The Chichimec Tribes were a tribe of Mexico from the Zacatecas region, with their capital at Zacatecas. They were a confederation of the Guachichil and Zacatecos, two northern Mexican tribes. The Chichimeca people were subdued by New Spain from 1550 to 1590, and today the Chichimeca Jonaz people make up 7,501 people of the population of Guanajuato.
History[]
Map of the Chichimeca
The Chichimec tribes were a fractured and nomadic people. When they roamed the scrubby deserts to the north of the hated Aztecs, the Chichimeca were prone to vicious infighting and raiding, especially between the two major tribes, the Zacatecos and the Guachichil. A series of events in the early 1500s forced the Chichimeca to put their internal disputes aside. With the Aztecs sending out more and more raiding parties from the south to capture people for their lurid sacrifices, and the rumour of strange new men appearing far to the south, the tribes of the Chichimeca unified and mobilizedfor war. The Chichimec slowly became urbanized with a capital city at Zacatecas and a satellite community at Colotan. These settlements allowed the Chichimeca to develop a more cohesive army and command structure, when compared to even a few years before 1521. The Chichimec themselves were a fierce and hardy people, well-versed in hunting and guerrilla warfare. Many Chichimec warriors ritually painted themselves with red dye before going into battle. The Aztecs were very cautious when launching raids into Chichimec territory, as they were often turned into ambushes by the crafty Chichimec commanders. The Chichimeca fielded many infantry and missile units including the fearsome Guachichil Warriors and Zacatecos Archers.
During the wars between the Chichimeca and New Spain to the south from 1550 to 1590, the Chichimeca were able to steal Spanish technology and trade firearms. Viceroy Alvaro Manrique de Zuniga ended the wars by promising the Chichimeca food and clothing if they submitted to Spanish rule, and the Chichimeca tribes became naturalized citizens of New Spain. Disease killed many of them, and there are only around 7,000 of them left in present-day Mexico.