The Guamare people were an indigenous people of Mexico, who were established mostly in Guanajuato and at the border of Jalisco.[1] They were part of the Chichimecas, a group of a nomadic hunter-gatherer culture and called themselves Children of the Wind, living religiously from the natural land. As a tradition, they would cremate their dead and spread their ashes into the wind back to 'Mother Earth'. The Guamare people were politically united with the Chichimeca Confederation, but like other Chichimeca nations were independent. The Chichimeca were established in the present-day Bajio region of Mexico.
 Map of Chichimeca tribes | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Mexico (Guanajuato) | |
| Languages | |
| Guamares Language | |
| Religion | |
| Indigenous Religion | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Chichimecas |
Territory
editThe Guamares were centered in the Guanajuato Sierras, but some settled as far east as Aguascalientes.[2] The 17th century author Gonzalo de las Casas described the Guamares as "the bravest, most warlike, treacherous and destructive of all the Chichimecas, and the most astute (dispuesta)."[3]
One Guamare group called the "Chichimecas Blancos" lived in the region between Jalostotitlan and Aguascalientes. This branch of the Guamares painted their heads white. However, much like the Guachichiles, many of the Guamares colored their long hair red and painted the body with various colors.
History
editFrom 1550 to 1590, the Guamares along with other Chichimeca groups waged a fierce war against the Spaniards and their Indian allies in a conflict known as the Chichimeca War and in the Mexican War of Independence with a newly assimilated Mexican country. The Spaniards were unable to defeat the Chichimecas, the Spaniards offered many goods and previously colonized land for the Chichimecas to make peace.[4]
Notes
edit- ^ "Jalisco". History. A&E Networks. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ^ "Los chichimecas". Historia de México (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 November 2015.
- ^ Powell 38
- ^ Schmal, John P. "LOS ANTEPASADOS INDÍGENAS DE LOS GUANAJUATENSES: A Look into Guanajuato's Past". Wayback Machine. Houston Institute for Culture. Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
References
edit- Powell, Philip Wayne (1952). Soldiers, Indians, & Silver: The Northward Advance of New Spain, 1550-1600. Berkeley: University of California Press. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
External links
edit- "Indigenous Origins: Zacatecas, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes and Jalisco," Archived 2019-01-04 at the Wayback Machine LatinoLA
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