamerican language, the product of a wide-ranging process of linguistic borrowing and fusion." Some prestigious researchers have suggested that it is distantly related to Quecha, one of the man languages in the Andean zone of South America. For this reason, it has been suggested that the Purhépecha may have arrived in Mexico from Peru and may be distantly related to the Incas. The Tarascan language also has some similarities to that spoken by the Zuni Indians of New Mexico.

Early Purhépecha History

The ancient Tarascan inhabitants were farmers and fishermen who established themselves in present-day Michoacán by the Eleventh Century A.D. But, in the late Twelfth Century, Chichimec tribes from the north crossed the Lerma River into Michoacán and settled in the fertile valley near the present-day town of Zacapu. "The entry of these nomadic hunters, writes Professor Verástique, "was facilitated by the fall of the Toltec garrisons at Tula and the political vacuum created in the region by the city's fall." Once in Michoacán, the nomadic Chichimecs began to intermingle with the Purhépecha, to create what Verástique calls "the Purhépecha-Chichimec Synthesis."

By 1324 A.D., they had become the dominant force in western Mexico, with the founding of their first capital city Pátzcuaro, located 7,200 feet (2,200 meters) above sea level along the shore of Lake Pátzcuaro (Mexico's highest lake). The name, Pátzcuaro, meaning "Place of Stones," was named for the foundations called "Petatzecua" by Indians who found them at the sites of ruined temples of an earlier civilization. Eventually, however, the Purhépecha transferred their capital to Tzintzuntzan ("Place of the Hummingbirds"), which is about 15 kilometers north of Pátzcuaro, on the northeastern shore of the lake. Tzintzuntzan would remain the Purhépecha capital until the Spaniards arrived in 1522.

Tzintzuntzan, the home of about 25,000 to 30,000 Purhépecha, was the site of the Tarascans' peculiar T-shaped pyramids that rose in terraces. The Tarascans became skilled weavers and became known for their feathered mosaics made from hummingbird plumage. With time, these gifted people also became skilled craftsmen in metalworking, pottery, and lapidary work. In the Michoacán of this pre-Hispanic period, gold, copper, salt, obsidian, cotton, cinnabar, seashells, fine feathers, cacao, wax and honey became highly prized products to the Tarascans. Neighboring regions that possessed these commodities quickly became primary targets of Tarascan military expansion. When a tribe was conquered by the Tarascans, the subjects were expected to pay tributes of material goods to the Tarascan authorities.

The Purhépecha Empire

During the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries, the Purhépechas grew militarily strong and economically prosperous. An early Tarascan king named Tariácuri initiated numerous wars of expansion. In addition to occupying and establishing garrisons in the western frontier (now Jalisco), he cut a wedge through the Sierra Madre into the tierra caliente (hot country) of the present-day state of Guerrero. With this acquisition, he incorporated Náhuatl people into his empire. However, the region was also a primary source of certain precious objects that were used in the religious cults of the time: copper, gold, silver, cotton, copal incense, cacao, beeswax, and vegetable fats.

Confrontations with the Aztecs

Eventually, the Purépecha Kingdom would control an area of at least 45,000 square miles (72,500 square kilometers), including parts of the present-day states of Guanajuato, Guerrero, Querétaro, Colima, and Jalisco. However, 240 miles to east, the Aztec Empire, centered in Tenochtitlán, had begun its ascendancy in the Valley of Mexico. As the Aztecs expanded their empire beyond the Valley, they came into conflict with the Tarascans. More than once, the Aztecs tried to conquer the Tarascan lands. But, in all of their major confrontations, the Tarascans were always victorious over the Aztecs. The Aztecs called the Tarascans Cuaochpanme, which means "the ones with a narrow strip on the head" (the shaven heads), and also Michhuaque, meaning "the lords of the fishes".

During the reign of the Tarascan king Tzitzic Pandacuare, the Aztecs launched a very determined offensive against their powerful neighbors in the west. This offensive turned into a bloody and protracted conflict lasting from 1469 to 1478. Finally, in 1478, the ruling Aztec lord, Tlatoani Axayácatl, led a force of 32,000 Aztec warriors against an army of almost 50,000 Tarascans in the Battle of Taximaroa (today the city of Hidalgo). After a daylong battle, Axayácatl decided to withdraw his surviving warriors. It is believed that the Tarascans annihilated at least 20,000 warriors. In the art of war, the Purhépecha had one major advantage over the Aztecs, in their use of copper for spear tips and shields.

In April 1519, a Spanish army, under the command of Hernán Cortés, arrived on the east coast of Mexico near the present-day site of Veracruz. As his small force made its way westward from the Gulf coast, Cortés started meeting with the leaders of the various Indian tribes they found along the way. Soon he would begin to understand the complex relationship between the Aztec masters and their subject tribes. Human sacrifice played an integral role in the culture of the Aztecs. However, the Aztecs rarely sacrificed their own. In their search for sacrificial victims to pacify their gods, the Aztecs extracted men and women from their subject tribes as tribute. Cortés, understanding the fear and hatred that many of the Indian tribes held for their Aztec rulers, started to build alliances with some of the tribes. Eventually, he would align himself with the Totonacs, the Tlaxcalans, the Otomí, and Cholulans. Finally, on November 8, 1519, when Cortés arrived in Tenochtitlán (the Aztec capital), he was accompanied by an army of at least 6,000.

Aware that a dangerous coalition was in the making, the Aztec Emperor Moctezuma II quickly dispatched ten emissaries to Tzintzuntzan to meet with the Tarascan King, Zuangua. The Aztec messengers arrived in October 1519 and relayed their monarch's plea for assistance. But Zuangua, after consulting with his sages and gods, came to believe that the "new men from the east" would triumph over the Aztecs. Unfortunately, the Aztec emissaries brought more than a cry for help. Apparently, one of them carried the disease smallpox into the capital city and into the presence of the King.

With this initial exposure to the dreaded disease, King Zuangua became ill and died. In a matter of days, a deadly plague of smallpox ravaged through the whole kingdom. Horrified by this bad omen, the Tarascans threw the Aztec representatives in prison and sacrificed them to their gods. Shortly thereafter, as Tenochtitlán was locked in a life-and-death struggle for survival against a massive attacking force, the Purhépechas in Tzintzuntzan choose as their new monarch, the oldest son of Zuangua, Tangoxoán II.

The Conquest

On August 13, 1521, after a bloody 75-day siege, Tenochtitlán finally fell to a force of 900 Spaniards and a hundred thousand Indian warriors. Almost immediately, Hernán Cortés started to take an interest in the surrounding Indian nations. Once in control of Tenochtitlán, Cortés sent messengers off to Tzintzuntzan. These messengers returned with Tangoxoán's emissaries, who were greeted by Cortés and taken on a canoe tour of the battle-torn city. The famous conquistador made a point of demonstrating his cavalry in action. In concluding his guided tour, Cortés assured Tangoxoán's representatives that, if they subjected themselves to the King of Spain, they would be well treated. They soon returned to Tzintzuntzan to report to their king.

Convinced that the Spaniards would allow him to continue ruling and fearing a terrible fate if he challenged them, Tangaxoan allowed the Spanish soldiers to enter Tzintzuntzan unopposed. The only precaution the Purhépechas took was to sacrifice eight hundred slaves who they feared would join the Spanish if a fight did occur. In July 1522, when the conquistador Cristobal de Olíd, with a force of 300 Spaniards and 5,000 Amerindian allies (mainly Tlaxcalans) arrived in the capital city of Tzintzuntzan, they found a city of 40,000 inhabitants.

Horrified by the sight of the temples and pyramids awash with the blood of recent human sacrifices, The Spanish and Tlaxcalan soldiers looted and destroyed the temples of the Purhépecha high priests. The occupying army, writes Professor Verástique, "required an enormous exertion of human labor and the preparation of vast quantities of food." During the four months that the occupying army stayed in Michoacán, it soon became apparent that the Spaniards were interested in finding gold and silver in Tangoxoán's mountainous kingdom. The discovery of gold in western Michoacán near Motín in 1527 brought more of the invaders. However, several of the Náhuatl tribes in the region resisted the intrusion vigorously. With the influx of adventurers and treasure seekers, more of the Tarascans were expected to help labor in the mines or help feed the mineworkers and livestock.

On a visit to Mexico City, in 1524, King Tangoxoán II was baptized with the Christian name of Francisco. It was Tangoxoán II himself, on another visit to Mexico City, who asked the bishop to send Catholic priests to Michoacán. In 1525, six Franciscan missionaries, led by Fray Martín de Jesus de la Coruña, arrived in Tzintzuntzan in 1525. The next year, they built a large Franciscan monastery and a convent. They saved a great deal of labor by tearing down much of the Purhépecha temples and platforms, using the quarried stones for their own buildings. Augustinian missionaries would arrive in Michoacán during 1533.

In the meantime, however, Cortés, seeking to reward his officers for their services, awarded many encomienda grants in Michoacán to the inner core of his army. The tribute-receiving soldier, known as an encomendero received a grant in the form of land, municipios or Indian labor. He was also obliged to provide military protection and a Christian education for the Indians under his command. However, "the encomienda grant," comments Professor Verástique, "was also fertile ground for bribery and corruption." Continuing with this line of thought, the Professor writes that "forced labor, especially in the silver mines, and the severe tribute system of the conquistadors" soon inflicted "extreme pressures on Purhépecha society."

Nuño de Guzmán

Concerns for the impending devastation of the indigenous people of Mexico soon reached the Spanish government. The Crown decided to set up the First Audiencia (Governing Committee) in Mexico in order to replace Cortés' rule in Mexico City and reestablish their own authority. On November 13, 1528, the Spanish lawyer, Nuño Guzmán de Beltran, was named by the Spanish King Carlos V to head this new government and end the anarchy that was growing in Nueva España.

Unfortunately, writes Professor Verástique, "the government of Spain had no idea of the character of the man whom they had appointed as president of the Audiencia." Eventually it became apparent that the "law and order personality" of Guzmán would be replaced with "ruthlessness and obstinancy." As soon as Guzmán took over, "he sold Amerindians into slavery, ransacked their temples searching for treasure, exacted heavy tribute payments from the caciques, and kidnapped women." Guzmán was "equally spiteful with his own countrymen," confiscating the encomiendas that Cortés had awarded his cronies.

Almost immediately, the Bishop-elect of Mexico City, the Franciscan Juan de Zumárraga came into conflict with Guzmán. Appointed as the "Protector of the Indians" and inquisitor of Nueva España, Zumárraga initiated court proceedings to hear Amerindian complaints about Spanish injustice and atrocities. By 1529, Guzmán was excommunicated from the church for his defiance of the church and his abuse of the Indian population. Anticipating loss of his position as well, Guzmán set off for Michoacán at the end of 1529.

Accompanied by 350 Spanish cavalrymen and foot soldiers, and some 10,000 Indian warriors, Guzmán arrived in Michoacán and demanded King Tangoxoán to turn over all his gold. However, unable to deliver the precious metal, on February 14, 1530, the King was tortured, dragged behind a horse and finally burned at the stake. Guzmán's cruelty stunned and horrified the Tarascan people who had made their best efforts to accommodate the Spaniards and Tlaxcalans. Fearing for their lives, many of Purhépecha population either died or fled far into the mountains to hide. Guzmán's forces plundered the once-grand and powerful Purhépecha nation. Temples, houses, and fields were devastated while the demoralized people fled to the mountains of Michoacán.

Guzmán now declared himself "King of the Tarascan Empire" and prepared to leave Michoacán. However, before moving on to plunder Jalisco, Guzmán drafted 8,000 Purhépecha men to serve as soldiers in his army. News of Guzmán's blatant atrocities rippled through the countryside and reached the ears of church authorities. While Guzmán moved on in an attempt to elude the authorities in Mexico City, Bishops Bartolomé de Las Casas and Zumárraga prepared a case against Guzmán. Eventually he would return to the capital, where he was arrested and shipped to Spain for trial.

A New Beginning: Vasco de Quiroga

Guzmán's cruelty had destroyed the relationship between the Spanish and the Tarascans. In a short time, the grand and powerful Purhépecha nation had been completely devastated. Had it not been for the effort of one man whose ideals, good judgment and ability to put into practice the morals that he preached, it is possible that the Purhépechas would not have survived this catastrophe. This man was Don Vasco de Quiroga, who at the age of 60, arrived in Mexico in January 1531, with a mandate to repair both the moral and material damage that had been inflicted upon Michoacán by Guzmán. A Spanish aristocrat born in Galicia, Don Vasco de Quiróga was trained in the law but would play an important role in the evangelization of the Purhépecha people.

According to Bernardino Verástique, the primary task assigned to Quiroga was to assume "the pastoral role of protector, spiritual father, judge and confessional physician" to the Purhépecha. On December 5, 1535, Vasco Quiroga was endorsed by Zumárraga as Bishop-elect of Michoacán. The nomination was approved on December 9, 1536, and in 1538, he was formally ordained by Bishop Zumárraga in Mexico City. Quiroga, upon arriving in Michoacán, very quickly came to the conclusion that Christianizing the Purhépecha depended upon preserving their language and understanding their worldview. Over time, Quiroga would embrace the Tarascan people and succeed in implanting himself in the minds and hearts of the natives as "Tata", or "Daddy" Vasco, the benefactor and protector of the Indians.

To attract the Indians to come down from their mountain hideouts and hear the Word of God, Don Vasco staged performances of a dance called "Los Toritos", a dance that is still performed today in the streets of local villages during certain festivities. All the dancers wear colorful costumes and masks, one of which is a great bull's head. The bull prances to the music of guitars and trumpets as the others try to capture him with capes and ropes.

Little by little, small groups of natives came down from the hills to investigate this strange phenomenon and Don Vasco befriended them with gifts. He treated the Indians with "enlightened compassion" and soon many families came down from the hills to settle near the monastery, as much for protection as to embrace the new faith. Don Vasco stood at odds with the cruel treatment the Spanish soldiers meted out to the Indians, and with his influence and personal power, he was able to put an end to the crippling tribute system the Spaniards had inherited from the Purhépecha kings.

Recovery and Rejuvenation

Don Vasco ensured that the old boundaries of the Purhépecha Kingdom would be maintained. He began construction of the Cathedral of Santa Ana in 1540. He also established the Colegio de San Nicolas Obispo. As a Judge (oidor) and Bishop, Quiroga was driven by a profound respect for Spanish jurisprudence and his desire to convert the Purhépecha to a purified form of Christianity free of the corruption of European Catholicism. He strove to establish "New World Edens" in Michoacán by congregating the Purhépecha into repúblicas de indios, or congregaciones (congregations) modeled after Thomas More's Utopia. Guided spiritually by the friars, the natives of these communities became self-governing. Under this system, Augustinian and Franciscan friars could more easily instruct the natives in the fundamental beliefs of Christianity as well as the values of Spanish culture.

Quiroga's efforts to raise the standard of living for the Tarascans gradually took hold. Labor in the communal fields or on the cattle ranches was performed on a rotating basis to permit the people to become self-supporting and to allow them free time for instruction, both spiritual and practical, and to work in specialized industries. Gathering the dispirited Purhépechas into new villages made possible the development of a particular industrial skill for each community. Soon one town became adept at making saddles, another produced painted woodenware, and another baskets, etc. In time, the villages developed commerce between one another, thus gaining economic strength. Don Vasco de Quiroga finally died on March 20, 1565 in Pátzcuaro.

On February 28, 1534, King Carlos issued a royal edict, awarding Tzintzuntzan the title of City of Michoacán, and in 1536 it became the seat of a newly created Bishopric. However, Tzintzuntzan lost its importance when the Spaniards changed their administrative center to Pátzcuaro in 1540. Then, in 1541 the Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza issued an order to raise a city called Valladolid, 185 miles northwest of Mexico City. This town - originally known as Guayangareo by the indigenous people - was elevated to the status of a city in 1545, with the approval of the King of Spain. Almost three centuries later, in 1828, Valladolid, the birthplace of Jose Maria Morelos was renamed Morelia in honor of the revolutionary patriot who served in the War of Independence. Although Tzintzuntzan remained the headquarters of the Franciscans, it soon dwindled in size and significance as the royal title of City of Michoacán passed to Pátzcuaro.

The Colonial Period

During the colonial years, thanks to Quiroga's efforts, Michoacán flourished and came to occupy an important position in regard to its artistic, economic and social development. The prosperity that flourished in Michoacán has been explored in a number of specialized works. Professor Verástique has suggested that "Vasco de Quiroga's ideals of humanitarianism and Christian charity had a critical influence on the conversion process."

Unfortunately, the repercussions of Guzmán's cruelty also had long-range effects on Michoacán's population. Professor Verástique writes that "three factors contributed to the loss of life in Michoacán: warfare, ecological collapse, and the loss of life resulting from forced labor in the encomienda system." Between 1520 and 1565, the population of Michoacán had declined by about thirty percent, with a loss of some 600,000 people. For the rest of the colonial period - the better part of three centuries - Michoacán would retain its predominantly agrarian economy.

Michoacán in The Twentieth Century

Michoacán - known as the Intendancy of Valladolid during the Spanish period - saw a significant increase in its population from the 1790 census (322,951) to the 1895 census (896,495). The 1900 census tallied 935,808 individuals, of whom only 17,381 admitted to speaking indigenous languages. It is likely, however, that during the long reign of Porfirio Díaz, many indigenous-speaking individuals were afraid to admit their Indian identity to census-takers.

In the Mexican Revolution of 1910-1920, one in eight Mexican citizens lost their lives. The armies and battlegrounds of this civil war shifted from one part of Mexico to another during this decade. Michoacán was not the site of major active revolutionary participation, but Jennie Purnell, the author of Popular Movements and State Formation in Revolutionary Mexico: The Agraristas and Cristeros of Michoacán, writes that Michoacán endured "attacks by rebel bands, wide-spread banditry, prolonged drought, and devastating epidemics." As a result, the population of Michoacán in 1910 (991,880) dropped to 939,849 in the 1921 census.

The 1921 Mexican Census

The 1921 census was unique among Mexican tallies because it asked people questions about their racial identity. Out of a total population of 939,849 people in Michoacán, 196,726 persons claimed to be of "indígena pura" (pure indigenous) descent, representing 20.9% of the total population. The vast majority of Michoacán residents - 663,391 in all - identified themselves as "indígena mezclada con blanca" (indigenous mixed with white, or mestizo), representing 70.6% of the total state population. Only 64,886 individuals referred to themselves as "blanca" (white).

The 2000 Mexican Census

According to the 2000 census, the population of persons five years and more who spoke indigenous languages in the state of Michoacán totaled 121,849 individuals. The most common indigenous languages in Michoacán are: Purépecha (109,361), Náhuatl (4,706), Mazahua (4,338), Otomí (732), Mixteco (720), and Zapoteco (365).

In all, 121,409 persons who spoke Purépecha were tallied in Mexico's 2000 census, with the vast majority of them living in Michoacán. It is noteworthy that the vast majority of these Purépecha-speaking persons - 103,161, or 85% - also spoke the Spanish language, indicating a significant level of assimilation. In recent decades, the people of Michoacán have developed a new appreciation of their Purépecha roots and culture. Today, the people of Michoacán can look back with pride on several hundred years of evolution: from an indigenous kingdom to a Spanish colony to a free and sovereign state of the Republic of Mexico.

In the 2010 census, Michoacán was ranked 13^th among the Mexican states with 3.5% of its population speaking indigenous languages (136,608 individuals in all). The single largest group among the indigenous speakers were the Purhépecha who represented 83.1% of total indigenous-speaking language. Náhuatl was the second most common language spoken in the state.

The 2010 census also included a question that asked people if they considered themselves indigenous, whether or not an indigenous language was spoken. The results of this question indicated that 15.7 million Mexicans 3 years of age and older identified themselves as "indigenous:" 14.9% of the total Mexican population. This time Michoacán ranked 14^th, with 14.6% of its population 3 years of age and older being considered indigenous.

In 2010, a total of 124,494 Mexicans identified themselves as speakers of the Purépecha language. Purépecha was the 15^th most commonly spoken language in Mexico, and more than 94% of those persons lived within the borders of Michoacán. However, the rate of monolingualism in the Purépecha speakers declined from 12.9% in 2000 to 7.8% in 2010.

The future of Mexico’s indigenous languages is not certain, but there does appear to be some effort to carry on some of the nation’s ancient languages. The movement of indigenous peoples from their places of origin to other parts of Mexico will play some role in the continued decline of some languages. On the other hand, the sense of pride and cultural identity among some indigenous groups will ensure the survival of many of the languages well into the future.

Copyright © 2012, by John P. Schmal. All Rights Reserved.

Sources

Access Mexico Connect. "The Tarasco Culture and Empire." Mexico Connect, 1996-2003. Online: http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/history/tarasco.html. April 20, 2003.

Eugene R. Craine and Reginald C. Reindorp, The Chronicles of Michoacán. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1970.

Departamento de la Estadística Nación, Annuario de 1930. Tacubaya, Distrito Federal, 1932.

Instituto Lingüístico de Verano, A.C., Familia Tarasca : Tarascan Family. 2001. http://www.sil.org/americas/mexico/tarasca/familia-tarasca.htm. August 14, 2001.

Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI). Tabulados Básicos. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. XII Censo General de Población y Vivienda, 2000 y 2010.

Jennie Purnell, Popular Movements and State Formation in Revolutionary Mexico: The Agraristas and Cristeros of Michoacán. Durham: Duke University Press, 1999.

Bernardino Verástique, Michoacán and Eden: Vasco de Quiroga and the Evangelization of Western Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2000.

J. Benedict Warren, The Conquest of Michoacán: The Spanish Domination of the Tarascan Kingdom in Western Mexico, 1521-1530. Norman, Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press, 1985.

For the better part of a hundred years, thousands of people have emigrated from the central Mexican state of Guanajuato to the United States. A hundred years ago, fifty years ago - and today - Guanajuatenses have represented a significant portion of all Mexican immigrants to Los Estados Unidos. It can thus be stated that millions of Americans look to the state of Guanajuato as their "madre patria" and that we all know people whose roots are nested in this beautiful state. As a matter of fact, a paternal great-grandmother of my nieces and nephews came from Valle de Santiago in the state of Guanajuato.

But what do most Guanajuato-Americanos know of their ancestral homeland? The Free and Sovereign State of Guanajuato is a landlocked state in the center of the Mexican Republic. It shares borders with San Luis Potosí and Zacatecas on the north, with Querétaro on the east, the state of México on the southeast, Jalisco on the west, and Michoacán on the south.

Guanajuato is a relatively small state - twenty-second in terms of size among the Republic's thirty-one states - with a surface area of 30,768 square kilometers of territory, giving it 1.6% of the national territory. Politically, it is divided into 46 municipios. The capital of Guanajuato is the city of Guanajuato, founded in the middle of the Sixteenth Century after Spanish entrepreneurs found rich veins of silver in the mountains surrounding the city.

But there was a large group of people who inhabited Guanajuato long before Spanish businessmen arrived with their Náhuatl-speaking allies from the south of Mexico. When the strangers first entered this land, they made no effort to distinguish between the various cultures living in Guanajuato. Instead, they applied the term Chichimeca to these aboriginal peoples. Utilizing the Náhuatl terms for dog (chichi) and rope (mecatl), the Aztec Indians had regarded their northern neighbors - the Chichimecas - as being "of dog lineage." (The implication of the term rope was a reference to "following the dog," hence a descendant of the dog).

But the Chichimecas were also given other labels, such as "perros altaneros" (arrogant dogs), or "chupadores de sangre" (blood-suckers). The late great Dr. Philip Wayne Powell - whose "Soldiers, Indians, and Silver: North America's First Frontier War" is the definitive source of information relating to the Chichimeca Indians - referred to Chichimeca as "an all-inclusive epithet" that had "a spiteful connotation."

But it is important to mention that the word Chichimeca was just an umbrella term that the Spaniards used to describe most of the indigenous groups scattered through large parts of Guanajuato, Jalisco, Zacatecas, San Luis Potosí, Aguascalientes, and Durango. The Chichimeca peoples were actually composed of several distinct cultural and linguistic groups inhabiting this area.

Because these indigenous groups are, in fact, the ancestors of the present-day Guanajuatenses and their Mexican-American cousins, it is worth exploring them as the individual cultures they once were. The group that occupied the western end of present-day Guanajuato was known as the Guachichiles.

The Guachichiles, of all the Chichimeca Indians, occupied the most extensive territory stretching north to Saltillo in Coahuila and to the northern corners of Michoacán in the south. Considered both warlike and brave, the Guachichiles roamed through a large section of the Zacatecas, as well as portions of San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato and northeastern Jalisco. Some bands of Guachichile Indians reached as far south as the present-day boundary of Guanajuato and Michoacán.

The name "Guachichile" that the Mexicans gave to these Indians meant "heads painted of red," a reference to the red dye that they used to pain their bodies, faces and hair. According to John R. Swanton, the author of "The Indian Tribes of North America," (Bureau of American Ethnology Bulletin 145-1953) classified the Guachichile tribes as part of the Uto-Aztecan linguistic family. This would make them linguistic cousins to the Aztecs.

The Guamares - another Chichimeca group - inhabited a large section of Guanajuato. They were centered in the Guanajuato Sierras, but had some bands that ranged as far east as the state of Querétaro. The author Seventeenth-Century author Gonzalo de las Casas called the Guamares "the bravest, most warlike, treacherous and destructive of all the Chichimecas, and the most astute (dispuesta)."

One of the few scholars to study the lifestyle of the Guachichiles, Guamares, and other Chichimecas in detail was the archaeologist, Dr. Paul Kirchhoff. His work, "The Hunting-Gathering People of North Mexico," is one of the few reference works available that describes the social and political organization of both the Guamares and Guachichile (See "Sources" below for the citation).

The semi nomadic Pames constituted a very divergent branch of the extensive Oto-Manguean linguistic family. They were located mainly in the north central and eastern Guanajuato, southeastern San Luis Potosí, and also in adjacent areas of Tamaulipas and Querétaro. To this day, the Pames refer to themselves as "Xi'úi," which means indigenous. This term is used to refer to any person not of mestizo descent. They use the word "Pame" to refer to themselves only when they are speaking Spanish. But in their religion, this word has a contemptuous meaning and they try to avoid using it.

From 1550 to 1590, the Guachichiles, Guamares and Pames waged a fierce guerilla war against the Spaniards and Christian Indians. The Spaniards and their allies had entered Guanajuato and Zacatecas to exploit their rich mineral resources. But to the Chichimeca groups, this land was home, so they regarded these intrusions as a disruption of their sovereign rights. Dr. Powell's work (mentioned above) discusses this war in great detail. And the people of Guanajuato can be proud of the fact that their ancestors had to be bribed into making peace.

Unable to defeat the Chichimecas militarily in many parts of the war zone, the Spaniards offered goods and opportunities as an incentive for the Guachichiles and Guamares to make peace. Many of the Chichimecas had been nomadic (or semi-nomadic) and had not possessed most of the luxury items that the Spaniards had (i.e., warm clothes, agricultural tools and supplies, horses, and beef). Those who made peace were given agricultural implements and permitted to settle down to a peaceful agricultural existence. In many cases, Christian Indians from the south were settled among them to help them adapt to their new existence.

The Otomíes were another Chichimeca tribe, occupying the greater part of Querétaro and smaller parts of Guanajuato, the northwestern portion of Hidalgo and parts of the state of México. The Otomíes are one of the largest and oldest indigenous groups in Mexico, and include many different groups, including the Mazahua, Matlatzinca, Ocuiltec, the Pame and the Chichimec Jonaz.

Many of the Otomíes aligned themselves with the Spaniards during the Chichimeca War. As a result, wrote Dr. Powell, Otomí settlers were "issued a grant of privileges" and were "supplied with tools for breaking land." For their allegiance, they were exempted from tribute and given a certain amount of autonomy in their towns. The Otomí are described in great detail by the U.C. Davis graduate student, Kerin Gould, in her work, "The Otomí: Complex History, Adaptable Culture, Common Heritage" at the following website:

http://home.earthlink.net/~kering/history.html

In pre-Hispanic times, the Purépecha Indians - also referred to as the Tarascan Indians - occupied most of the state of Michoacán, but they also occupied some of the lower valleys of both Guanajuato and Jalisco. Celaya, Acámbaro, and Yurirapúndaro were all in Purépecha territory.

It is believed that the Spanish explorer Cristóbal de Olid, upon arriving in the Kingdom of the Purépecha in present-day Michoacán, probably explored some parts of Guanajuato in the early 1520s. Then in 1529-1530, the forces of the ruthless Nuño de Guzmán ravaged through most of Michoacán and some parts of Guanajuato with an army of 500 Spanish soldiers and more than 10,000 Indian warriors.

In 1552 Captain Juan de Jaso discovered the mining veins of the present-day city of Guanajuato. This picturesque city - founded a few years later - nestles snugly into a valley of the mountains of the Sierra de Guanajuato. The indigenous tribes of the area made note of the numerous frogs in the area and referred to it as Quanax-juato - "Place of Frogs," the sound of which the Spanish would translate to "Guanajuato."

The Valenciana silver mine located near the City of Guanajuato was one of the richest silver finds in all history. In the Eighteenth century this mine alone accounted for 60% of the world's total silver production. For this reason, Guanajuato flourished as the silver mining capital of the world for three centuries, producing nearly a third of the world's silver during this time.

After the Chichimeca Indians were persuaded to settle down in the late Sixteenth Century, Guanajuato experienced a high degree of mestizaje. This would be due in great part to the huge influx of a very diverse group of people from many parts of the Spanish colony of Mexico. The influx of more established and refined Indian cultural groups combined with the establishment of the Spanish language and Christian religion as the dominant cultural practice. And the result was a high degree of assimilation, in which most traces of the old cultures were lost.

In modern times, Guanajuato has had a very small population of people speaking indigenous languages. Although many of the Guanajuatenses are believed to be descended from the indigenous inhabitants of their state, the cultures and languages of their ancestors - for the most part - have not been handed down to the descendants. In the 1895 census, only 9,607 persons aged five or more spoke indigenous languages. This figure rose to 14,586 in 1910, but dropped to only 305 in the 1930 census, in large part because of the ravages of the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920), which took the life of one in eight Mexican citizens.

As a matter of fact, Guanajuato's total population fell from an all-time high in the 1910 census (1,081,651 persons) to a Twentieth Century low of 860,364 in the 1921 census. But the 1921 Mexican census gives us a very interesting view of the widespread mestizaje of Guanajuato's modern population. In this census, residents of each state were asked to classify themselves in several categories, including "indígena pura" (pure indigenous), "indígena mezclada con blanca" (indigenous mixed with white), and "blanca" (white). Out of a total district population of 860,364 people, only 25,458 individuals (or 2.96%) claimed to be of pure indigenous background. A much larger number - 828,724, or 96.33% - classified themselves as being mixed, while a mere 4,687 individuals (0.5%) classified themselves as white.

From the latter half of the Twentieth Century into the present century, the population of indigenous speakers has remained fairly small. When the 1970 census was tallied, Guanajuato boasted a mere 2,272 indigenous speakers five years of age and over. The Otomí speakers made up the most significant number (866), followed by the Purépecha (181) and Náhuatl (151). The Chichimeca-Jonaz language, a rare language spoken in only in Guanajuato and San Luis Potosí, was not tallied individually in the 1970 census, but was probably among the 790 persons listed under "otras lenguas Indígenas."

According to the 2000 Mexican Census, the population of persons five years and more who spoke indigenous languages in Guanajuato amounted to only 10,689 individuals, or 0.26% of the total state population. These individuals spoke a wide range of languages, many of which are transplants from other parts of the Mexican Republic. The largest indigenous groups represented in the state were: Chichimeca Jonaz (1,433), Otomí (1,019), Náhuatl (919), Mazahua (626), Purépecha (414), Mixteco (225), and Zapoteco (214).

The Chichimeca-Jonaz language is found only in the states of San Luis Potosí and Guanajuato. Chichimeca Jonaz is classified as a member of the Oto-Manguean language family and is divided into two major dialects: the Pame dialect, which is used in San Luis Potosí, and the Jonaz dialect used in Guanajuato. With a total of 1,433 Chichimeca-Jonaz speakers living in the state of Guanajuato in 2000, it is interesting to note that the great majority - 1,405 persons five years of age or more - actually lived in the municipio of San Luis de la Paz.

In the 2010 census, Guanajuato ranked 30^th among the Mexican states and the Distrito Federal in its percentage of indigenous speakers. In all, Guanajuato had only 14,835 indigenous speakers, representing only 0.3% of its population. Only Aguascalientes and Coahuila had smaller percentages. Several native languages were spoken in Guanajuato, but Otomí was the most commonly-spoken language (21.6%), followed by the Chichimeca-Jonaz tongue. Mazahua and Náhuatl were also spoken by a significant number of people.

The 2010 census also included a question that asked people if they considered themselves indigenous, whether or not an indigenous language was spoken. The results of this question indicated that 15.7 million persons 3 years of age and older identified themselves as "indigenous."

By comparison, 6.9 million people in the same age bracket were tallied as indigenous speakers, meaning that approximately 8.8 million Mexicans aged 3 and older did not speak an indigenous language but considered themselves to be of indigenous origin. The represented 14.9% of the total Mexican population. In this category, Guanajuato ranked 26^th in the nation, with 4.3% of its citizens 3 years of age and older considered indigenous.

Many of the indigenous speakers in Guanajuato are actually descended from migrants who came from other Mexican states. The Mixteco and Zapoteco languages are indigenous to the state of Oaxaca, while the other languages spoken in the State have cultural centers in Querétaro, Puebla and Mexico.

The people of Guanajuato are the living representation of their indigenous ancestors. While most of the languages and cultures have disappeared or been absorbed into the central Hispanic culture, the people of Guanajuato have inherited the genetic legacy of the original Indian people. In this respect at least, the indigenous people of pre-Hispanic Guanajuato will endure forever.

Copyright © 2013 by John P. Schmal. All Rights Reserved. Read more articles by John Schmal.

Gonzalo de la Casas, "Noticias de los Chichimecas y Justicia de la Guerra Que Se les ha Hecho por los Españoles" (Stuttgart, 1936).

Departamento de la Estadística Nacional, "Annuario de 1930" (Tacuba, D.F., Mexico, 1932).

Basil C. Hedrick et al., "The North Mexican Frontier: Readings in Archaeology, Ethnohistory, and Ethnography." (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1971).

Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI). "Estadísticas Históricas de Mexico, Tomo I" (Aguascalientes, INEGI, 1994).

Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática (INEGI). Tabulados Básicos. Estados Unidos Mexicanos. XII Censo General de Población y Vivienda, 2000 y 2010.

Paul Kirchhoff, "The Hunter-Gathering People of North Mexico," in "The North Mexican Frontier: Readings in Archaeology, Ethnohistory, and Ethnography" (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1971), pp. 200-209.

Philip Wayne Powell, "Soldiers, Indians and Silver: North America's First Frontier War" (Tempe, Arizona: Center for Latin American Studies, Arizona State University, 1975).

Juan Jose Prado, "Guanajuato's Legends and Traditions" (Guanajuato, Gto.: Prado Hnos., 1963).

Secretaria de Industria y Comercio, "IX Censo General de Población. 1970: Resumen General Abreviado" (Mexico, 1972).

Cyrus Thomas, "Indian Languages of Mexico and Central America" (Washington, D.C.: Bureau of Smithsonian Institution, 1911, Bureau of American Ethnology, Bulletin 44).

The surname Bobadilla is a surname that has been prominent in the Mexican state of Jalisco since the capital city of Guadalajara was first established in 1542. According to Richard D. Woods and Grace Alvarez-Altman, "Spanish Surnames in the Southwestern United States: A Dictionary," the double suffix added to "boba" means a small but at the same time great foolishness, or suggests an individual who is large physicially but has few brains.

It has been suggested that this could be the name given for a misunderstanding between two families that was caused by an annoyance but had lasting consequences. The Spanish-English dictionary defines "bobada" as a silly thing or stupid talk, and the adverb "bobamente" means stupidly or naively.

Although Bobadilla became a fairly common surname in España over time, its origin appears to be in Rioja. In fact, there is a small municipio called Bobadilla that is presently located by the River Tovia in the western part of the present province of La Rioja. Rioja is a very small autonomous community and a province of northern Spain. Its capital is Logroño and the small province is nestled between five other provinces, including Burgos (to the west), Navarra (to the east) and Zaragoza (to the southeast). During the Middle Ages, Logroño (as La Rioja was known then) frequently found itself in the middle of disputes between the Kings of Navarra and Castilla.

The specific origin of the surname Bobadilla has been obscured by time, but it appears that that several individuals from the area of Bobadilla carried some form of the surname with them to other areas of the province or the country. One of the earliest families that is known to have come from this area is "Fernández de Bobadilla" family. The progenitor of this branch was Juan Fernández de Bobadilla, who was a native and resident of Bobadilla itself, hence the surname.

Over time, the surname spread to Castila, Andalusia and the Canary Islands. Several Bobadilla’s were granted noble status. For example, on May 9, 1520, the King of Spain made Don Fernando de Cabrera y Bobadilla the Earl of Chinchón. The Diccionario heráldico y genealógico de apellidos españoles y Americanos actually dedicates 103 pages to Bobadilla’s many Spanish branches, which are too numerous to discuss in this work. However, interested persons can access this information at the following website, which has reproduced the information from the Diccionario:

http://www.casarealrurikovich.com/antepasados/bobadilla.pdf