Chichimeca

Quick Facts: Who was Chichimeca?

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Chichimeca

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A collective term used by Nahua peoples for nomadic groups in central Mexico.

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Origins & Early Life

Chichimeca (Spanish: [tʃitʃiˈmeka] ) 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 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." 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.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

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." 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. The Nahuatl name Chīchīmēcah (plural, pronounced [tʃiːtʃiːˈmeːkaʔ]; 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. In the late sixteenth century, Gonzalo de las Casas wrote about the Chichimec.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

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. In the late 16th century, according to the Spanish, the Chichimeca did not worship idols as did many of the surrounding indigenous peoples.

Chronological Milestones & Life Events

1. 1550: 1550 Milestone — The Chichimeca War (1550–1590) ended with the Spanish making favorable peace terms with the Chichimeca.

Historical Fact-Check Quiz: Chichimeca

True or False: “Did the Spanish initially succeed in defeating the combined Chichimeca peoples in a single war?”

Answer (FALSE ❌): The Spanish were unable to defeat them and eventually sought peace after realizing the effectiveness of the Chichimecas' small-scale raids.

Contemporary Figures & Related Historical Timelines

• Alonso de Guzmán y Sotomayor, 7th Duke of Medina Sidonia — Historical peer (Born in 1550) (1550): Spanish aristocrat and patron, famed for his role in the 1588 Spanish Armada.
• Aochi Shigetsuna — Historical peer (Born in 1550) (1550): Samurai retainer serving the Oda clan during the late Sengoku period of Japan.
• Ambroise Paré — Historical peer (Died in 1590) (1590): Father of modern surgery, pioneer in wound treatment and battlefield medicine.
• Bernardino de Sahagún — Historical peer (Died in 1590) (1590): Pioneering ethnographer and Franciscan friar documenting Aztec culture in colonial Mexico.

Frequently Asked Questions about Chichimeca