 Caxcan warriors battling against theSpaniards | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Unknown | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Western and North-CentralMexico | |
| Languages | |
| Caxcan andSpanish | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| OtherChichimecas |
TheCaxcan are anethnic group who areIndigenous to western and north-centralMexico, particularly the regions corresponding to modern-dayZacatecas, southernDurango,Jalisco,Colima,Aguascalientes,Nayarit. TheCaxcan language is most often documented as an ancient variant ofNahuatl and is a member of theUto-Aztecan language family. The last generation of natively fluent Caxcan language speakers came to an end in the 1890s.[citation needed] Despite this having long been conflated by anthropologists with an extinction of the Caxcan people themselves, much of Caxcan culture has persisted viaoral tradition. There is currently an ongoingrevitalization of Caxcan language, scholarship, and culture.[1]
The Caxcan were a partlynomadic, partly sedentary people. Under their leader,Tenamaztle, the Caxcan were allied with theZacatecos against theSpaniards during theMixtón Rebellion in 1540-42. During the rebellion, they were described as "the heart and the center of the Indian Rebellion". After the rebellion, they were a constant target of theZacatecos andGuachichiles due to their ceasefire agreement with theSpaniards. Their principal religious and population centers were atTeul,Tlaltenango,Juchipila, andTeocaltiche.
Over time, the Caxcans lost their culture due to warfare, disease, and marriage to non-Caxcans. Also, most of the Caxcans were sent into slavery by the Spanish to work in silver mines. During the colonial period, many Spanish (and some Basque settlers) had intermarried, or had relations, with the Caxcans making many Caxcan descendants Mestizos. The allied tribes and Mestizos settled the Caxcan lands in Zacatecas and Jalisco.
Their elected rulers were called tlatoani. Caxcan society was divided up into several different city-states.
TheChichimeca War (1550–1590) was a military conflict waged betweenSpanish colonizers and their Indian allies against a confederation ofChichimeca Indians. It was the longest and most expensive conflict between Spaniards and the indigenous peoples ofNew Spain in the history of the colony.[2]
The Chichimeca wars began eight years after theMixtón Rebellion (1540–1542). It can be considered as a continuation of that rebellion as the fighting did not come to a halt in the intervening years. Unlike in the Mixtón rebellion, the Caxcanes were now allied with the Spanish. The war was fought in theBajío region known asLa Gran Chichimeca, specifically in theMexican states ofZacatecas,Guanajuato,Aguascalientes,Jalisco, andSan Luis Potosi.
The Council of the Caxcan indigenous people was formed in the 1920s byJuana Belén Gutiérrez de Mendoza, a Caxcan from Durango.[3] She also publishedAlto!, a book which stressed Mexican Nationalism through indigenous roots and, even after the alleged extinction of the Caxcan people, is quoted as saying "We do not recognize the right of any race to impose its civilization upon us" as a way to promote indigeneity.
Caxcan people continue to live in Zacatecas and in diaspora. They are currently attempting to regain legal access to their sacred mountain, Tlachialoyantepec (El Cerro de las Ventanas).[4][3]
